The tax would generate roughly $500 million and Democrats want to send the money to the state's wealthiest school districts
The N.J. Assembly in this 2010 file photo. They approved a bill that would add an additional tax to residents who make more than $1M annually. TRENTON — In a vote along party lines, the state's Assembly approved an extra tax on all incomes above $1 million today, but the move will almost certainly be blocked by Gov. Chris Christie.
The so-called millionaire's tax would generate roughly $500 million and Democrats want to send the money to the state's wealthiest school districts, which saw their state funding all but eliminated as the economy choked the state budget.
The vote on the tax was 46-32. The accompanying bill that would increase school spending passed 46-31.
The state Senate is expected to approve an identical bill later today.
Assemblyman John Mckeon (D-Essex), the bill's sponsor, said the state's wealthy should share in the sacrifice that poor and working class had to bear under the governor's budget cuts.
"In these difficult times, we've seen working class and senior and disabled citizens bearing the heaviest burden, but a call for shared sacrifice should include all residents of New Jersey including the most affluent," Assemblyman he said in a statement."The millionaire's tax is a fair component to shared sacrifice."
Christie has vowed to veto the tax, as he did last year.
The tax was not included in the same bill as the Democrat's $30.6 billion budget, which already increases funding for school districts by $574 million more than the state Supreme Court required in a decision earlier this year.
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