Business and progressive groups presented Senate lawmakers with divergent views on how to use rising revenues and billions in remaining federal aid during the first of the chamber’s annual budget hearings on Tuesday.

Representatives from the New Jersey Business and Industry Association and the New Jersey and Southern New Jersey Chambers of Commerce welcomed Gov. Phil Murphy’s planned $6.8 billion pension payment, a proposed $1. $3 billion in a fund used to pay off state debt, and the lack of proposed tax increases.

But they said the proposed $50 million deposit into the Main Street Recovery fund, a pandemic-era small business relief program, was insufficient. And they urged lawmakers to use federal funds to avoid an automatic increase in employers’ unemployment insurance tax intended to fill the state unemployment fund, which has been drained by soaring unemployment claims. unemployment during the pandemic.

“There are ways to improve the budget to make our state more affordable through tax relief and some additional growth-friendly investments,” said Chris Emigholz, vice president of government affairs at New Jersey Business and Industry. Association. “We appreciate toeing the line on no new taxes, but we need broad tax relief to better address affordability for all.”

These arguments, like those tabled by the progressives, echo those put forward before the Assembly’s Budget Committee last week.

Emigholz called on the state to double the $500 taxpayer-funded signing bonuses the state was offering to lure people into the workforce and warned that the state may be forced to raise taxes once that federal aid will run out and tax revenues will decline by their increase if spending is not kept in line.

“These are not long-term renewable sources of income that they can rely on in the future,” said Hilary Chebra, government affairs manager for the Southern New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. “To maintain this level of growth and spending over the long term, the state would inevitably have to raise taxes on an already overstretched business and resident community in New Jersey.”

Progressive advocates took a different view, saying helping the state’s neediest residents would do more to help New Jersey’s economy than helping businesses.

“We keep hearing about making New Jersey affordable, but we have to ask ourselves who are we making the state affordable for,” said Peter Chen, senior policy analyst at New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive think tank. “We’ve heard from the business community about how we need to make the state affordable for businesses, but those most affected are low- and middle-income New Jersey residents.”

Chen and Renee Koubiadis, who spoke on behalf of the New Jersey Anti-Poverty Network at Tuesday’s meeting, suggested that New Jersey create a state-level child tax credit mirroring that which exists in federal level.

They said New Jersey should increase income eligibility and allocation levels for the state’s earned income tax credit.

Income thresholds for the federal credit range from $21,430 for a single filer with no dependents to $57,414 for married filers with three dependents. The state allocation is equal to 40% of the federal credit.

They also urged lawmakers to bolster WorkFirst NJ – the state’s temporary assistance to needy families – and noted that enrollment had fallen more than 90% between 1996 and 2018. They warned of a crisis of coming if the state doesn’t set aside more money for rental and utility assistance.

“Rather than going toward more corporate tax breaks or handouts to institutions, those dollars should go into the pockets of the hard-working New Jerseyans whose efforts have gotten us through the pandemic: grocery store workers , home health aides, child care teachers,” Chen mentioned