JOHN REITMEYER reports for NJ Spotlight
Legislation that would officially move New Jersey’s income tax-filing deadline to July 15 and lengthen the state’s fiscal year by three months has been formally introduced by lawmakers and is on course to make it to Gov. Phil Murphy’s desk on Monday.
Both fiscal policy changes have bipartisan support and are seen as crucial to helping the state and its residents navigate the severe economic fallout from the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
While some other states have begun to disclose estimates of potential revenue losses caused by the pandemic, New Jersey’s Department of Treasury has yet to do so. But Gov. Phil Murphy said during a media briefing on Thursday that the state budget is getting “crushed” by dropping revenues and rising expenses related to the pandemic.
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“The impact on the state budget is significant,” Murphy said. “There’s no other way to put it.”
In all, more than two dozen bills related to the coronavirus response were introduced during Assembly and Senate quorums that were held on Thursday.
Among the new measures is the legislation that will move the state’s April 15 tax deadline to July 15, and extend the close of the fiscal year 2020 from June 30 to Sept. 30. The same bill will also require Murphy to put forward a budget proposal by late August for a planned truncated fiscal “year” that would run from Oct. 1, 2020 until June 30, 2021.
Murphy had proposed a $40.85 billion spending plan for fiscal year 2021 in late February, but the pandemic has essentially rendered it obsolete within a matter of weeks.
More than 51,000 New Jersey residents have been reported as testing positive for COVID-19, Murphy said during Thursday’s media briefing. There has also been a total of 1,700 deaths caused by COVID-19 in New Jersey, the governor said.
Unemployment claims still on the rise
The filing of new claims for unemployment benefits also increased again last week, according to new figures released Thursday by the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, bringing New Jersey’s three-week total for new claims up to 576,904. That comes as the governor has shuttered many businesses across the state to help slow the spread of the disease.
New Jersey has already frozen nearly $1 billion in FY2020 spending in response to the pandemic.
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