Nearly $50 Million Earmarked For EV-Related Incentives & Investments
Governor Phil Murphy yesterday signed into law a $46.4 billion state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1, 2021. This is the largest budget in New Jersey history and was made possible due to better-than-expected tax revenues, $6.2 billion in federal relief funds, as well as $4 billion Democrats approved to borrow last fall.
The budget includes $47 million in electric vehicle-related investment including EV incentives for both individuals and municipalities, as well as investment in expanding New Jersey’s charging infrastructure. The Charge Up New Jersey Electric Vehicle Incentive Program, which will be relaunched as a point-of-sale program in Summer 2021 was funded with $30 million. The bad news is that $7 million of that amount appears to be earmarked to cover late-arriving applications received during the 2020 campaign that ran from March 15 until December 15, 2020.
As soon as details of the 2021 Charge Up New Jersey EV incentive program are released by the Board of Public Utilities, NJ CAR will communicate them to dealers immediately.
The final budget also includes a $6.9 billion payment into the State pension system and $3.7 billion for paying down debt or avoiding future debt.
In the past, budget negotiations, both within the Democratic majority and also between Democrats and Republications, have been highlighted by public squabbles and threats of government shutdowns (or actual shutdowns). According to news reports, Governor Murphy and Democrats, who control both the Senate and Assembly, negotiated the budget quickly and almost entirely behind closed doors. Republicans condemned this lack of transparency in the budget process.