New Jersey’s $58.8 billion FY2026 budget forgets the needs of the people

Cover page of Bill S2026, the New Jersey FY2026 Budget Bill, which was passed by the legislature and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday, June 30, 2025. (via New Jersey Legislature, Bill S2026)

Trenton – New Jersey’s $58.8 billion FY2026 budget bill, the largest ever for the state, passed both the Senate and the Assembly on Monday, June 30, and was signed by Gov. Philip Murphy late in the evening, successfully avoiding a shutdown. The passage mostly followed party lines, with the Senate approval coming through at 26-13 with one senator not voting, and the Assembly voting 52-27 with a single abstention. 
The votes were not without contention, especially in the Assembly chambers, where, within a matter of ten minutes, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin was asked to recuse himself (request denied), Assembly Budget Committee Chair Eliana Pintor Marin (D-29) praised the budget for taking care of New Jersey families, Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R-24) ripped the budget for including too much ‘pork’ such as “pools, pickleball courts, and bullcrap,” and Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-10) damned the budget process itself for not allowing state representatives and the public alike adequate time to review the finished bill once it was released late on Friday night.

(Left) Assemblywomen Eliana Pintor Marin (D-29) and (Right) Dawn Fantasia (R-24) speak about the FY2026 Budget ahead of the state Assembly budget vote on Monday, June 30, 2025, at the Statehouse in Trenton, NJ. (composite from New Jersey Assembly Live proceedings: Mandy Coriston for Public Square Amplified)

Breaking down the budget: Healthcare

Two key healthcare items stand out from the budget, and both have drawn fire from within Gov. Murphy’s cabinet itself. State Comptroller Kevin Walsh took to X on Sunday, June 29, to blast a clause in the budget that requires the state to continue using Medicaid funding to pay for care at the state’s lowest-rated nursing homes. Critics like Walsh argue that by funding facilities that provide poor quality of care, there is no impetus for the facilities to improve, which only further harms low-income patients. New Jersey was already the target of severe criticism during the COVID-19 pandemic for not holding nursing and long-term care facilities accountable for subpar care and handling of COVID-related illnesses and deaths. 

State Attorney General Matt Platkin harshly criticized another portion of the budget bill, a diversion of $45 million in opioid lawsuit settlement funds away from opioid addiction programs and into the hospital system for currently undisclosed usage. In a statement released on Monday, Platkin said that he took no position on whether the hospitals needed funding, but called the diversion, “a slap in the face to every family who lost a loved one in this devastating crisis,” and said that his office will be scrutinizing every dollar spent to ensure the money stays within the parameters of the settlement terms. Essex County experiences the 5th-highest rate of opioid-related deaths in New Jersey, behind Atlantic, Camden, Cape May, and Cumberland Counties. 

Breaking down the budget: Environment

Portions of the budget that focus on the environment are a mixed bag for state agencies and advocates. While the budget does allocate $95.3 million for natural resource management, including state parkland, it also diverts $190 million in Clean Energy Funds into the state general fund ($50 million) and to New Jersey Transit ($140 million). This continued “raiding” of the Clean Energy Fund has environmental groups up in arms, as Gov. Murphy continues to break his 2017 campaign promise to stop these diversions. Environment New Jersey Director Doug O’Malley released a statement condemning the diversion and urging Gov. Murphy to line-item veto the fund diversion, which did not happen when the budget was signed on Monday night. 

Of the $190 million diversion, O’Malley said, “It betrays the commitment made to ratepayers that their dollars would focus on clean energy projects, not balancing the budget. These are ratepayer dollars that are designed to reduce energy usage and expand clean energy, not serve as a slush fund of last resort to fix budget gaps.” 

Breaking down the budget: Education

The FY2026 budget adds $12 billion to K-12 spending, but with 2,506 public schools in the state, many needing additional faculty, staff, and capital improvements, critics argue that districts will still have to rely on taxpayers to fill the gaps. Chalkbeat Newark, an educational watchdog reporter, indicated upon release of the governor’s proposed budget that the capital improvement funds needed to repair all of Newark’s schools would tally over $2 billion alone. The approved budget slates $21 million for capital improvements in Newark’s schools in 2026, just over a tenth of what officials say is necessary. 

Special education services also take a hit in the budget. On the surface, a $400 million increase in funding appears to reflect the state’s understanding of special education costs, but it fails to address rising expenses, especially those for students requiring high needs placements. While the FY2026 budget finally moves away from the census model and into actual district assessment to fund programming, it also still fails to fully fund what’s known as Extraordinary Aid, which, despite rising costs, remains budgeted at $420 million, the same as FY2025. Combined with special education faculty shortages, educators and parents worry that services will continue to be delayed or face stoppages. 

Infographic: Mandy Coriston for Public Square Amplified

Breaking down the budget: Pork, taxes, and union concerns 

When Assemblywoman Fantasia offered up criticism of “pools, pickleball courts, and bullcrap,” she may have been speaking in the heat of the moment, but she wasn’t inaccurate in her assessment that the budget has “an awful lot of wants dressed up as needs.”

Fantasia was referring to the many last-minute additions to the budget bill, so-called “Christmas trees” which contributed to the $717 million increase from the governor’s initial proposed budget. Among those additions are allocations to Little League organizations, municipal parks, and community pools. Hillsborough Township, where the median income is over $153,000 and more than a third of households earn over $200,000 a year, received $175,000 for its Youth Football League. As Fantasia pointed out, no one is denying that recreation opportunities are a benefit to public health, but $750,000 for the Cranford Township Community Pool is “great for people in Cranford, but not for everyone else in the state.” 

The bill also ‘quietly’ introduced 12 new and several more increased taxes, meant to bring in revenue for a budget that has a $1.5 billion structural deficit. These include vice taxes on betting and gaming, tobacco, vaping supplies, marijuana, and alcohol, as well as firearms and ammunition, drone sales, high-end real estate and luxury property sales, and a 40-cent/month tax on phone lines to help fund the state’s 9-8-8 mental health crisis hotline. 

Unions aren’t pleased with Gov. Murphy and a budget clause requiring the state government workers’ health program to find $100 million in savings — aka, a $100 million funding cut. Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-14), who, outside of his legislative duties, is the President/Assistant Business Manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW Local 269 in Trenton, was the single abstention from Assembly voting on the budget because of concerns that the cuts to state workers’ health benefits poorly reflected on the collective bargaining rights for all public sector unions. Additionally, the Communications Workers of America (CWA) is criticizing what they call Gov. Murphy’s hypocrisy. 

“This budget is a betrayal of the very working people who elected him into office,” said Billy Gallagher, Assistant to the Vice President, CWA  District 1, in a statement issued on June 30, “Budgets are moral documents, and this one makes painfully clear where Governor Murphy stands. Gov. Murphy has chosen to gut $100 million in health benefits for public sector workers and retirees.” 

Breaking down the budget: Is it all bad news? 

No, it’s not all bad news for New Jerseyans. The massive 373-page budget does include a few bright spots. Two property tax relief programs may assist New Jersey homeowners, including the continued funding of the ANCHOR program with $2 billion in available funding. Seniors may also be eligible to benefit from the StayNJ program, which offers tax credits between $300-$6,500 to help older New Jerseyans remain in their homes. 

On the healthcare front, the Cover All Kids program received $165 million to continue state-funded healthcare coverage for all children in New Jersey, regardless of their immigration status. Since its inception in 2024, the Cover All Kids initiative has enrolled more than 87,000 children throughout the state.

Community colleges also claimed a victory with the restoration of $20 million in funding initially cut in the governor’s proposed budget. This money assists with operating costs and educational opportunity funds. In lobbying Trenton for a restoration of the funding, the Council of County Colleges cited a need for increased, not decreased, grant money, for low-income students, first-generation students, and students of color. With 12 of New Jersey’s 18 county colleges designated as predominantly non-white institutions, the result of funding loss could be devastating for those communities. 

As the fiscal year begins with the new budget in place, New Jerseyans should and must raise their voices and advocate for change. With additional federal cuts to healthcare and social safety net programs looming, now is the time to speak to school boards, town councils, and state representatives. After all, it’s only 364 days until next year’s budget must be approved. 

Public Square Amplified is also pleased to report that $2.5 million in total funding has been restored to the NJ Civic Information Consortium, which supports dozens of local news projects as well as media education across the state, including financial support of this newsroom.