[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6095389,"mediaKeyId","2838408-b431bade70d16f606c1329d1e8f80475","parentId",2838408,"title","Senators press OLS and Treasury on proposed taxes, revenue estimates and transparency","audioSeconds",175,"startMs",3840000,"endMs",4015000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2838408-b431bade70d16f606c1329d1e8f80475&start=3840&end=4015","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2838408-b431bade70d16f606c1329d1e8f80475/thumbnail_3840000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6095389/New-Jersey/Senators-press-OLS-and-Treasury-on-proposed-taxes-revenue-estimates-and-transparency","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6095389-40d331fc012b08b165d61ff0a56a3082/orig.mp4?Expires=1771139886&Signature=gDtBVU48pa4lRMKel36l2e-YwC5pzKo-debsLPBrKlfgC9hFMIwG8AuHv41VD2NcvZkR6dDJoRjNf3a2UOvDaDgz4qnrzq~4gVi3p3FQotAtrsjZtZQ5eHxM3Ew7LJD-5wXVs9vZaTGfpkM4PHhFK64p0ungnMZtOaTaLs2Jr4itjG~LW5LaCpPnV5GOlYWFdrr3HIi15rEiTSc0yXFjribA-7aFbYMnWP-ov8MtO~LgZBOhT1alGzErMAcwtQgLvE7Zg2aVr6neLlkc4tVq4OMotJCryDrQSwUWh0yOvz7iDapfM1X2qnJFGvVHlF0vuRwXx5dRT52FltCVsHNi6g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","New Jersey Legislature","date","2025-04-01T00:00:00Z","article","Senators on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee told Office of Legislative Services staff on April 1 that the governor’s proposed FY 2026 tax changes and the public documentation supporting their estimates need more clarity.

\"Is there anything in writing, available to us as legislators or even more importantly maybe to the public, on newly proposed tax proposals that describe them, who they will be assessed against and how the revenue estimates were derived?\" Senator Zwicker asked. OLS staff replied that the budget-in-brief provides a high‑level description but that detailed policy language and full revenue bases will be available only when bills are introduced.

Senators repeatedly named items in the administration’s proposal. Committee members cited approximately $2.18 billion in on‑ and off‑budget tax and fee increases the budget summary attributes to the administration, of which roughly $1.4 billion were characterized in testimony as newly proposed by the governor. Among the measures discussed were: a new tax on certain live-streaming TV subscriptions and, possibly, broader \"digital products\" (OLS staff said the budget-in-brief language could be read broadly); a proposed phone tax estimated at about $60 million; and a levy on admissions or uses of sports and recreation venues—billiard parlors, bowling alleys, batting cages, go‑karts, mini golf, skiing lift tickets, swimming pools and tennis courts were cited as examples OLS staff identified when asked.

\"We could come up with... billiard parlors, bowling alleys, bungee jumping, fishing piers, go kart rides... swimming pools, and tennis courts,\" OLS staff said when enumerating venues that could be affected under the budget language. Several senators said those categories are unlikely to survive the legislative process, calling the provisions politically sensitive and noting limited revenue potential relative to the distributional effects.

Senators also asked about two small tax cuts included in the governor's package: a capital gains deduction for qualified small business stock (estimated revenue loss of $10.4 million) and a sales-tax exemption extension for certain baby products and sunscreen (estimated revenue loss of $7.5 million). OLS staff summarized net effects and said when all on‑ and off‑budget increases are included the proposal represented roughly $1.3 billion in additional revenue in the committee’s working figures.

Committee members pressed on whether statutory dedications for new levies would be enforceable. OLS staff said statutory dedications can be altered in an annual appropriations act and that language provisions in appropriations acts frequently transfer funding from dedicated streams to other purposes.

Senators requested that Treasury and the administration share underlying revenue-estimate documentation and draft bill language so legislators and the public can evaluate which services and transactions would be taxed and how the estimates were derived. OLS said staff-level information had been shared, but the public record currently is the budget-in-brief.

The exchange underscored two points for the committee: the governor’s proposal contains multiple new or expanded revenue sources whose legal definitions and incidence remain insufficiently specified in public materials; and statutory dedication does not by itself guarantee long-term protection of new revenue in the annual appropriations process.

The committee signaled it expects Treasury to supply fuller documentation, and senators said they will press for bill language before final votes on the FY 2026 budget.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Budget and Appropriations (Budget Hearings Only) Committee Tuesday, April 1, 2025 10:30 AM","oneSentenceSummary","Committee members questioned Office of Legislative Services staff about the new taxes proposed in the governor’s FY 2026 budget—digital products, phone tax, sports‑related levies—and raised concerns about sparse public detail, statutory dedication, and the size and timing of revenue estimates.","taxTitle","2025 Legislative Sessions, New Jersey","taxId",77696,"location","New Jersey","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6095394,"Legislative analysts warn New Jersey surplus is large but eroding; structural deficit a concern",371,129000,500000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2838408-b431bade70d16f606c1329d1e8f80475&start=129&end=500","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2838408-b431bade70d16f606c1329d1e8f80475/thumbnail_129000.jpg","/articles/6095394/New-Jersey/Legislative-analysts-warn-New-Jersey-surplus-is-large-but-eroding-structural-deficit-a-concern","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6095394-99d3751eaf683139bd40092a805ebe9f/orig.mp4?Expires=1771139886&Signature=Qws0Am-eSBrKCxM9ovoDBhbmtey71ereu6tZadgaAJkabhuzB19ZtKgqsJsU7Z3XDr0fP7wjrx4VtPw8cgLpOSYecNCPzXb6ROxTa4FmnEyp3Tl5PrgWW82yhRxak3xLWZB~nFh97tymgLsQJyhzIp0~dXDWGUoJwChaHSU5-NSBhnbx0LU3-OSDKOovsdb2PQ2-68D~0LVpc1ePycQUxd7FuXejzrphWFguuITFP64LlI~gAEhqf1-qqy9ALooGry-vr5qLwAYdo9aufGxJg7et3BaKLohb-nKGjAtwgfac2IRumSPFX4NI9erBpD0TR1HtoFas3Bh4Ttn-tRXfkw__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","The Office of Legislative Services told the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on April 1 that New Jersey faces a substantial but shrinking budget surplus and a structural imbalance between recurring revenues and recurring spending.

\"Since fiscal 24, state spending has exceeded and is anticipated to continue to exceed slowly growing revenue collections, a scenario that steadily erodes the state's relatively elevated reserves,\" Thomas Koenig, legislative budget finance officer, told the committee. Koenig said the state's projected year-end surplus would be \"substantial by New Jersey's historical standards\" but warned that, if current trends persist, the surplus could be nearly exhausted by the end of fiscal 2028.

The warning framed the committee's review because a diminishing surplus limits the state's cushion against shocks. \"A large surplus provides protection against fiscal risks,\" Koenig said, but added the projected $6.3 billion surplus at the end of FY 2026 is only a point-in-time snapshot.

Office of Legislative Services revenue analyst Oscar Mendez presented OLS’s updated revenue forecast and noted that collections for FY 2025 have outperformed earlier estimates. \"To date, growth in fiscal 2025 state revenue has surpassed expectations, leading to an upward revision,\" Mendez said, and OLS’s FY 2025 forecast is $456.5 million above the executive's revised estimate and $819.1 million above the amount certified when the FY 2025 Appropriations Act was enacted.

OLS’s FY 2026 revenue estimate is $57.04 billion, $227.8 million above the executive branch forecast of $56.81 billion. OLS and the executive differ across several major taxes: OLS estimated higher collections in final payments and business alternative income tax (past-due BAT/PDB) and corporation business tax, while projecting somewhat lower gross income tax and sales-and-use tax receipts than Treasury’s February revision.

Committee members pressed OLS about the implications. Senator Testa described the pattern of relying on one-time or nonrecurring resources and questioned whether the budget showed signs of \"Enron-style\" gimmicks; Koenig said deliberate manipulation does not appear present but confirmed the proposal relies on drawing down reserves and makes use of broader executive appropriations authority. OLS and multiple senators raised the growing uncertainty in capital markets and the risk that volatility—especially in nonwage income tied to capital gains—could reduce revenue.

The OLS presentation also quantified drivers of future erosion: the removal of roughly $1.9 billion in nonrecurring FY 2026 resources and a projected $1.3 billion increase in expenditures in FY 2027 tied to an expansion of the \"Stay New Jersey\" program could shrink the surplus by an estimated $3.0 billion in FY 2027 under a simplified model, OLS said.

Koenig and members discussed mechanisms to respond to midyear shocks. Koenig said legislators can enact supplemental appropriations and that the governor also holds certain supplemental appropriation authority for programs such as Medicaid.

The committee's exchange emphasized three takeaways in OLS testimony: (1) the current surplus is historically large but declining if recurring expenditures continue to outpace recurring revenues; (2) OLS’s near-term revenue estimates are cautiously higher than the executive’s, but FY 2026 carries elevated downside risk; and (3) fiscal options exist to rebalance the budget midyear but would require policy choices about spending cuts, efficiencies or one-time resources.

The committee deferred further budget deliberations to upcoming hearings and an OLS update in May after the April tax filing season.","Office of Legislative Services told the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee that a projected $6.3 billion year-end surplus for FY 2026 is substantial historically but will shrink if current trends continue; OLS and the executive branch differ modestly on revenue forecasts and flagged heightened uncertainty for FY 2026.","actionData","errors"]

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Senators press OLS and Treasury on proposed taxes, revenue estimates and transparency

Legislative analysts warn New Jersey surplus is large but eroding; structural deficit a concern