Assemblywoman Elizabeth Maher Muoio (D-Mercer/Hunterdon) on Thursday lent her support to the FY 2018 budget and urged legislative colleagues not to let the budget get hijacked by politics.
“I urge my colleagues in both houses to unite in supporting this budget, which includes many of the priorities of the working families of this state.
“We cannot risk jeopardizing that by allowing the proposed Horizon legislation to hijack the budget process.
“My concern with the Horizon legislation is straightforward – if reserves are considered to be in ‘excess,’ our first obligation should be to those who paid into those reserves, not confiscating their hard-earned dollars. As I have said before, this legislation would essentially amount to a tax solely on Horizon policyholders to fund state initiatives and my constituents have made it clear that they are overwhelmingly against it.
“This is not something I can support at this time, particularly when we have a little over 24 hours left to pass a budget before people’s lives become affected.”