New Jersey lawmakers are scheduled today to consider a state budget that boosts several taxes while cutting the property-tax-rebate checks that will be sent out later this year. The $29 billion spending plan is up for consideration in the Assembly at 11 a.m. and the Senate at 2 p.m. The budget increases taxes on cigarettes, hard alcohol and wine. It raises the taxes on personal incomes over $400,000. It also eliminates a property-tax deduction for households earning more than $250,000. The budget would reduce the size of the property-tax-rebate program, limiting it to households earning less than $75,000. Exceptions are in place for senior citizens and disabled residents. Households earning up to $150,000 qualified for rebate checks last year and the ceiling was $250,000 the year before. Read full Statehouse Bureau report here.