The $700 million-plus in projects state lawmakers added to this year’s budget favored competitive districts and those represented by Democrats, according to a New Jersey Monitor analysis of budget documents recently made public.
A review of the nearly 600 budget resolutions approved as part of this year’s $58.8 billion annual spending bill found that municipal and school district aid approved outside of the state’s formulaic awards and competitive grants flowed almost exclusively to areas represented by Democrats. The budget cleared the Legislature on June 30, but the resolutions were not made public until Aug. 8.
In New Jersey, lawmakers and officials with the other branches of government can seek changes to the budget the governor proposes in February by submitting requests for funding or language changes through budget resolutions…
Though Democrats are perennially concerned about a Republican upset in the 38th District — a Bergen County district that includes towns like Paramus and Lodi — the 36th has generally not been considered competitive. There’s some reason to think that could change this year: President Donald Trump carried both districts in last year’s presidential race.
“If a legislator is threatened, if their district is more at risk, they get greater consideration,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at Rutgers University’s Center for Urban Research who has long experience in state and local government.
Pfeiffer added that other factors, like a legislator’s relationships with caucus leaders or an ability to fundraise, also play a role in how budget resolution funding could be spread.
“It’s that combination of factors that us mere mortals are not necessarily privy to or, in some cases, capable of understanding,” he said.