Legislators quickly and quietly cleared a $128 million supplemental spending bill through budget committees Thursday evening, setting up the legislation for quick approval during lame-duck sessions next week.
The bill was introduced and then voted on more than six hours into the Senate Budget Committee hearing. It cleared on party-line votes in both the Senate and Assembly committees. An attendee said members of the public could not comment on the bill at the hearing.
“This is a supplemental appropriation bill that covers funds, some of the appropriations that have been done in the last few weeks, some supplemental appropriations requested by the administration. and some, let’s call it repairs or corrections, that were made as part of the budget process.” Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) said during the hearing.
The legislative session ends Tuesday, when a batch of 12 new Assemblymembers will be sworn in. The Senate and Assembly each have voting sessions scheduled for Monday.
The legislation gives the New Jersey Economic Development Authority $25 million to support infrastructure for a university to host a “state-of-the-art supercomputer” and $20 million to the EDA for 2026 World Cup marketing. The legislation gives another $6 million to the EDA for marketing and $1.5 million to the Old Barracks Museum.
The bill gives $54 million to various county projects and appropriates $5 million to food security research.
