"That is about as close to an 'absolute no, under no circumstance' as I can get," said Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll, above Watch video
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris) said he will not vote for a budget that includes court-ordered funding for Abbott districts.TRENTON — If Gov. Chris Christie sends a version of the budget that he supports back to the Legislature today, he may not only face opposition from Democrats.
A small group of hard-line Republican lawmakers have vowed not to vote for a budget that adheres to a Supreme Court ruling and sends roughly $475 million to so-called Abbott districts, even if it has been modified by the governor.
“I am not going to allow the Supreme Court to tell me how I should vote,” said state Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Warren), one of Trenton’s most vocal opponents of the state’s school funding formula.
Doherty believes the funding formula is fatally flawed and is pushing for an alternative that provides the same amount of money to each student, not matter the school district.
The Legislature, along strict party lines, approved a $30.6 billion budget yesterday sponsored by Democrats, but Christie has said he won’t sign it. Republicans have accused Democrats of putting forth an unbalanced budget that relies of fake revenues.
The governor has three options: He could sign the bill and eliminate individual spending items, send a rewritten bill back to the Legislature or veto the whole bill.
If a modified version is sent back to the Legislature, the governor would need to cobble together votes from Democrats and Republicans to get it passed, which is where the Republican opposition may come in to play.
Christie is expected to announce a decision today
Assemblyman Michael Patrick Carroll (R-Morris) said he, like Doherty, does not want to vote for a budget that includes court-ordered funding for Abbott districts.
“That is about as close to an 'absolute no, under no circumstance' as I can get,” said Carroll.
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