June 3, 2021 2:26 pm State lawmakers are considering piling on hundreds of millions of dollars in this year’s upcoming pension contributions, beyond what Gov. Phil Murphy is proposing, according to several lawmakers and a report by Politico New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget calls for $44.8 billion to cover state expenses between July 1 and June 30, 2022. Baked into that is $6.4 billion toward the state’s pension bill–which would mark the first time in decades that the state is fully funding its pension obligation. But with the state flush with cash, lawmakers and state leaders are looking at how they could spend billions of dollars in surplus money. None of the $6.4 billion from the White House could go toward the state’s pension bill, but that leaves a $6.3 billion closing balance of funds that the state could use.