Governor Murphy – Creating a Stronger and Fairer New Jersey

Affordability and Economic Growth

• Affordability for Working and Middle-Class Families

  • Created the $2.4 billion Affordable New Jersey 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 New Jersey’s seniors
  • Championed over a dozen 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 was achieved for most workers in 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
  • Boosted financial security by establishing the Secure Choice savings program and a state-level Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – the Office of Consumer Protection
  • Established the Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, which set new standards for New Jersey’s 50,000 domestic workers

• Economic Growth and Housing

  • Developed and passed a multi-billion-dollar jobs and economic recovery package that brought 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, the NJ Innovation Fellows program, and the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit
  • Developed industries, including adult-use cannabis, legalized sports betting, generative Artificial Intelligence, and film production
    • The film industry has spurred more than $700 million in economic activity in 2023 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
  • Enacted legislation to overhaul New Jersey’s liquor license laws for the first time in nearly a century, injecting nearly 1,500 licenses back into the market and lifting restrictions on breweries and distilleries
  • Supported small businesses by directing hundreds of millions in federal relief dollars into small business grants and creating the Main Street Recovery Fund
  • Launched ten Strategic Innovation Centers across the state to support research and development, innovation, and entrepreneurship
  • Increased funding for affordable housing by over $650 million and launched programs like the Affordable Housing Production Fund and Urban Preservation Fund, helping to create and preserve thousands of affordable units across the state
  • Promoted affordable homeownership by expanding the successful Down Payment Assistance program and creating a new First Generation Homebuyer program
  • During the COVID-19 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
  • Enacted landmark legislation that establishes a streamlined framework for enforcing municipal affordable housing obligations under the Fair Housing Act, reducing barriers to construction while also incentivizing affordable development near transit hubs and for vulnerable populations
  • Reinvigorated workforce development programs through the Jobs NJ plan, more than doubling the number of Registered Apprenticeship programs 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
  • Launched the Bringing Veterans Home initiative with more than $30 million in State and federal funds to house all homeless veterans in the state by July 1, 2026
  • Advocated alongside New York City for the selection of New York New Jersey as host for the FIFA World Cup 26™ Final

• Fiscal Responsibility

  • Made record pension contributions each year and the first four full contributions since 1996
  • Maintained an average surplus of more than $6 billion during the Administration in order to help navigate economic uncertainties
  • 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
  • Established the Debt Defeasance and Prevention Fund and retired approximately $4 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 50,800 New Jersey students, partial tuition payments for another 12,700 students, and initiated the Garden State Guarantee to provide a similar benefit for those in four-year colleges, which has served over 37,200 students as of April 2025
  • 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
  • Enacted legislation to help address workforce shortages in critical areas such as STEM, education, and behavioral health
  • Established the Outcomes-Based Allocation, which rewards senior public institutions of higher education for postsecondary outcomes that align with the State’s higher education priorities
  • 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
  • Ensured equitable access to COVID-19 vaccination by administering over 20 million doses, including fully vaccinating 4.7 million individuals who live, work, or study in New Jersey in under six months
  • Prevented the spread of COVID-19 by distributing over seven million test kits to local public health and community-based partners, long-term care facilities, shelters, and K-12 schools
  • Modernized and scaled government services, like unemployment insurance, to address unprecedented need
  • 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 continue to maintain a state stockpile of medical countermeasures
  • Advanced quality and safety in long-term care facilities through increased funding and new quality measures
  • Convened the Pandemic and Emergency Preparedness Task Force to evaluate the recommendations of the first-in-the-nation independent review of the State’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and to prepare for pandemics and other health emergencies

• Health Care Access and Affordability

  • Provide comprehensive health care benefits to over 1.8 million New Jerseyans, including half of all kids, through NJ FamilyCare
  • Launched Cover All Kids, which expanded health care coverage to at least 44,000 previously uninsured children in the first phase of implementation
  • Launched GetCoveredNJ, New Jersey’s 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
  • Restored and expanded funding for women’s health programs and family planning services to over $50 million per year, in addition to State-sponsored insurance programs
  • Protected reproductive freedom and codified the right to reproductive choice in New Jersey prior to Roe v. Wade being overturned
  • Established 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
  • Enacted protections for consumers against surprise bills for out-of-network health services
  • Facilitated the elimination of $1.1 billion in medical debt for more than 776,000 New Jerseyans
  • Signed a comprehensive prescription drug affordability package, which includes co-pay caps in the state-regulated plans for asthma inhalers, epipens and insulin; promoted transparency across the supply chain and oversight of prescription drug middlemen
  • Reformed New Jersey’s Medicinal Cannabis Program, increasing the number of dispensaries from five to 102, enrolling and serving nearly 200,000 unique patients since 2018, and maintaining enrollment of nearly 100,000 patients, more than five times the number of patients enrolled in 2018

• Older Adults and Persons with Disabilities

  • Increased eligibility for the Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled (PAAD) and Senior Gold programs to support approximately 150,000 seniors and individuals with disabilities
  • 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
  • Increased funding to nursing facilities by over $1 billion and to the Division of Developmental Disabilities’ community programs by over $1.1 billion since Fiscal Year 2018
  • Became an AARP-designated Age-Friendly State, issued the New Jersey Age-Friendly Blueprint through the Age-Friendly Advisory Council, and distributed $2.2 million in Age-Friendly community grants, which implement strategies and best practices to improve New Jersey’s communities for older adults and support aging in place
  • Launched the Disability Information Hub for New Jersey residents with disabilities, caregivers, parents, and advocates to connect with State resources

• Maternal Health and Early Childhood

  • Invested more than $1 billion in expanding access to high-quality, affordable child care across New Jersey, including dedicating more than $140 million to improve child care infrastructure
  • Launched the Nurture NJ program and unveiled a strategic plan to make New Jersey the safest, most equitable state in the nation to deliver and raise a baby
  • Became the second state in the nation to extend Medicaid’s postpartum coverage of mothers for one full year, the third state to provide Medicaid reimbursement for doula care, and one of the only states to increase maternity care provider fee for service reimbursement rates to 100 percent of Medicare
  • Launched Family Connects NJ, the nation’s most robust universal home visitation program, which is live in over half of the counties and will continue to expand annually until statewide
  • Established a first-of-its-kind Maternal and Infant Health Innovation Authority and building a Maternal and Infant Health Innovation and Research Center to continue addressing New Jersey’s maternal and infant health crisis for generations to come

• 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
  • Implemented the 988 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and strengthened the system of behavioral health crisis response through initiatives such as Mobile Crisis Outreach Response Teams, crisis receiving and stabilization centers, and crisis diversion homes
  • Launched the Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence and Escalation (ARRIVE) Together, which partners police officers with mental health professionals when responding to a person who is experiencing a mental health crisis, and allocated funding for statewide expansion
  • Launched the Governor’s Challenge to Prevent Suicide Among Service Members, Veterans, and Their Families
  • Allocated hundreds of millions of State dollars toward addressing the opioid crisis since 2018
  • Invested $120 million of opioid settlement funds to expand harm reduction services, substance use treatment access, housing supports, and wraparound services
  • Removed legal barriers to expanding harm reduction services, authorized 47 Harm Reduction Centers, and invested in opening services in every county
  • Made lifesaving opioid antidotes available for free at nearly 700 pharmacies statewide through the Naloxone365 initiative and over 1,400 community-based entities participating in the Naloxone DIRECT program
  • Launched the New Jersey Statewide Student Support Services (NJ4S), using a hub-and-spoke model to provide prevention and intervention support to students, families, and school staff throughout the state

Food Security

• • Established the Office of the Food Security Advocate, the first executive-level office of its kind in the nation
  • Created a nation-leading $95 minimum monthly SNAP benefit, supporting 40,000 New Jersey households
  • Addressed food insecurity in the summer months through a $120 summer EBT benefit issued to over 700,000 students in 2024
  • Invested $295 million in State funds into Food and Hunger Programs since 2019

Energy and Environment

• • Surpassed 5,000 megawatts of installed solar capacity statewide and created a permanent community solar program to advance clean energy affordability
  • Accelerated the state target of 100 percent clean energy by 15 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 by initiating Advanced Clean Cars II, requiring all new cars and light-duty truck sales to be zero-emission vehicles by 2035. Surpassed 220,000 electric vehicle registrations, demonstrating increasing consumer confidence and the availability of charging infrastructure
  • 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
  • Committed to replacing every lead service line in New Jersey by 2031 and 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 developed plan for spending over $1 billion more through federal infrastructure and American Rescue Plan investments
  • Increased funding by over $700 million for urban parks and acquired former rail line to establish the nine-mile Garden State Greenway linear park
  • Created the New Jersey Green Bank to invest clean energy projects to advance the state’s efforts to make an equitable transition to 100 percent clean energy
  • Announced $3.8 billion in energy efficiency and building decarbonization programs and investments by the state's electric and gas utilities, which is the single largest investment in the history of New Jersey in energy efficiency and building electrification

Transportation And Infrastructure

• • Dedicated billions of dollars in additional capital projects to improve transit in New Jersey, including train station improvements in Newark, Hoboken, and Camden
  • Broke ground on the $600 million project of replacing the 116-year-old Raritan River Bridge, with 18 additional key projects currently underway
  • Provided record operating aid to NJ TRANSIT, including enacting the Corporate Transit Fee to provide dedicated State funding source for NJ TRANSIT operations
  • Reduced NJ TRANSIT’s capital-to-operating transfer to the lowest level in over two decades
  • Revitalized NJ TRANSIT by 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
  • Increased the number of Municipal Aid awards and reach of the program, and provided new funds for Safe Streets and Transit Village programs
  • Reauthorized the Transportation Trust Fund on time to invest billions in modernizing and maintaining transportation infrastructure
  • Enacted the Target Zero Commission to eliminate traffic deaths and serious injuries on New Jersey’s roads by 2040
  • Established New Jersey's first driver's license reciprocity with Taiwan and South Korea
  • Improved NJ TRANSIT's fleet through the replacement and modernization of both our bus and rail fleet
  • Celebrated NJ TRANSIT being named the 2023 winner of the American Public Transportation Association's Outstanding Transportation System award, its highest honor
  • Supported Port Authority’s transformation of Newark Liberty International Airport’s Terminal A through a $2.7 billion modernization project, with plans underway for Terminal B, as well as the development of a new Port Authority Bus Terminal
  • Eliminated wait times by 60% through online service expansion at the New Jersey Motor Vehicles Commission

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
  • Launched a historic clemency initiative that included clear standards for expedited consideration and the establishment of an advisory board to provide objective reviews of pardons and commutations which has resulted in 129 grants of clemency
  • 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 former Attorney General Grewal’s directive
  • 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
  • Signed the New Jersey Data Privacy Act to protect consumer data
  • Reduced the incarcerated population by approximately 30% since 2018, which allowed for the closure of four aging correctional facilities and hundreds of millions in cost avoidances for capital repairs

• Reducing Gun Violence

  • Invested over one hundred million dollars in new community and hospital-based violence intervention programs
  • Enacted three major packages of commonsense 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

• Building a State of Opportunity

  • Assembled the first majority female and historically diverse cabinet, including the first transgender cabinet member
  • Ran with Sheila Y. Oliver, New Jersey’s 2nd Lieutenant Governor and the first woman of color elected statewide in New Jersey’s history
  • Appointed Secretary of State Tahesha Way as Lieutenant Governor, making her the second Black female Lieutenant Governor in New Jersey’s history
  • Appointed five justices to the Supreme Court, including a civil rights lawyer, the State’s first Black female justice, and the first Justice who had been a public defender
  • Developed interagency collaboratives to support professional development, resource sharing, and strengthen employee relations
  • Published the most comprehensive disparity study of state contracting in New Jersey’s history
  • Enacted legislation to promote more inclusive state contracting, including establishing contracting agency procurement goals for disadvantaged businesses, expanding opportunities for disabled veteran-owned businesses, and supporting small businesses through matchmaking and mentorship opportunities
  • Published the Wealth Disparity Task Force Report, which examined the causes of and remedies for the long-standing gaps that affect Black and Hispanic or Latino New Jerseyans 
  • Supported New Jersey’s immigrant communities by creating the Office of New Americans
  • Signed the “Freedom to Read Act” preventing book banning and protecting the rights of students, parents, and educators to ensure access to diverse ideas and perspectives
  • Codified the right to same-sex marriage and signed bills expanding rights and protections for New Jersey’s LGBTQIA+ community
  • Signed Executive Order 326 establishing New Jersey as a safe haven for gender-affirming health care, protecting all persons receiving, seeking, or providing gender-affirming health care services