Governor Murphy – Creating a Stronger and Fairer New Jersey

Affordability and Economic Growth

• Affordability for Working and Middle-Class Families

  • Created the $2 billion Affordable NJ Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) Property Tax Relief Program, oversaw the slowest growth in property taxes in any administration’s term on record, and helped taxpayers by raising the cap for state property tax deductions and expanding Senior Freeze eligibility
  • Enacted the Stay NJ program which will ultimately cut property taxes in half for many seniors
  • Championed 20 tax breaks for working families, including an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit and a new Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit
  • Put New Jersey on a path to a $15 minimum wage, which will be achieved for most workers by January 2024
  • Supported workers by enacting paid sick leave and expanding paid family leave
  • Strengthened pay protections by enacting the nation’s strongest equal pay law and a law prohibiting employers from using prior salary as a basis for employment
  • Supported residents’ financial security by establishing the Secure Choice savings program and a state-level Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

• Economic Growth and Housing

  • Developed and passed a multi-billion-dollar jobs and economic recovery package that brings accountability and labor protections to New Jersey’s incentives programs
  • Invested in NJ’s innovation economy with programs such as the Innovation Evergreen Fund, the Angel Investor Tax Credit, NJ Ignite, and the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit
  • Created new industries for our state, including offshore wind, adult-use cannabis, legalized sports betting, and film production
  • The film industry alone has injected over $650 million and created an estimated 8,500 jobs in the economy
  • Since 2018, New Jersey’s nation leading sports betting industry has generated over $3 billion in revenue
  • Supported NJ small businesses by directing hundreds of millions in federal relief dollars into small business grants and creating the Main Street Recovery Fund
  • Increased funding for affordable housing by over $500 million and launched programs like the Affordable Housing Production Fund and Urban Preservation Fund
  • Promoted affordable homeownership by expanding the successful Down Payment Assistance program and creating a new First Generation Homebuyer program
  • During the pandemic, channeled over $1 billion into one of the nation’s highest-performing emergency rental assistance programs, enacted one of the nation’s strongest eviction moratoriums, dedicated an additional $750 million in State-controlled funds to rent and utility support, and funded critical family support needs from child care to food security.
  • Reinvigorated workforce development programs through the Jobs NJ plan, doubling registered apprenticeships in NJ, and creating the national model Pay It Forward Program
  • Created, with the help of the Governor's Public Bank Implementation Board, the state's first Social Impact Investment Fund to expand access to capital across the state

• Fiscal Responsibility

  • Prioritized addressing New Jersey’s long-term fiscal challenges, which since March 2022, has led to seven credit rating upgrades and put the State on stable outlook with all four major credit rating agencies
  • Made record pension contributions each year and the first three full contributions since 1996, while building a historic multi-billion-dollar budget surplus
  • Established the Debt Defeasance and Prevention Fund and retired more than $3 billion in debt early to generate significant debt service savings

Education

• Pre-K through 12

  • Increased K-12 school funding by more than $2.6 billion since Fiscal Year 2018 (FY2018) and signed landmark legislation to modernize and equitably distribute school funding
  • Invested in New Jersey’s educational infrastructure with over $2 billion for school facilities, emergent needs, and capital maintenance projects; launched K-12 and higher education grant applications for $500 million in bond funding authorized by the Securing Our Children’s Future Bond Act; and launched a $400 million bond-funded capital facilities grant program to support the growing higher education institution infrastructure needs
  • Made critical investments in New Jersey public libraries through $125 million in voter-approved Library Construction Bond Act funding
  • Increased preschool funding by almost $430 million since FY2018 and made early education accessible for nearly 14,000 additional children in 195 new districts as part of the Governor’s commitment to universal pre-k
  • Deployed billions of dollars in federal stimulus funds to school districts and institutions of higher education to ensure robust remote learning, including closing the digital divide for an estimated 231,000 pre-K-12 students; supporting safe reopening of education facilities; and instituted a K-12 best practices clearinghouse to address issues such as learning gaps and chronic absenteeism
  • Made New Jersey the first state to have access to arts education in all public-school districts and to adopt K-12 climate change standards, in addition to signing first-in-the-nation Information Literacy standards into law.
  • Launched “Computer Science for All” initiative and introduced the P-TECH educational model to New Jersey
  • Shepherded the return of full local control to the Newark, Paterson, and Jersey City after decades of state intervention

• Higher Education

  • Provided tuition-free community college for more than 39,000 New Jersey students, partial tuition payments for another 2,800 students, and initiated the Garden State Guarantee to provide a similar benefit for those in four-year colleges, which is projected to have served 25,000 students by the end of FY2024
  • Supported college affordability by consistently increasing funding for the Educational Opportunity Fund, expanding Tuition Aid Grants to support DREAMers and incarcerated students, and enacting legislation to provide tax deductions for those saving for college, current students, and those repaying loans
  • Expanded the TAG program to cover the 2023 summer session, which has allowed more than 9,000 low- to moderate-income students in New Jersey to take advantage of summer courses
  • Enacted legislation to help address workforce shortages in critical areas such as STEM, education, and behavioral health
  • Created a statewide Campus Sexual Assault Commission to create safe, supportive, and inclusive learning environments for all students

Health Care and Human Services

• Pandemic Response

  • Took decisive action to limit the spread of COVID-19 when New Jersey was hit first and hardest by the deadly virus
  • Worked with both the Trump and Biden administrations to ensure that the needs of New Jersey’s residents were being met regardless of politics
  • Ensured equitable access to COVID-19 vaccination in administering over 20 million doses, and prevented the spread of COVID-19 by distributing over 6.5 million test kits to local public health and community-based partners, long-term care facilities, shelters, and over 711,000 tests to K-12 schools
  • Developed a tracking system for scarce resources like personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, rapidly procured supplies, distributed over 269 million pieces of PPE, and now maintain a state stockpile
  • Advanced quality and safety in assisted living residences through increased funding and new quality measures

• Health Care Access and Affordability

  • Restored and expanded funding for women’s health and family planning services to over $50 million
  • Codified the right to reproductive choice in New Jersey prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned
  • Launched the State-Based Exchange, implemented critical market stability and consumer affordability measures, and distributed hundreds of millions of dollars through New Jersey Health Plan Savings subsidies
  • Started the Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency to mitigate unsustainable cost growth and convened health care leaders to commit to health care cost growth benchmarks
  • Launched Cover All Kids to provide health coverage access to more than 86,000 uninsured children in New Jersey, providing coverage to at least 24,000 previously uninsured children in the first seven months of implementation
  • Increased eligibility for the Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled (PAAD) and Senior Gold programs to benefit approximately 25,000 seniors as well as added funding for the Senior Save Navigator Grant Program to further ensure seniors take advantage of programs available to them
  • Provided critical health care workforce wage increases, including direct support professionals, personal care assistants, nursing home workers, private duty nurses, and mental health and substance use disorder providers
  • Signed legislation to protect consumers against surprise bills for out-of-network health services
  • Reformed New Jersey’s Medicinal Marijuana Program, increasing the number of dispensaries from 5 to 47, enrolling and serving nearly 200,000 unique patients since 2018, and maintaining enrollment at close to 100,000 patients, more than five times the number of patients enrolled in 2018
  • Signed a comprehensive prescription drug affordability package, which includes co-pay caps in the state regulated plans for asthma inhalers, epi pens and insulin; transparency across the supply chain; and oversight of prescription drug middlemen

• Maternal Health and Early Childhood

  • Allocated hundreds of millions of dollars toward addressing the opioid crisis since 2018, and developed public input opportunities via the Opioid Recovery and Remediation Advisory Council established by law under this administration, to distribute the almost $1 billion in settlement funds the State will receive over the next 18 years
  • Removed legal barriers to expanding harm reduction services and allocated millions of dollars to invest in new Harm Reduction Centers

• Mental Health and Overdose Response

  • Leveraged the National Governor’s Association’s Chair Initiative to focus on Strengthening Youth Mental Health nationwide, and rebalanced Children’s System of Care rates for the first time in 15 years to significantly invest in youth mental health supports and treatment
  • Launched the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and establish a mobile crisis response system
  • Launched the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families
  • Allocated hundreds of millions of dollars toward addressing the opioid crisis since 2018, and developed public input opportunities to distribute future settlement funds

Energy and Environment

• • Set offshore wind goal of developing 11,000 megawatts (MW) by 2040, and launched the New Jersey Wind Port and WIND Institute to position the state as an industry leader
  • Accelerated the state target of 100 percent clean energy by fifteen years from 2050 to 2035
  • Advanced the Protecting Against Climate Threats (PACT) regulatory reform effort and adopted new inland flood protection measures to protect homeowners, businesses, and infrastructure against increased flooding
  • Advanced electric vehicle adoption and greenhouse gas emissions reduction by initiating Advanced Clean Cars II, requiring all new cars and light-duty truck sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035
  • Established a target to install zero-carbon-emission space heating and cooling systems in 400,000 homes and 20,000 commercial properties and make 10% of all low-to-moderate income properties electrification-ready by 2030
  • Created a permanent community solar program to advance clean energy equity and affordability
  • Steered New Jersey’s re-entry into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
  • Created the Office of Climate Action and the Green Economy and the NJ Council on the Green Economy to address climate change and workforce transitions
  • Signed historic environmental justice bill to protect overburdened communities from pollutants
  • Enacted legislation prohibiting the use of single-use plastic and paper bags in all stores and food service businesses statewide
  • Combatted lead exposure through laws requiring prospective lead-based paint inspection in rental housing, investing over $190 million in addressing lead-based paint risks in housing, and improving requirements for testing for lead in school drinking water
  • Facilitated almost $3 billion in Water Bank projects since 2018 and developing plan for spending over $1 billion more through federal infrastructure and American Rescue Plan investments
  • Increased funding for urban parks and acquired former rail line to create nine-mile Greenway

Transportation And Infrastructure

• • Secured federal funding for the Portal North Bridge and nearly $11 billion in 2023 for the Gateway Project
  • Dedicated billions of dollars in additional capital projects to improve transit in New Jersey, including station improvements in Newark, Hoboken, and Camden
  • Broke ground on the $600 million project of replacing the 114-year-old Raritan River Bridge, with 18 additional key projects currently underway
  • Provided record operating aid to NJ TRANSIT and spared commuters from fare hikes for six consecutive years
  • Reduced NJ TRANSIT’s capital-to-operating transfer to its lowest level in 21 years
  • Turned around NJ TRANSIT through implementing Positive Train Control, graduating locomotive engineers at more than double the rate of the previous administration, releasing a 10-year strategic plan, and investing in new trains and technology
  • Set NJ TRANSIT on a path to achieve an all-electric fleet by 2040
  • Enacted Public Private Partnership (P3) legislation
  • Increased the number of Municipal Aid awards and reach of the program, and provided new funds for Safe Streets and Transit Village programs

Public Safety, Participation, And Social Justice

• Strengthening Democracy

  • Expanded access to voting by implementing Automatic Voter Registration and online voter registration, enacting in-person early voting, and restoring voting rights to over 80,000 residents on probation or parole
  • Strengthened elections through an online application portal for poll workers and ended prison gerrymandering

• Public Safety and Criminal Justice Reform

  • Enacted one of the nation’s most progressive expungement reforms, resulting in the expungement of more than 360,000 criminal records
  • Enacted historic adult-use cannabis legislation, including issuing initial regulations to govern the recreational cannabis market with a focus on equity and social justice
  • Reconstituted the Criminal Sentencing Review Commission and eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses through Attorney General Grewal’s directive
  • Released the Youth Justice Task Force report and created new funding opportunities for re-entry programs
  • Launched the ARRIVE Together mental health response program and allocated funding for statewide expansion
  • Allocated funding to support the closure and replacement of the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility
  • Supported and professionalized the law enforcement profession through the establishment of a new police licensing framework
  • Instituted comprehensive use of force guidelines for our law enforcement officers that emphasize de-escalation

• Reducing Gun Violence

  • Invested tens of millions of dollars in new community and hospital-based violence intervention programs
  • Enacted three major packages of common-sense gun safety bills that make New Jersey’s gun laws among the strongest nationally, by:
  • Banning ghost guns, armor-piercing bullets, and .50 caliber weapons, while promoting microstamping technology
  • Establishing a “red flag” law, expanding background checks, and increasing the number of crimes that restrict gun ownership
  • Signing legislation that allows the Attorney General to pursue legal action against firearm companies that endanger New Jerseyans
  • Responded to the Supreme Court’s disastrous decision in Bruen by enacting a law that, consistent with that decision, limits concealed carry of firearms in a number of sensitive locations such as daycares, hospitals, libraries, and bars
  • Created the States for Gun Safety Coalition and Center for Gun Violence Research

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

  • Supported New Jersey’s immigrant communities by creating the Office of New Americans, limiting voluntary cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement, building trust through the Attorney General’s Immigrant Trust Directive, funding legal representation for resident immigration issues, and enacting legislation allowing residents to obtain drivers’ licenses regardless of immigration status
  • Assembled the first majority female and historically diverse cabinet including the first transgender cabinet member
  • Appointed four justices to the Supreme Court, including a civil rights lawyer, an experienced and widely respected lower court judge, the State’s first Black female justice, and the first Justice who had been a public defender
  • Created the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging to improve access to State programs and signed Executive Order 319 to create an Equity and Sustainability Advisory Council
  • Established the Wealth Disparity Task Force to examine the causes of and remedies for long-standing wealth disparities that disproportionally impact Black and Latino households
  • Codified the right to same-sex marriage and signed bills expanding rights and protections for New Jersey’s LGBTQIA+ community
  • Signed Executive Order 295 to establish state certification for LGBTQIA+-owned businesses, joining California, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania as the fourth state to adopt the designation