New Jersey state Senator Declan O’Scanlon is having an “I told you so” moment after Governor Murphy’s office directed state departments to reduce spending by 5% for the Fiscal Year 2026 budget in anticipation of a revenue shortfall for the state.

“Wait, you mean Republicans were right in our dire budgetary predictions EVERY YEAR of this administration’s kicking the can down the road?!? Well what do you know!” O’Scanlon said in a statement.

“The looming fiscal cliff is a reality that many Republicans, like myself, saw coming because of Governor Murphy’s wild seven-year-long spending binge, as well as their failure to enact responsible and essential cost-saving reforms” O’Scanlon added.

In a pair of recent emails to all state departments, the Murphy administration has ordered most hiring to be paused, many salary raises to be frozen and budgets for the upcoming state fiscal year to be slimmed down.

New Jersey’s state budget increased every year under the term-limited Murphy and has reached $56.7 billion for the current fiscal year, an increase of over $20 billion from the last budget signed by former Governor Chris Christie.

Going forward, the state will now have to deal with inflation-reduced income, loss of federal covid dollars, as well as a $2 billion structural deficit, assisted by a now dwindling surplus from previous years.

Bur Murphy’s 5% cut order did not sit well with O’Scanlon, who recommended the state instead cut “frivolous” budget items.”

“If the Governor is serious about righting the ship, he can start by embracing moderate restraints and clawing back hundreds of millions of dollars in unspent balances from hundreds of frivolous pork items that were jammed in the budget over the past three years. When he starts with that low-hanging fruit, people might take his claims of frugality seriously,” he added.

“Cutting the cost of bureaucracy is a good first step, but if the Governor truly wants to avoid a disastrous fiscal cliff and protect New Jersey taxpayers, he’ll listen to Republicans’ cost-saving measures that have gone long ignored in previous budget cycles,” O’Scanlon concluded.