Gov. Murphy recently introduced his budget for the rest of this fiscal year. Because of the economic impact of the pandemic, the budget had to make up for almost a $6 billion shortfall in the state’s revenues. The huge shortfall forced the governor to make some very difficult decisions. It was obvious that tax increases or budget cuts alone would not solve the problem. He had to take a balanced approach of targeted tax increases and targeted spending cuts, but he also had to borrow funds.

Complicating his spending decisions was the necessity to maintain essential state and local programs including aid to…