Democratic legislative leaders announced the agreement Monday evening after word of a tentative accord leaked. Officials from the governor's office held a briefing on the budget deal Monday night.
Rich Bagger, Gov. Chris Christie's chief of staff, said budget bills sponsored by Republican lawmakers would be introduced Monday night.
"That legislation is based on, and consistent with, the governor's budget proposal made on March 16," Bagger said.
The final budget is indeed similar to what Christie proposed three months ago amid skyrocketing state debt and a dismal revenue picture. The budget agreed to in principle cuts school aid by $820 million, sheds 1,000 state workers and assumes $50 million in savings from privatization. It skips a $3 billion contribution to the state pension system and leaves about $300 million in surplus.
Democrats negotiated about $74 million in restorations to programs and services for the poor and disabled and needy students in exchange for the votes needed to pass the budget bill. The money comes from items that were overbudgeted.
Among the funding that will be restored:
- Welfare for adults, $22 million
- Care for the homebound elderly, $9.7 million
- Workshops for the disabled, $3 million
- Tuition scholarships, $1 million
"This budget stays true to the principles I originally outlined, keeping spending within our means and restoring fiscal order without raising taxes," Christie said in a statement released Monday night. "This budget lays the foundation for necessary long-term reforms that will help New Jersey recover from today's economic and fiscal crisis."
The budget provides $6.4 million to keep the Hagedorn Psychiatric Hospital open. However, 58 family planning centers will lose their entire state allocation of $7.5 million, about a quarter of their budgets.
The final budget also removes an unpopular proposal to realize $65 million in sales tax revenue by repealing Bergen County's "blue laws" restricting Sunday shopping. Proponents of the laws say the shopping restriction keeps traffic down. Treasurer Andrew Eristoff said a more aggressive tax collection and auditing system will make up the revenue.
Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver said Democrats did what they could to restore funding to programs and services for New Jersey's most vulnerable residents.
"The improvements we've made make this budget plan the best it can possibly be amid this difficult economy," Oliver said. "No one is excited about what this budget does, but it at least has taken several steps toward protecting working-class New Jerseyans."
The agreement between the two parties and the two branches of government set the stage for hearings on the bills later in the week.
Final votes on the budget bills are expected next Monday, two days ahead of the June 30 deadline to pass a balanced budget.
A balanced budget must be in place by July 1 to avoid a government shutdown.
A 2006 budget impasse shuttered government for eight days.
On his first day in office in January, Christie signed an executive order exempting Atlantic City casinos from any future shutdown. The casinos lost about $55 million when they were closed over the July 4 holiday four years ago.
Word of a tentative budget agreement came after Democrats in the Assembly attempted - and failed - to override Christie's veto of an additional tax on millionaires. The party-line vote had 47 Democrats favoring the override and 33 Republicans opposed.
The one-year surcharge would have raised about $600 million by increasing income taxes nearly 2 percent on the state's 16,000 highest wage earners.
Christie vetoed the tax last month after the Legislature passed it along party lines.
Democrats wanted to use the money to restore property tax rebates to senior citizens and the disabled. They also wanted to put Republicans on the record for voting against the proposal.