UPDATE: Democrats defy Murphy by passing their own budget

No deal.

After a brief meeting with Gov. Phil Murphy on Thursday afternoon, New Jersey's legislative leaders left the governor's office without a state budget agreement, leaving the clock ticking toward a possible state government shutdown next weekend.

The state Senate and Assembly instead decided to move ahead with voting on their own counterproposal to Murphy's budget later in the day.

The Senate passed the budget by one vote, 21-17, late Thursday afternoon. The Assembly followed suit just before 9 p.m., passing the budget in a 46-28 vote.

Murphy isn't backing away from his two tax proposals that his fellow Democrats who control the state Legislature have refused to support.

"The people of New Jersey elected me to end business as usual," Murphy said at a news conference at his office in Trenton shortly before 5:30 p.m. "They had enough of rosy scenarios that blew up in their faces."

Murphy accused the Legislature of sending him a budget that mirrors "gimmicks" that his Republican predecessor, former Gov. Chris Christie, signed off on during his eight years in office.

"Unfortunately, the Legislature seems intent of keeping the legacy of Chris Christie alive and well in Trenton, with a budget to match," Murphy said. "I will not put forward gimmicks and games that I know are ticking time bombs and call it a day. We did that for eight years, and look where that got us."

"They are why our finances are a national joke," he added. "They are why the people of New Jersey have continually seen the promises made to them in one year broken the next."

The governor then suggested lawmakers are working with unreliable numbers in their alternative budget plan.

"This is not Donald Trump's Washington," Murphy said in reference to the Republican president, whom he often criticizes. "We do not work with alt-facts."

He then made another reference to his predecessor.

"This is not Chris Christie's New Jersey," Murphy said. "I'm disappointed the legacy of Christie deal-making is not gone from the system."

Asked if he's worried of how him fighting with fellow Democrats will be perceived, Murphy suggested lawmakers aren't acting like members of his party

"I believe I'm fighting with Democrats," he quipped.

Hours later, the state's top two lawmakers, state Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-Middlesex, criticized Murphy for negotiating in bad faith.

At their own news conference down the street at the Statehouse on Thursday night, Sweeney said he's "never seen" a governor's administration with "such a lack of focus and a lack of honesty, the way they've handled this."

"Are we all Christiecrats or whatever the hell he wants to call us?" Sweeney added. "Or are we Democrats who just don't agree? We are the Legislature. And we're not gonna be dictated."

"It's not Goldman Schs," he continued about Murphy, who is a former executive at the Wall Street banking firm. "We're not gonna be told what to do. We're gonna be partners. We're gonna be equal partners."

Sweeney says the Legislature won’t deal with Murphy’s “my way or the highway” stance. #NJBudgetDrama pic.twitter.com/4r1CDVrZKX — Brent Johnson (@johnsb01) June 22, 2018

Coughlin accused Murphy of being too "dogmatic" in negotiations.

"He's been disagreeable instead of disagreeing," the Assembly speaker said. "I think we had the opportunity to make real progress, and we failed."

All these remarks came after Murphy met with Sweeney and Coughlin twice behind closed doors Thursday. It appeared the three were headed to a deal after their morning session, but the talks broke down by the afternoon session.

Murphy is pushing his first state budget proposal since he succeeded Christie in January. He has proposed raising taxes by more than $1.5 billion -- including the millionaires tax and sales tax bump -- to pay for funding increases to education, transportation, and more.

But Murphy has faced pushback from his fellow Democrats. Sweeney and Coughlin introduced to advance their own budget that has many of the same priorities but funds them largely through raising taxes on New Jersey's largest corporations for two years.

Murphy wouldn't say Thursday whether he would immediately veto the budget bill lawmakers plan to send to him.

He and lawmakers have until June 30 to reach a deal and enact a budget. If they don't, the state government could shut down for the second straight year -- meaning state parks, beaches, and agencies could close over the July 4 weekend and state workers would not get paid.

But Murphy stressed there are still nine days to go and he remains an optimist.

"It isn't over yet," he said. "I'm not gonna stop working. I'm not gonna stop trying."

Murphy says he remains an optimist, but he won’t sacrifice his principles. pic.twitter.com/8wPVjsDezl — Brent Johnson (@johnsb01) June 21, 2018

Sweeney agreed.

"There's no reason why we can't get beyond where we're at today," he said.

NJ Advance Media staff writers Brent Johnson, Susan K. Livio, and Samantha Marcus contributed to this report.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MatthewArco or Facebook.