Well, Republicans are once again slamming the record level spending coming out of Trenton.

Some saying Governor Murphy is spending the state into ruin.

Republican budget officer Senator Declan O'scanlon shared his reaction to the fiscal plan with Briana earlier today.

Here's that conversation.

Let me bring in Republican budget officer Declan O'scanlon is with me now.

Senator, thank you.

I know it's a little tricky with this going on in the background, but we want to get you so I know you all have a response that you're going to be delivering soon.

Takeaways.

$58 billion budget.

You're a fiscal hawk, stands out where it.

Starts and won't end.

Just like all previous budgets.

Some of the things that are claimed to have cut, like the pork that was all over last year's budget.

Will be built back in this budget.

My words, when all is said and done, it's very likely this budget proposal was $60 billion a year.

And and you all Republicans in your caucus have threatened to sue the governor if, in fact, items that are not appropriated to a direct state.

If they aren't.

Cohesion.

Substitution.

Which provides that if you're going to dole out money, the gross income tax, for instance, has to be given out based on a sound formula.

Last year, there were there were dozens of line items that didn't do that great, hundreds of millions of dollars.

We will see if it comes to that.

And it's a practice that this administration has started against all administrations before.

This is the very first one to do that.

All right.

I saw you writing down some items during the speech when the governor was calling on, you know, his critics to find other areas to cut.

What would you cut?

You said that this was a disaster waiting to happen.

This is a challenge that Republicans that every single cycle that we have come up with, with hundreds of line items that we would cut.

We've come up with dozens of reforms that would provide billions in relief and spending relief for all over.

That is just a lame challenge that suggests.

He goes on to suggest that he would have to cut pension benefits.

You have to cut transit.

Would you not?

No.

You know, you can't cut the pension payments that there's tons of pork in these budgets.

I would cut luxury stadiums that are funded with our tax dollars.

I know competitive process with no form.

You're talking about the one in Middlesex County, about $120 million.

There's again, I can find $1,000,000,000 in this budget that we could cut in the final budget last year.

And in this budget, when it's finally done this year and it's not hard to do.

A lot has been made about the surplus that this governor has focused on.

The uncertainty, of course, and what dollars we will get, what dollars we won't get from the federal government as far as being a good fiscal steward.

Is that not a good idea to have that friends.

Having a surplus, but it's better to have a balanced budget.

So if you are, you're better off having a $5 billion surplus and a balanced budget than a $10 billion surplus and an unbalanced budget.

This budget is on balance between three and $4 billion, which is tragic given the amazing fiscal times and the huge billions of dollars of federal money, close to 20 billion of the past seven years.

We should be handing the next governor a completely fiscally sound, balanced budget.

We are not a lot of what the governor said.

So the governor's office, you know, to push back on that says, look, the structural deficit for this budget on paper right now, of course, we all know things are going to change between now and April.

And now and June is about $1,000,000,000.

So the structural deficit is less than it was.

Still there to your point.

As we sit here, but.

Has shrunk.

That is wrong.

As we sit here today, it's between three and 4 billion and it's not hard to figure out how that works if you're going to do it.

First off, you look at the surplus that's coming down.

It's about a billion and a half dollars after you take out federal money that they dumped into surplus at the end of the year.

So we're shutting down our surplus at an alarming rate no matter what they try to say.

Then what are you going to do after that?

So you've got the state of New Jersey is going to cost an extra billion dollars, maybe a.

Billion and a half.

You said you're not necessarily against in New Jersey.

I'm talking about.

Look, I would choose to fund that, but that is part of the structural deficit which is not funded down.

And it's a promise for next year.

You immediately got to a three $4 billion of structural deficit without even scratching the surface of what all the other things this budget and the details that we're going to find within the next several months as we dig into.

Anything that you right now can stand here and say I can get behind, or that you could see your caucus getting behind.

Certain moves in the transit fee to transit.

It was completely absconded by this administration last year doing that.

I fully back that that has happened this transit to mass.

When the governor came into office he said over his dead body he's going to fix New Jersey transit.

He looks great.

I have to say New Jersey Transit, I might support that.

That that's a broken promise.

That is something we get.

The eye is moving.

That money collected from the proper transit to buy to transit or something.

And again, there's a lot in the budget you could support.

There's a lot of responsible things we're doing against the record on pensions.

We're absolutely on board with that.

But there's so much is billions of dollars.

It shouldn't be happening at a time when we have a structural deficit.

All right.

Republican budget officer Declan O'scanlon, good to talk to you.

Thank you so much.

We'll be catching up with you on the Republican response as well.

Senator, good to see you.