No budget yet as NJ once more approaches deadline

State lawmakers have once again put themselves up against a tight deadline to pass a new budget that will fund everything from direct property-tax relief programs to state aid for public schools and mass transit.

As the last full week of the fiscal year begins, lawmakers have still not introduced the spending bill that will become the state’s next annual budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Under the New Jersey Constitution, state government is required to shut down if an annual spending bill is not introduced, approved in both the Senate and Assembly and signed into law by the governor, all by July 1.