Governor Murphy – Creating a Stronger and Fairer New Jersey

Executive Orders Signed: 308  • Legislation Signed: 1462 Bills

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
  • 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
  • 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 SecureChoice 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
  • Created and expanded innovation economy 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 that did not exist in the State prior to the administration, including offshore wind, adult-use cannabis, and legalized sports betting
  • Focused on inclusive economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic by directing hundreds of millions in federal relief dollars into small business grants, child care support, and food assistance, and through creating the Main Street Recovery Fund
  • Furthered new units and housing affordability by launching the $305 million Affordable Housing Production Fund, increasing gap financing, and expanding the successful Down Payment Assistance program
  • Signed package of legislation addressing the foreclosure crisis and stood up the Foreclosure Prevention Program and Homeowner Assistance Fund
  • Stood up one of the nation’s highest-performing emergency rental assistance programs, enacted one of the nation’s strongest eviction moratoriums, and dedicated an additional $750 million to rent and utility support during the pandemic
  • Reinvigorated and coordinated workforce development programs through the Jobs NJ plan, which includes the New Jersey Apprenticeship Network and the Pay It Forward Program
  • Launched the Public Bank Implementation Board

• Fiscal Responsibility

  • Prioritized addressing New Jersey’s long-term fiscal challenges, which since Fiscal Year 2022 (FY2022) has led to three credit rating upgrades and put the State on positive outlook with all four major credit rating agencies
  • Made record pension contributions each year and the first full contributions since 1996, while building a historic multi-billion-dollar budget surplus
  • Retired more than $3 billion in debt early to generate significant debt service savings
  • Partnered with public sector unions to achieve major savings in health benefit costs while maintaining high-quality care

Education

• Pre-K through 12

  • Increased K-12 school funding by more than $1.8 billion since FY2018 and signed landmark legislation to modernize and equitably distribute school funding
  • Invested in New Jersey’s educational infrastructure with nearly $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 more than $310 million since FY2018 and made early education accessible for over 12,000 more children in over 160 new districts, putting New Jersey on a path 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 across all core content areas
  • 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 25,000 New Jersey students, and initiated the Garden State Guarantee to provide a similar benefit for those in four-year colleges
  • 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 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 18 million doses, and prevented the spread of COVID-19 by distributing over 4.7 million test kits to local public health and community-based partners, long-term care facilities, shelters, and over 130,000 tests to K-12 schools
  • Developed a tracking system for scarce resources like personal protective equipment (PPE) and ventilators, rapidly procured supplies, distributed over 82 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
  • 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 sign a compact committing to health care cost growth benchmarks
  • Launched Cover All Kids to provide health coverage access to nearly 90,000 uninsured children in New Jersey, providing coverage to over 26,000 previously uninsured children in the first six months of implementation
  • Increased eligibility for the Pharmaceutical Assistance to the Aged and Disabled (PAAD) and Senior Gold programs to benefit over 20,000 seniors
  • 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 number of patients over seven-fold since 2018

• Maternal Health and Early Childhood

  • Launched the Nurture NJ program and unveiled a strategic plan to improve maternal health and eliminate racial disparities in health outcomes for the state’s mothers
  • Extended Medicaid’s postpartum coverage of mothers for one full year, became the third state to provide Medicaid reimbursement for doula care, and increasing midwifery and doula reimbursements
  • Enacted legislation to create the nation’s most comprehensive Universal Nurse Newborn Home Visiting program, becoming only the second state to have a statewide universal program
  • Delivered historic state and federal investments in child care, eliminated child care subsidy co-payments for families, and created new programs to revitalize the industry, including nearly $100 million for facilities and small business supports

• 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
  • Unveiled and advanced the State’s Energy Master Plan to meet the goal of 100 percent clean energy by 2050 and the Protecting Against Climate Threats (PACT) regulatory reform effort
  • Advanced electric vehicle utilization by committing to 330,000 registered light-duty electric vehicles by 2025 and creating the Charge Up New Jersey incentive program
  • 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 $180 million in addressing lead-based paint risks in housing, and improving requirements for testing for lead in school drinking water
  • Facilitated over $2 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-mine Greenway

Infrastructure And Transportation

• • Secured federal funding for the Portal North Bridge (PNB), and advanced the Gateway Project with New York and the Port Authority
  • Dedicated over $2 billion in additional capital projects to improve transit in New Jersey, including station improvements in Newark, Hoboken, and Walter Rand Transportation Center in Camden
  • Broke ground on the $600 million project of replacing the 112-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 five consecutive 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 dedicating more than $50 million in customer-facing technology improvements for NJ TRANSIT riders
  • 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 supported the Attorney General’s directive that eliminated mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenses
  • Established the Restorative and Transformative Justice for Youths and Communities Pilot Program and released the Youth Justice Task Force report

• 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
  • 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 historically diverse and first majority female cabinet
  • Appointed the State’s first black female Supreme Court justice and nominated a civil rights lawyer to the Supreme Court
  • Created the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging to dismantle inequity within State government and established the Wealth Disparity Task Force
  • Codified the right to same-sex marriage and signed bills expanding rights and protections for New Jersey’s LGBTQ community