Testa Demands Greater State Aid Scrutiny in Newark
By Insider NJ |
September 9, 2025, 11:41 am | in
Caucus Room
Today, Senator Michael Testa (R-1), a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, sent a letter to Governor Murphy demanding that the City of Newark be placed under State oversight in return for the special $22 million that was gifted to the city last year and recent promise for an additional $30 million.
An excerpt from the letter reads:
“Apparently, tossing Newark $22 million with no strings attached wasn’t the end of this charade. Your administration recently promised Newark another $30 million “loan” to patch up the current budget, which was allowed to run amuck while the Mayor ran for Governor, and which will end the year in deficit without the fiscal restraint or a massive property tax increase. That $30 million is embedded in the City’s recently introduced budget that its council intends to adopt in two weeks—on September 24. Ironically, the City has one of the fastest growing imbalances and some of the most notorious waste, yet it is being treated with kid gloves and is unlawfully being allowed to circumvent the same rules everyone else must follow.
If you look the other way while Newark doesn’t repay its outstanding loan and dole out another $30 million without supervision, the financial mess will worsen for the next Governor. Unless he or she has made a special deal with Newark to continue the favoritism, the end to slashing everyone else’s municipal aid while shoveling money at Newark will come to an end.”
