the week is ending with still no debt ceiling deal although lawmakers on both sides of the aisle say they're closer to a compromise Republicans have pushed hard for spending cuts and additional work requirements for those receiving federal aid Democrats say those requirements put undue burden on the nation's most vulnerable citizens and that spending cuts could trigger a recession but if a deal isn't struck by next week financial turmoil could ensue from a crashing stock market to a credit downgrade that would harm the US's ability to borrow money that unease is trickling down to New Jersey where State lawmakers are hammering out the final details of a state budget that's also coming due and as senior political correspondent David Cruz reports a new proposal called stay NJ was introduced by assembly speaker Craig Coughlin and it's provoking some infighting among Democrats we want all seniors to stay in the state of New Jersey there's no data per se that shows a mass Exodus of seniors fleeing New Jersey in fact from 2010 to 2020 the number of seniors in New Jersey actually grew about four percent so seniors are kind of already staying but speaker Coughlin says there's anecdotal evidence from Seniors who suggest they might have to think about leaving the state they're concerned because their property taxes are putting a real drain on on their ability to stay here in New Jersey and it's the names the anj we see what you did there stay NJ is the name of a plan that slashes property taxes for seniors so you get a tax break and you get a tax break every senior uh of 65 or older uh with regard to their primary residence that they live in uh so owner occupied primary residence would be eligible to receive a 50 reduction in their property tax so if your property taxes is ten thousand dollars a year to five your property taxes are twenty thousand dollars you get ten and why not the state is flushed with cash even with the slow tax collection still ahead of the game and Democrats control both houses of the legislature so why not a couple of things about this are concerning the biggest one is it would add another annual I think 1.7 billion dollars to our budget the other part of it which is concerning is it would be for everybody so I'd get a ten thousand dollar break well if you put it that way sure but the speaker says it's more like 1.2 billion plus it's an investment in seniors that the state needs to make the Senate President issued a statement of support but the governor remains steadfast enough that Administration sources say they're working up contingencies for a shutdown that escalated quickly but says budgeted finance writer John reinmeyer don't cancel your Independence Day plans just yet does this sound to you like it's such a serious dire proposal that these guys would go to the mat on this not at all this is that time of the year in the budget process when public hearings have ended and there's negotiations that take place and so we see people negotiating uh sometimes in public putting out uh big proposals and then we see a lot of negotiations that play out behind closed doors where where the details of the new budget get ironed out and that process has just begun so no need for concern just yet still remember in the event of a shutdown beaches in the state will be open just not Highland Beach State Park but your state parks from Liberty State to Cape May point would be closed so would the MVC and the dep and all the alphabet agencies around the state which would annoy a lot of people in an election year which might mean more to this guy up for election than to this guy not up for election I don't think we should be in the business of giving the likes of me uh tax breaks so we're serious nobody takes a shutdown uh lightly it is a it is a big deal uh and we're more than a month away from the deadline so we got we have time so a budget season that had been chugging along with no major surprises may have just gotten its first plot twist I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight News