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Can Sherrill put New Jersey's fiscal house in order?

By: Ed Forbes
and Alex Nussbaum
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey

..... As World Cup soccer unfolds in the meadowlands and as the crisis at Delaney Hall simmers down from a near-boil, Governor Mikie Sherrill faces another test: the negotiation and adoption of her first budget for New Jersey's state government.
..... We delved into those topics and more in a June 16 [2026] conversation with Sherrill, the Montclair Democrat who took office as New Jersey's 57th governor in January [2026] after representing the 11th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2017.
..... Sherrill, in office for nearly five months, spoke frankly, at times with humor and others with frustration, about the Garden State's opportunities on the global stage as the world's most watched sporting event rolls on - and about its challenges as new realities in Washington, D.C., imperil funding for programs many New Jersey residents rely on.
..... We - Alex Nusabaum, opinion editor for NorthJersey.com and The Record, and Ed Forbes, senior director for opinion and engagement for the USA Today Network Northeast - had this immediate observation: Sherrill is clear-eyed about all the obstacles in New Jersey's fiscal future.

Nussbaum: Sherrill promises to trim Trenton 'Christmas trees'

..... Mikie Sherrill is not her to play Santa Claus.
..... That was the impression the rookie governor seemed determined to leave during our editorial board discussion of New Jersey's fiscal 2027 spending plan, as negotiation with the state Legislature gear up.
..... Asked about a variety of potential priories, Sherrill, a mother of four had the air of a faintly exasperated parent whose kids keep asking for extra money on top of their allowances.
..... The need for spending discipline came up, for example, when Sherrill was asked about the possibility of subsidizing local "microtransit" programs as well as the city of Paterson's request for a doubling of state aid. Sherrill said these maybe worthy initiatives or legitimate needs, and she didn't rule anything out.
..... But she consistently talked about the state finding itself in a new financial reality, as it faces billions of dollars in federal funding cuts and a looming health care burden after President Donald Trump and the Republican Congress slashed funding for Medicaid. while New Jersey's credit rating has improved in recent years, state government still has one of the worst debt profiles in the nation, she added.
..... In the context, and with eh July 1 [2026] state budget deadline looming, Sherrill said, the state can no longer afford to make everybody happy.
..... "Ive heard from different towns who want the state to defray their costs,, because they have a million-dollar (hole)," she said. "And I've said, 'You know, you have a million-dollar problem. I have a billion-dollar problem.' The state right now is really struggling."

What happens to Stay NJ rebates?

..... Sherrill said middle-class tax relief is among her priorities. But the future of the Stay NJ property tax rebate for senior homeowners remains unclear. to save money, her budget would make chicks available to people who earn up to $250,000 yearly, down from $500,000 a year, down for $6,500.
..... Will Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin. a champion of Stay NJ, agree? Sherrill said she expects a counterproposal soon and that it could focus more of the rebates on lower income levels. "I'm open to some different ideas if we want to rush more money down and prorate it a little more, but again, I've said if that's what you want to do, then where do you want to cut in the budget?"
..... Mind you, sherrill has proposed a record $60.7 billion state budget this year, [2026] 1.6% higher than the current plan, even with the aforementioned funding problems. So any praise for fiscal restraint. So any praise for fiscal restraint involves some grading on a curve.
..... Nonetheless, the governor is taking the tone you would expect if she wants to hold the line in budget talks with Democrats in the Legislature. they've become notorious in recent years for ballooning the budget at the last minute with "Christmas tree" items sought by individual lawmakers.
..... As the budget deadline nears, Sherrill expensed confidence about keeping the final tab "pretty close" to her original proposal.
..... But the former congresswoman is a newcomer to Trenton, negotiating with veteran legislators in Coughlin and state Senate President Nick Scutari.
..... In two weeks, we'll see if she can stay true to her fiscal hawk rhetoric.
..... Sherrill betrayed frustration with politicians, programs and agencies that spent big when billions of dollars in COVID relief dollars were available in recent years and then turned to the Statehouse for relief when the spigot in Washington turned off. She hopes to build a different kind of Trenton, she said.
..... "I'm building out sustainable plans, not pie-in-the-sky, live-just-to-fight-another-day plans." she said. "we end a long term strategy for our state if we are truly going to address affordability her and not kick the can down the road.
- Alex Nussbaum

Forbes: Can Trenton Democrats embrace the Sherrill brand?

..... "I refuse to put off for tomorrow what we have to fix today."
..... Governor Mikie Sherrill used that line in framing her $60.7 billion spending plan for New Jersey's next fiscal year in her March [2026] budget address before members of the Assembly and state Senate in the Statehouse in Trenton.
..... She echoed that sentiment in our wide-ranging editorial board conversation.
..... Sherrill was clear: She is trying to introduce a new fiscal discipline to shore up New Jersey's finances for the long term. She want to better fund the state's pension system. And she wants to navigate through other fiscal challenges - including the health benefits crisis spiraling in many New Jersey school districts and the state's school funding formula.
..... Katie Sobko, our statehouse correspondent, asked Sherrill directly if she was planning to upend Trenton's long-held practice of dispatching pork - so-called "Christmas tree" member item spending - to projects championed by legislators across the state.
..... "I pit out our budget priorities in March, [2026] and a lot of what I said was, 'You know I'm happy to negotiate. I am happy to work with the Legislature, but any additions are going to require subtractions,'" Sherrill responded.
..... The message: New Jersey has to spend within its means. Will that message resonate with the Legislature? We'll see.
..... Sherrill went on to say hat all of the obstacles in New Jersey's pathway to fiscal stability will require disciple to solve - but a discipline framed in taming affordability struggles faced by Garden State families.
..... That mindset, the governor explained, is informing her negotiations with Trenton's two other budget power brokers, state Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin.
..... "As I've been talking to the Senate president and he speaker, I think we all share this understanding that in these times, people want to know what government's doing." Sherrill said. "They want to feel like government's working for you. And we share the priorities in our Legislature, and certainly my administration, of making working people's lives better making things more affordable. And so I think there is a lot that we all agree on. Now we're just hammering out the details."
..... Since she took office, we're been talking about Sherrill's mesa gin and brand - and how both could inform Democratic strategies for success in the November [2026] midterms and beyond.
..... Twice in our editorial board conversations with the governor, she said she wants New Jersey government to work with great efficiency to help the lives and needs of the Garden state;s working families. Transparency, accountability and affordability are clearly the Sherrill administration's aspirations. Can those ideals take root in Trenton?
- Ed Forbes.

..... Ed Forbes is senior director for opinion and engagement for the USA Today Network Northeast, working with publications including NorthJersey.com and The record and app.com and the Asbury Park Press. Email: forbes@northjersey.com

..... Alex Nussbaum, a veteran New Jersey journalist who has worked as a reporter and an editor covering the environment, business an local news in the Garden State, is opinion editor for NorthJersey.com and The Record. email: nussbauma@northjersey.com

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