Calls for increasing income tax credits for working poor
BY TOM HESTER SR.
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
State aid for New Jersey public schools will rise by $213 million to a record $8.8 billion under the $32.1 billion 2012-13 state budget proposed Tuesday by Gov. Chris Christie.
The governor introduced his “New Jersey Comeback” budget before a joint session of the Legislature, and his cabinet and state Supreme Court justices in a crowded Statehouse Assembly chamber in Trenton.
The proposed $32.1 billion package, a $2.4 billion increase over the 2011-12 fiscal package, begins July 1, and represents an 8 percent increase in spending when compared to the current budget. The proposal relies using $288 million in state surplus funds, a move that would reduce the current surplus to $300 million.
Christie noted that one of every three dollars in the budget is earmarked for education.
He also called for a $100 billion increase in aid to colleges and universities, including a $390 million increase in state tuition aid to college students.
