What a difference a decade makes.
Ten years ago, New Jersey’s governor at the time, Chris Christie, used his line-item veto powers to keep total state spending under $30 billion after lawmakers sought to increase the budget by nearly $1 billion.
But last week, current Gov. Phil Murphy signed a new state budget that included all the Legislature’s proposed add-ons, pushing total spending to a record high of $46.4 billion.
Christie’s budget cuts came as New Jersey was still struggling to recover from the 2007-2009 Great Recession, and as the two-term Republican was attempting to shift the focus in Trenton to fiscal discipline and lower taxes.