Murphy risking Democrats' future with tax hike plans
By: Charles Stile
Political Stile
USA Today Network
..... Any time a Democratic governor of New Jersey talks about raising taxes, the ghost of Guvnor Jim Florio's tax hike of 1900 is summoned from the party's political graveyard.
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That sweeping $2.8 billion plan led to a taxpayer rout of Democratic control of both chambers of the Legislature the next year and the ascendant of Republican Governor Christie Todd Whitman two years later. It has huaunted Garden State Democrats ever since.
..... the planed tax increase in Governor Phil Murphy's $58.1 billion spending plan for classical year 2026,unveiled last week, [02/25/2025] arr far smaller in scale. Murphy's proposed budget calls for $1.2 billion in fees and taxes on times such as alcohol, cigarettes, luxury homes and Online gambling.
..... Yet it's worth remembering that the rallying-cry symbol of Florio's tax plan was a small item: Toilet paper.
..... His budget pan called for extending the sales tax to exempted paper products, including toilet paper, with which protesters memorably lined the tree branches on West Start Street in Trenton.
..... It was seen as an exercise in arrogance by a technocratic governor, who critics claimed had no feel for the average everyday resident.
..... Although much of the resentment at the time was fanned by the national Rifle Association, furious over Florio's assault weapons ban; and by the New Jersey Education Association, which was furious over his pension reforms; and by a new, populist Trenton-araa radio station (which provided the pulpit for pro-Trump candidate Bill Spadea in this year's [2025] governor's race), Florio was branded as the soulless bane of blue-collar voters.
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And the Democrats in the Legislature who delivered the votes paid the price at the polls.
..... One veteran Democratic lobbyist standing in the Assembly chamber minutes before Murphy delivered his final budget address last Tuesday [02/25/2025] recalled the trauma and seemed perplexed that Murphy;s plan calls for a series of blue-collar taxes, including on bowling alleys, of all places. There may be a legitimate policy rationale for all them, the lobbyist observed, but "this was not a good time. It has too much of that kind of feel of Florio."
..... His point was clear. After Trump's strong comeback win in November [2024] that left the Democrats demoralized and criticized for appearing detached from the combustible anger over rising food and housing prices, the party's new mantra is affordability.
..... Murphy did acknowledge as much in his budget address Tuesday, [02/25/2025] which will be the last of his two terms as New Jersey governor.
..... "Given the global economic disruptions - like inflation - that have battered the American people over the past few years, it's really no wonder that our working neighbors feel as if they have been forgotten by those of us in power," Murphy said. "So, to every New Jerseyan who shares these concerns, here is my message to you: Our administration is going to spend every minute we have left fighting of you."
..... Yet raising taxes amid the Trump Tauma was given a cold shoulder by Democrats in the Assembly who could be facing the toughest challenges to their two-decade majority grip on the chamber. Democratic enthusiasm is flat and party, restoration godmother remains flat - through Democrats do maintain a 900,000 vote advantage over Republicans state wide. Meanwhile, the governor's race is at the top of the ballot this November, [2025] and Republicans feel energized that it may be the party's turn to take the governor's seat after two terms of Murphy.
..... "I don't see us supporting tax increases that impact working, middle-class families," said Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, D-Voorhees.
..... The proposed hikes on sports betting and Internet gaming also drew a rare bipartisan rebuke forum South Jersey legislators, where gaming remains a major industry. "Simply put, doubling the tax on Online sports betting and iGaming is putting a New Jersey success story at significant risk," Senator John Burzichelli, D-Paulsboro, and Senate Michael Testa, R-Vindland, said in a joint statement.
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"Any effort to increase this tax on New Jerseyans threaten all, of the progress New Jersey has made, especially at levels that would make New Jersey's Customs too heavily taxed."
..... Assembly Speaker Craig coughlin, D-Middlesex, described the tax increases as a measure of last resort.
..... "While I understand the end to keep all options on the table to balance our budget in the face of these threats, working to make New Jersey affordable for working and middle-class families will be my number one concern this year, [2025] and we will look to reduce spending before ahivng conversations about taxes or fees as a way out of budget concerns," he said.
What about the chaos in Washington?
..... Looming over all this, however, is the threat of Trump and congressional Republicans slashing Medicaid - the government-funded health care for the poor - which could blow a gaping hole in the state budget. One estimate is close to $5 billion loss - or roughly 9% of the entire state budget plan.
..... Senate President Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, said the Medicaid cuts could be devastating and would lead to painful cuts in programs. "I think the services that are cut are probably going to be eliminated," he said before Murphy's speech. "It will be impossible for us to plug those holes." If that happens, the ghost of Florio's toilet paper tax will seem like a quaint memory.