Governor Murphy's Proposed Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Includes Investments to Address the Work of the Wealth Disparity Task Force

02/28/2023

"This budget includes several proposals derived from the work of the Wealth Disparity Task Force, which was established by Executive Order No. 262." These initiatives, as highlighted in the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget in Brief, include:

• Increasing Access to Homeownership: The budget proposes additional funding for “enhanced benefits for first-generation homebuyers, to help families who have been excluded for homeownership for generations, and to build on the State's Down Payment Assistance Program."
• Reducing Medical Debt: "The Governor also intends to launch a pilot initiative this year to cancel New Jersey residents’ medical debt, using an investment from federal pandemic relief grants. Other jurisdictions that have launched similar programs in recent years have seen as much as $100 or more of medical debt erased for each public dollar expended. Medical debt is often unavoidable for people whether they have health insurance or not, and falls disproportionally on seniors, low-income communities, and communities of color."
• Increasing Access to Capital: The Governor proposes to spend a new allocation this year “for initiatives to increase supply chain diversity, and that help interested businesses form Employee Stock Ownership Plans, which give their workers the chance to share in the benefits of business ownership."
• Aligning Fees with the Guarantees Offered by the Justice System: "In recognition of the disparate, long-term impact that many of our justice system fees and fines can have, the Administration proposes eliminating public defender fees,” in accord with the guarantees offered by the justice system.
• Reducing Barriers to Educational Access: Additional initiatives proposed in this budget to support the work of the Wealth Disparity Task Force include a new investment in community schools, “created through partnerships between school districts and local providers to deliver critical non-academic services to students, and the investment of new funds into dual enrollment efforts that will help high school students earn college credit," and additional investments into Freedom Schools in New Jersey, attributed to the 1964 Freedom Summer, which provide summer and after-school enrichment through research-based programming, emphasizing student-centered teaching, to empower school-ages children to excel and believe in their ability to make a difference in themselves, their families, communities, country, and world with hope, education, and action.

Governor Murphy Signs Executive Order Establishing Equity and Sustainability Advisory Council to Develop Policy for State Workforce

02/21/2023

To expand on this Administration’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in New Jersey’s State workforce, Governor Phil Murphy today signed Executive Order No. 319, which establishes an Equity and Sustainability Advisory Council and requires each of the principal Cabinet departments to designate a senior-level employee to perform the functions of Chief Diversity Officer and serve as a liaison to the Council. The Governor announced the signing of the Executive Order at his and First Lady Tammy Murphy’s annual Black History Month Celebration at Drumthwacket surrounded by prominent community and faith leaders, state legislators, and activists.

“I am incredibly grateful to Governor Murphy for strengthening our capacity to create greater equity across state government,” said Jayné Johnson, Director of the Governor’s Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging. “As the principal departments assess their employees’ needs, evaluate their workplace culture, identify opportunity gaps, and measure the impact of programs and services, the Equity and Sustainability Advisory Council will work with the departments to develop a statewide strategic plan that improves outcomes and aligns the equity work across state government.”

Governor Murphy Announces Appointment of Jayné Johnson as Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

09/28/2021

This new internal office, led by Jayné Johnson, aims to dismantle inequity within State government based on race, ethnicity, and other protected characteristics and to expand opportunities for communities of color and other underserved New Jerseyans.