Sweeney threatens a line-item override

Senate President Steve Sweeney responded to Gov. Phil Murphy’s thinly-veiled threat to line-item veto the budget making its way through the legislature with a threat to override in case any legislative priorities get zeroed out.

“From my read, you recognize that the Legislature will approve a budget that retains your priorities but also makes important investments in higher education, extraordinary special education and maternal health care for new mothers, among other needs and investments,” Sweeney wrote in a letter to the governor. “If you live up to your letter, we will have a budget in place well before the deadline and the Legislature will have time to evaluate any of your line-item vetoes, in case we need to override them.”

Earlier Wednesday, Murphy sent a letter to legislators threatening “corrective action” if he received the appropriations bill advancing through the legislature without additional revenues.

Legislators are expected to send their budget to Murphy’s desk on Thursday.

That budget does not include the millionaire’s tax Murphy is seeking. It also eschews other tax hikes sought by the governor, including an increase to gun license fees and a tax on opioid manufacturers, among others.