New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) has released a statement reflecting on Governor Phil Murphy’s tenure following his final State of the State address. Dena Mottola Jaborska, Executive Director of NJCA, acknowledged the governor’s efforts to support working families and highlighted several key policy achievements during his two terms.
“Governor Phil Murphy was elected on the promise of badly needed, impactful progressive change, and in many ways he delivered. Throughout his two terms, and in particular during his first years in office, Governor Murphy did more for working families than any other governor in recent New Jersey history,” said Mottola Jaborska.
She cited initiatives such as establishing earned sick and safe days standards, expanding paid family leave programs, and raising the minimum wage. “The stunning number of Governor Murphy’s policy reforms that helped lift working families include an earned sick and safe days standard, a sweeping expansion of our paid family leave program—hopefully to be strengthened again in one of his last acts in office—and a significant increase to our minimum wage. Murphy enacted our nation’s strongest equal pay law, ensuring New Jerseyans’ right to equal pay for equal work, and arming working women and people of color with tools to combat unfair wage discrimination. He also started New Jersey down the path of a future state bank, an institution that will prove vital for economic development in underserved communities.”
Mottola Jaborska also pointed out fiscal policies implemented by the administration: “Remarkably, Governor Murphy pushed through these reforms while also fulfilling a major policy goal of restoring New Jersey’s fiscal health. He accomplished this by championing farsighted fair taxation practices that included the Millionaires’ Tax and the Corporate Transit Fee while instituting and expanding the state Child Tax Credit. These reforms vastly improved our state’s fiscal health and credit standing following decades of irresponsible budget practices by both Democratic and Republican administrations.”
Healthcare was another area where NJCA recognized progress under Murphy’s leadership. According to Mottola Jaborska: “The Murphy administration transformed many aspects of healthcare in New Jersey, helping to cut our state’s uninsured rate in half. Governor Murphy used the power of his office to improve the availability and affordability of health plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The creation of New Jersey’s state-based marketplace, and the deployment of state dollars to educate and assist members of the public on coverage options, resulted in a remarkable ACA success story for New Jerseyans, and a standard for other states to emulate.”
She continued: “Our outgoing governor championed and implemented Cover All Kids, a groundbreaking healthcare program that ensures universal, affordable healthcare for all children, regardless of their immigration status. His policies reigning in healthcare costs included landmark legislation to address runaway pharmaceutical drug prices, and the strongest consumer medical debt protections in the nation. The Murphy administration has also been instrumental in the fight to defend the ACA, and many other programs, against the worst attacks from the Trump administration.”
However, NJCA expressed concerns about some decisions made during Murphy’s time as governor. “Despite these numerous achievements, Governor Murphy did not always stand up to entrenched political and corporate interests and that sometimes resulted in policies that hurt New Jersey’s working families,” said Mottola Jaborska.
She criticized measures such as changes brought by the Elections Transparency Act—which she said increased dark money influence—and amendments weakening access under OPRA (Open Public Records Act). She added: “Governor Murphy’s subsidies for nuclear power plants saddled New Jersey ratepayers with unnecessary taxes while power company PSEG reaped massive profits. We urge Governor Murphy to not sign legislation from his last lame-duck lawmaking session that includes hundreds of millions of dollars in corporate subsidies New Jersey can’t afford, while undoing some of his administration’s own efforts to reform corporate subsidy policy to begin with. This would create major challenges for the incoming Sherrill administration.”
Looking ahead at new leadership under Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, NJCA called for continued focus on transparency and accountability: “We urge Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill to build on Governor Murphy’s numerous accomplishments while also prioritizing transparency, accountability, and when necessary standing up against entrenched political and corporate interests. We heartily thank Governor Murphy for the many reforms he championed on behalf of working families and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
