| Phil Murphy and top Dem Sweeney are off to a shaky start. Does it mean trouble ahead? |
It wasn’t an angry outburst, but state Senate President Stephen Sweeney‘s message was sent.
At a mayor’s conference in Trenton on Thursday, Sweeney publicly bristled at Gov. Phil Murphy for calling on state lawmakers to pass legislation designed to combat President Donald Trump‘s gutting of New Jersey’s property tax deductions. Sweeney suggested that if the governor wants something from lawmakers, “he should just call us rather than call us out publicly.”
Then Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said Murphy’s biggest item on his wish list — a millionaires tax — is now “absolutely a last resort.”
It’s no secret the relationship between Trenton’s top two Democrats has been frosty during Murphy’s first month in office — something that could hamper the governor and his ambitious agenda. Insiders say Murphy and Sweeney rarely talk directly to one another.
And those who worry about worst-case scenarios have seen this picture before.
| Read More at NJ.com |