New Jersey’s Supreme Court has ruled 7-0 that Governor Murphy’s plan to borrow $9.9 billion to cover state budget shortfalls is constitutional, with certain limitations.
Republicans had sued Murphy over the borrowing plan, saying it violated New Jersey’s constitution which says the state can’t issue debt that consitutes more than 1% of the total budget with prior approval from voters. Murphy’s plan to borrow $9.9 billion is about 25% of the budget.
Writing the opinion for the Court, Chief Justice Stuart Rabner said that the issue before the justices was “unprecedented” with little to no legal precedence.
“Laypeople, scientists, and legal scholars alike would agree that COVID-19 is a true disaster with widespread consequences,” Rabner wrote. “The pandemic has caused a health emergency, a broad-based economic one that has devastated many individuals and families, and a fiscal crisis for the State. The present ’emergency caused by disaster’ extends to all three areas.”
The limitations imposed by the Court include requiring the state to certify revenues before borrowing, meaning that the state must do an analysis of how much of a deficit they actually have before borrowing, and cannot borrow more than the shortfall. So if the state is $7 billion short, they can’t borrow $9 billion as the plan currently calls for.
The ruling by the Supreme Court means that taxes in the state will almost definitely be raised to pay off the debt of the state, which is already one of the most indebted states in the nation.
The court just makes it up as they go along and ignore what the actual constitution says in black and white. What other institutional acts can he did due to the unprecedented issue? What’s the point of a supreme court if they ignore the constitution, what’s the point of a constitution if it can be ignored.
What do you expect from a Democrat “Supreme Court” ?!