At budget time, Murphy cant kick this bad habit | Editorial [Video]

New Jersey has a record $10 billion surplus, so it would be reasonable to ask why Gov. Murphy can’t fund NJ Transit’s operations without diverting $334 million from its capital budget – money that should be untouchable, because it is needed for new equipment and renovations.

And given his extraordinary climate goals, it would also be reasonable to ask why he plans to filch another $70 million this year from the Clean Energy Fund to keep the trains and buses moving.

But once again, his new fiscal budget, announced Tuesday, still features shell games. And while the administration has chosen budget week to underscore how NJ Transit has had a dedicated funding source for operations all along – even if nobody seemed to notice – it still begs the question: If the bedraggled agency is truly on stable financial footing, why does the governor continue to raid these other funds …