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(Editor's Note: This story was reported and written by Matt Arco, Brent Johnson, and Samantha Marcus of NJ Advance Media for NJ.com.)
Toward Saturday Lunch Time At night, Governor Phil Murphy stood in front of dozens of journalists and television cameras and ended a sometimes personal, often nasty, multi-week battle in which taxes would soon increase in New Jersey.
The rookie governor and his fellow Democrats who run the state legislature negotiated a last-minute deal on the state budget that avoided what would have been the second state government closure in two summers – even though all the key figures this time hi the same part.
"This is not a win for all of us individually," Murphy said at a press conference outside his office in Trenton. "It's a win for the middle class and working families and for those seeking and dreaming of being in the middle class all over New Jersey."
But it is not so simple.
The noise around Trenton immediately after the agreement was that the main state legislator, Stephen Sweeney, had improved and humiliated Murphy in his first budget battle
And now the question is: Is Murphy and Sweeney work? their growth pains? Or did the result of the fight hamper Murphy's ability to run the state and his party?
Murphy, legislators avoid closing with a last-minute budget deal
Murphy's team rebuffed emphatically, insisting that their guy had what he wanted: a version of A tax on millionaires for which he was campaigning last year. the elements of his progressive wishlist.
"Having accepted a budget that includes historic investments in NJ Transit and education and fulfills our pension obligations, which are paid in part by new revenue from a millionaire tax and by closing loopholes, there's a winner Budget process: New Jersey's middle class, "said Murphy spokesman Dan Bryan in a statement to NJ Advance Media
" The era of budget gimmicks and favor the rich and New Jersey companies ends. "New Jersey is just beginning," added Bryan
. Murphy however failed to convince lawmakers to raise sales tax, and the millionaires tax will go to those who earn $ 5 million or more a year million. These are two things that the governor has spent months demanding from the legislature to help increase funding for public schools, transportation system of the state, and more.
Instead, lawmakers got a version of what they were looking for: raising taxes on the largest corporations in the state. But it was not at the level they originally wanted, and lawmakers also accepted a version of the Millionaire Tax, which they opposed for months. Matthew Hale, professor of political science at Seton Hall University, said that Sweeney and Craig Coughlin, the state's second legislator, "have gotten more than what they gave." 19659003] struggle as being less on taxes and more on a power struggle over who will control the Statehouse the next four years – Murphy or Sweeney.
"Nobody wants to see a civil war in the Democratic Party," said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. "But they have certainly dropped enough grenades in public to create one."
Murphy will have to work with Sweeney, D-Gloucester and Coughlin, D-Middlesex, to set common goals such as raising the minimum wage to US $ 15. time and legalize recreational marijuana.
They will also have to negotiate at least three other state budgets.
"This must not be so difficult," Sweeney told NJ Advance Media during an interview in his Statehouse office Sunday, the day the Legislature convened to adopt a final version of the budget, signed Murphy later in the night.
"We can get along," Sweeney added. "We can work together."
Murphy signs a budget after a long day at the Statehouse
For Murphy, a former Wall Street banking executive holding his first elected office, it was his biggest test since he succeeded the Republican Chris Christie in January.
Murphy ran on a platform to make New Jersey more progressive, and he declared openly during the campaign that he needed a millionaire tax to do it.
But he also needed Sweeney, the Senate's veteran president, and Coughlin, the rookie assembly president, to back up his tax hikes. And even if Democrats controlled all branches of state government for the first time in eight years, legislative leaders have said for months that they would not do it.
Last week, Murphy and lawmakers had to spend a budget before midnight Saturday – or maybe face another stop.
For days, Murphy traded beards with Sweeney and Coughlin. The governor said their plans marked "a return to Christie's New Jersey."
"And stupid me, I thought we had continued," Murphy said.
Lawmakers accused Murphy of being dishonest and dictatorial. "His behavior is exactly like Chris Christie's, but he smiles more," said Sweeney.
Discussions have failed on many points, and a closure seems more likely as Saturday approaches.
On Wednesday, Sweeney – a scrap metalist known for bareknuckle policy – insisted that he would not accept any millionaire tax.
"I was clear about this," he said.
Sweeney also rejected the idea of moving the marginal tax rate to 10.75%. "I can not accept that," he said.
On Friday, that changed. Sweeney has offered Murphy a multi-millionaire tax for people earning $ 5 million or more.
But Murphy rejected the offer. The usually jovial governor did not joke with reporters at the press conference this afternoon. Instead, he was visibly agitated.
And in a rare acknowledgment of his personal wealth, Murphy, a multimillionaire, was decrying that he would not have to pay more taxes on his 2016 income according to the plan than he had presented to him. the legislators.
"It's ridiculous," he said. "We want tax fairness, tax fairness."
On Saturday, Sweeney continued to hit Murphy. He said the governor was "mean when he does not get it," pointing out how Murphy has cut funding for programs that provide jobs for people with intellectual disabilities. Programs are expensive in Sweeney, whose daughter has Down syndrome.
"I'm getting emotional with that," he told NJ Advance Media on Saturday morning. "How do you hurt people like this?"
But Murphy, Sweeney and Coughlin met for five hours in a row on Saturday afternoon. In the end, they had an agreement.
What Murphy accepted was similar to what legislators offered 24 hours earlier – albeit with a change in the millionaire tax rate. The rate ended up being what Sweeney said he could not accept: 10.75% on those earning $ 5 million or more.
"It was a fair compromise," said Sweeney in Sunday's interview. "None of us had what we wanted in full, and that is when you know you have found a good deal."
Several sources said that they were shocked Murphy did not accept the original offer of lawmakers on Friday. That, they said, would have given him a chance to claim victory over Sweeney.
Ben Dworkin, director of the Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship of Rowan University, said that no one had really won the battle
. bread, "said Dworkin. "But everyone understood what they wanted to see."
Murphy stated that the legislators and he had "honest, direct, sometimes passionate, but always civil discussions."
"I have tremendous respect for leaders as partners in the government," he added at Saturday's press conference.
Sweeney said that "everyone has received an education".
"We understand each other a little more now," said Sunday the Senate Speaker. "I hope that there will always be disagreements, we will not have this kind of public fight anymore."
Does he have the advantage over Murphy now?
"Absolutely not," said Sweeney. "The governor is the governor, what I feel is that we have put ourselves in the position of equal partners … It has compromised a lot, and I appreciate it."
"That does not mean I beat him," he added.
Brent Johnson can be reached at [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter @ johnsb01 .
Matt Arco can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook .
Samantha Marcus can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @samanthamarcus .
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