A roughly 10% increase in state spending Gov. Phil Murphy proposed last week included extra money for schools, public worker pensions and other priorities, but nothing to support the underfunded law enforcement effort to investigate a spike in online child abuse.
A dozen other states have supplemented their task forces to compensate for the lack of full funding by the federal government that began the nationwide program. Those states have dedicated anywhere between $1 million and $5 million to their task forces.
Murphy's budget, which is a statement of his priorities, did not include any extra funding, and he said Friday that he "can't commit" to the spending. But he said that could change over the next several weeks as the Legislature parses his spending plan and drafts its own to present to the governor.