TRENTON – Senator Wayne R. Bryant, the Chairman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, today said he believes the majority of Senate Democrats favors a State spending plan that “avoids gimmicks,” reduces non-recurring sources of revenue and provides substantial rebates to taxpayers.
“I sense there is considerable support for reducing debt and enhancing fiscal stability on the building blocks of recurring revenue streams,” said Senator Bryant, the Senate’s foremost expert on budget issues. “We can maintain those principles and still provide significant rebates to taxpayers.”
Senator Bryant said he believes there is “substantial support in the Senate” for the basic priorities set forth in Governor Codey’s budget plan which the Legislature is evaluating before voting on a budget bill for the fiscal year beginnning July 1st.
“We support returning a responsible sum of the unexpected revenue ($1.5 billion) for property tax relief,” said Senator Bryant. “But there’s still a lot of pain to be shared in meeting our responsibilities to help those who need it most.”
The Senate Democratic Budget Leader said Senate Democrats will continue to evaluate a wide array of budget options in the coming weeks.
“The beauty of a bicameral Legislature is that any one plan requires majority support from both the Assembly and the Senate,” said Senator Bryant, D-Camden. “Today, I understand the Assembly put forth a plan. We in the Senate will weigh in with our priorities after we listen and evaluate. In time, we will find our ultimate path to maintaining fiscal stability and helping the most people in the fairest way possible.”
Senator Bryant said it would be inappropriate to comment on specifics of the Assembly proposal until he could fully review them.