N.J. Senate leader plans redo on bills Christie vetoed

Now that he’s won re-election, New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney said Democrats who control the Legislature want to work with Governor-elect Phil Murphy to advance legislation they couldn’t get through during the Christie administration.

Democrats’ plans include funding for women’s health care; expanding paid family leave; a higher minimum wage; phasing in higher pension payments; and more money for schools.

“There’s things we want to get done, but we’re not going to be running around tax crazed, I can tell you that right now,” said Sweeney. “We’ve always talked about a millionaires tax. We’ve talked about marijuana. So, there’s some taxes that make sense, but we’re not going to go beyond the things that make sense.”

Sweeney said he’s hoping to have a more coordinated effort between the Senate and Assembly in the next legislative session.

“I’m looking forward to having more opportunities to sit down and just discuss issues and where there’s problems so we can avoid the public fights that we’ve had because they weren’t helpful to anybody,” he said.

A measure to increase taxes on millionaires will be reintroduced the day the Legislature reorganizes. Gov. Chris Christie vetoed previous efforts to impose that tax surcharge.