New Jersey Democratic lawmakers slipped millions in last-minute budget add-ons to nonprofits they work for, groups their relatives run, and local governments that cut checks back to their own firms — and the public only finds out after the money's already spent.
A Politico examination of state budgets from fiscal year 2024 through 2026, reported by the Daily Caller, lays out the pattern: legislators quietly attach appropriations during the closing days of the budget process, when scrutiny is weakest and the clock is loudest. The result is a conveyor belt moving taxpayer dollars straight into the political class's network.
Democratic state Sen. Angela McKnight allocated $2 million for Rising Tide Capital — a nonprofit where she is a paid employee, according to budget records from the last two fiscal years.
Democratic Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin routed $16.7 million to Essex County government. Public records show Essex County then paid $87,000 in legal services to Coughlin's own law firm.
Democratic state Sen. Renee Burgess solicited a $9 million grant for Essex County. After directing the funds there, she took a county job in Essex County, according to public records.
Democratic Assembly member William Sampson directed $200,000 in state funds to the Mo'Hair Foundation, a nonprofit led by his aunt that supplies wigs for hair loss. The grant was roughly four times the organization's previous annual revenue.
Spokespersons for McKnight, Coughlin, and Burgess did not respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation. A spokesperson for Sampson initially responded but offered no comment.
Even one of their own admits the game is rigged against the public. Former Democratic state Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg told Politico: "Even as a legislator, it's hard to keep up with what's going on. Certainly for the public it's even harder until the budget is finally adopted and the press looks at it more closely and lets everyone know what's actually in it."
Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who campaigned on transparency, says she wants to end the practice. "That can't happen. We can't afford that process anymore. It's not accountable; it's not efficient; it's not what the people of New Jersey deserve," she said in a FY2027 budget address.
Words are cheap. The question is whether Sherrill — herself a product of the same party machine — will actually veto budgets laden with these add-ons, or whether the speech was just theater for the cameras. The money trail is clear. The accountability isn't.
