Gov. Murphy To Slash $36 Million In Environmental Funding To Provide A Corporate Tax Cut

6% of Corporate Business Tax Revenue Is Dedicated To Environmental Programs

Another Case Of Betrayal and Warped Wall Street Priorities

Will Faux Green cheerleading continue after this betrayal?

Gov. Murphy proposed a cut in the corporate business tax (CBT) estimated at $600 million per year.

The corporate tax cut would have a significant impact on environmental funding of approximately $36 million per year, because 6% of CBT revenue is constitutionally dedicated primarily to funding purchase of open space

NJ Spotlight very vaguely alludes to and essentially buries that key fact that in today’s story:

Revenue generated by the corporate-business tax for the most part supports the budget’s general fund, with some exceptions, including portions that are constitutionally dedicated to funding environmental initiatives, including land preservation.  

The silence from the Keep It Green Coalition has been deafening.

That Coalition spent over $1 million on a controversial and divisive 2014 campaign to persuade voters to approve a ballot measure to amend the Constitution and dedicate the CBT money to primarily NJ’s Green Acres program and private conservation group “stewardship” funding.

Coalition members have strongly backed the Governor, so his betrayal and deep cuts to core programs should prompt howls of outrage.

The KIG measure diverted previously Constitutionally dedicated State Parks funding and eliminated DEP funding for water resources protection and toxic site cleanup. Voters were not aware of these cuts. I argue that they were intentionally duped by KIG, as I recently again wrote about, see:

• No Shame: The Same Conservation Groups Who Stole State Parks Funding Now Demand Restored Funding

It will be interesting to see if the Keep It Green Coalition publicly criticizes the Governor and fights to oppose these deep cuts in the Legislature, or if they will fold and just continue cheerleading for the Governor.

Gov. Murphy is increasingly backtracking and exposed by his lackluster environmental record and sellouts on numerous climate commitments, betrayal of a promise to end the bear hunt, diversions of over $1 billion in clean energy funds, and failure to deliver on other policy commitments.