Murphy signs bill moving budget message to March

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will officially unveil his first budget next month.

Murphy signed a bill into law Wednesday moving the date of the speech from Tuesday to March 13.

By law, the governor must deliver his budget message to the Legislature by the fourth Tuesday in February, but lawmakers regularly pass exceptions for new governors.

Murphy inherited the second half of the fiscal 2018 budget Republican Chris Christie. He will write his first budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Murphy has promised to ramp up spending on pensions and education, financed in part by an income tax increase on millionaires. But Senate President Steve Sweeney has said he views the tax hike as a “last resort.”