The $32.9 billion spending plan is 4 percent larger than the one Gov. Chris Christie signed last year. Pennsylvania lawmakers are still working to finalize a Fiscal Year 2014 budget.
New Jersey lawmakers today passed a new state budget.
The $32.9 billion spending plan now goes to Gov. Chris Christie for a signature. Both the Assembly and Senate passed the budget bill today, ahead of the July 1 start of Fiscal Year 2014.
The budget changed little since Christie proposed it in February. Democrats who lead the legislature and the governor's office agreed to changes amounting to less than $100 million.
The budget is 4 percent larger than the one Christie signed last year, The Star-Ledger reported.
Assembly Republican leaders Jon Bramnick and Declan O'Scanlon touted the budget as fiscally responsible.
But Democrat Vincent Prieto, who chairs the budget committee, says it fails to restore a tax credit for the working poor or fund a preschool expansion in poor districts.
State Sen. Michael Doherty, a Republican whose 23rd District represents parts of Warren and Hunterdon counties, was also critical of the spending, saying Christie and lawmakers want to spend too much, according to The Star-Ledger.
"Our neighbor to the west of us, Pennsylvania, a state with 4 million more people, this year are passing a budget for $28.3 billion," Doherty said, according to the report.
A potential Senate amendment to the House's $28.3 billion budget bill was kept under wraps, as senators and Corbett administration officials discussed a plan to send more money to struggling school districts, including Philadelphia, which is laying off 20 percent of its workforce.