New Jersey may soon pour millions more of taxpayer dollars into public pre-school programs -- and Gov. Phil Murphy calls that "the smartest investment" the state can make.

The new governor spent Monday touting his first step toward his goal of offering pre-kindergarten to all families across the Garden State: a $58 million funding increase in his first state budget proposal.

"For every dollar put into a child at this age, you get about 7 bucks back in society, both though their own life ... but also the broader economic benefits," Murphy, a Democrat, said during a visit to John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamesburg to promote his proposal.

"It's probably the smartest investment we can make," he added. "It's a hard one to convince people of, because it pays off over decades. But that doesn't make it less worthy."

Democratic leaders of the state Legislature negotiated with then-Gov. Chris Christie, a Republican, last year to include a $25 million increase in pre-K funding in the current state budget.

Now, Murphy has proposed adding $58 million on top of the $688 million the state already spends on it.

That includes $32.5 million more to existing programs in 31 low-income -- or so-called "Abbott" -- districts and some other districts.

It also includes another $25 million to expand pre-K in more than 100 other districts.

In all, the money would create slots for 5,300 more public pre-school students, on top of the 28,000 who currently are enrolled.

Helping pay for it, though, will be tax increases. Murphy's $37.4 billion state budget plan includes more than $1.6 billion in new taxes and moves to close loopholes.

The state Legislature -- which is controlled by Democrats -- still must agree to the funding before the June 30 deadline for Murphy to sign a final budget.

Murphy promised on the campaign trail last year to make pre-K "universal" across New Hersey. He said funding will be phased in over the next few years until that's accomplished.

Murphy said that may take longer than his proposal to make community college tuition-free to all New Jersey residents within three years.

Advocates have long complained about how little New Jersey ha spent on public pre-school for much of the last decade. Though the state enacted a law in 2008 to phase in pre-K funding over five years, the plan was never funded.

Sam Crane, a former state treasurer who now helps run Pre-K Our Way, a nonprofit that has lobbied for more pre-school funding in New Jersey, praised Murphy's plan -- even though it's being phased in gradually.

"We understand their fiscal problems. Having once been a state treasurer, I kind of have some sympathy for them," Crane said. "But the fact is: There's kind of this commitment to move forward with the phase-in, and we're encouraged by this."

Gov. Phil Murphy visits John F. Kennedy Elementary School in Jamesburg on Monday.

The Jamesburg school Murphy visited recently implemented a dual-language program for pre-schoolers to learn in English and Spanish thanks to a $950,000 grant from the state in the current state budget.

State Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Middlesex, praised the children at the school for ignoring the politicians who showed up Monday.

"When we all walked in, they looked at us, and they continued their work," Greenstein said with a laugh. "They weren't that impressed."

NJ Advance Media staff writer Adam Clark contributed to this report.

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.