Last-minute budget offer prevents the closure of New Jersey

TRENTON – Just hours from the end, New Jersey Governor Philip D. Murphy and Democratic leaders negotiated a budget deal to keep the government open and prevent a state shutdown for the second time in two years, according to two people familiar with the negotiations.

The agreement avoids a closure in time for the next holiday on July 4 and avoids Mr. Murphy, a Democrat, to close the government in his first year in power, a move that would be unpopular for many, including bathers looking to cool off on a sultry weekend in parks and state beaches.

The details of the budget agreement were not immediately known, but the main point of friction was taxes levied to fund the state's spending plan. Mr. Murphy remained adamant on the adoption of a so-called millionaire tax on the state's wealthiest residents, a proposal that leaders of the Senate and Assembly democratically controlled had resisted with force.

Resolution followed weeks of bitter negotiations

"His behavior is exactly that of Chris Christie's, but he smiles more," said Stephen M. Sweeney, Speaker of the Senate, about Mr. Murphy, referring to the former governor

. Murphy had repeatedly referred to legislative leaders as "Christie catalysts".

But the mere threat of a closure made many furious state residents, who were decamping to the state parks and beaches for an extended vacation. When the state closed in 2017, Island Beach State Park and the rest of the state park closed, forcing campers to shop early in the morning. morning and leaving a vacant 10-mile beach, with the exception of Mr. Christie's infamous meeting. a Republican and his family

At Bass River State Park, Jose Pitre and his wife, Maria Arce, had their family reunion in the same camp each year during the 4th of July, with parents leading until eight o'clock Buffalo to assemble.

But last year, they were asked to leave their camp when the state government closed down. Believing it would not happen again, they made reservations in January 2018 for their same camping trip in a family reunion. When they discovered that they could be deported again, the family decided that their patience was exhausted.

"If that happens, it's for us, it would be the last year," said Pitre, 51, who works in "We'll probably be looking somewhere in Pennsylvania where this is not happening. not all the time."

The current disagreement began in March when Mr. Murphy released his first budget. While Mr. Sweeney initially supported a tax on the rich after Mr. Murphy's election in November, the promise would be the first bill he passed the Senate Speaker changed his course following the adoption of the federal tax law

But Mr. Murphy, who had campaigned a lot to raise taxes for wealthy people, had included the millionaire tax in his budget inaugural, resulting in a deadlock of one month

. While the year 2017 has been marked by budget stalemates in statehouses across the country, New Jersey is an aberration this year as the only state in the country that remains unable to reach a sort of budget agreement by the fiscal period, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.