It’s a budget that was born of technical errors, a gross lack of transparency, and $54 billion in spending.
Phil Murphy’s $54 billion nightmare of a FY 2024 budget nevertheless cleared the legislature on Friday with the help of nine Republican legislators.
In the State Senate, Vince Polistina (R-Egg Harbor), Jean Stanfield (R-Westampton), and Bob Singer (R-Lakewood) voted for the budget.
Over in the Assembly, Don Guardian (R-Atlantic City) and Claire Swift (R-Margate) of LD2, Beth Sawyer (R-Woolwich) of LD3, Michael Torrissi (R-Hammonton) and Brandon Umba (R-Medford) of LD8, and Sean Kean (R-Wall) of LD30 joined Democrats in adopting the massive spending blitz.
The outrageous pork embedded in the record-sized spending bill included nearly $3 million for a jazz radio station, $4 million for yacht marina and another $5 million for stadium abandoned by the team that used it.
Moat Republicans remain opposed including Assemblywoman Victoria Flynn of Monmouth who shared her candid assessment of the legislation from the floor:
