The political wrangling over Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s plan to balance his budget by raising New Jersey’s sales tax increased in furor Monday as it became public that a leading opponent of the proposal actually introduced a bill that would put it into effect. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. on Saturday, June 24 introduced legislation to increase the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent, the same proposal Roberts has decried. The introduction became public Monday when the bill was processed by legislative officials. Roberts spokesman Joe Donnelly said the move didn’t indicate the Camden Democrat has changed his position. Rather, he said it allows Roberts, as the prime sponsor, to control the bill. “The speaker introduced the bill for purposes of controlling discussion,” Donnelly said, declining to elaborate. Nonpartisan legislative officials said Roberts introduced the bill in such a way that it can be considered by the full Assembly without a committee hearing, an unusual but not unheard of path bills can take toward law. Republicans blasted that provision. “It’s a violation of good government because so fundamental a matter should be vetted in the normal committee process,” said Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon. Corzine proposed the tax increase to help overcome a projected $4.5 billion budget deficit for the fiscal year that starts Saturday. The state Constitution requires a balanced budget be adopted by then. The state has missed the July 1 constitutional deadline before without consequence, but Corzine has begun making plans to close state services. “Right now we’re a plane circling the runway,” said Senate President Richard J. Codey. “We’re in a holding pattern, we’re getting dangerously low on fuel and we need to land soon.”