N.J. Enacts Budget With Record Pension Payment, Free College

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a record $46.4 billion budget with a biggest-ever pension payment, marking the first time in more than a quarter-century that the state will make the required minimum contribution to its underfunded retirement system.

The spending plan for the fiscal year that starts on July 1 is 24% higher the first one he signed in 2018. It uses an influx of tax revenue to cover free in-state public college tuition for low-income students, rebates for families with at least one child, $750 million in rental and utility assistance and other initiatives that will appeal to low- and middle-income voters in the November election for governor and all 120 legislative seats.