on the heels of today's big policy debates in Trenton Governor Murphy's job approval ratings appear to be holding steady a Monmouth University poll out today finds the Governor's job performance stands at 50% positive among New Jersey adults with 42% disapproving now those results are down slightly from the start of Murphy's second term back in 2022 and his support is slipping though among registered independent voters according to the poll when it comes to the budget less than half just 45% of residents say they've heard about the governor's spending plan for the 2025 fiscal year that's a speech he delivered just weeks ago and the budget process officially kicked off today at the state house with hearings in the assembly and Senate hearing directly from the public and taking a first crack at how money will be spent on programs like affordable housing allowing towns to raise property taxes beyond the current cap and raising the gas tax rate to help pay for the state's Transportation Trust [Music] fun