Gov. Murphy Vetoes 8 Bills, Citing NJ Coronavirus Fiscal Woes

NEW JERSEY – Gov. Phil Murphy vetoed eight bills on Monday, citing the state's fiscal woes amid the coronavirus outbreak for his decision to nix legislation that would have provided tens of millions of dollars to New Jerseyans suffering from the devastating economic and health impacts of the crisis.

Murphy said the state can't afford proposals such as the “Temporary Lost Wage Unemployment Program,” which would have funded $20 million to help people claim for lost wages because of the coronavirus disease.

Another bill he rejected would have funded $10 million for healthcare and residential facility sanitation due to the coronavirus disease outbreak.

Thousands are out of work as the state's stay-at-home order continues, and the number of cases has exceeded 100,000 while more than 2,000 have died. Read more: NJ Coronavirus Updates: Here's What You Need To Know

At the same time, state revenues have dried up as the economy has slid into what appears to be a recession. Read more: NJ's $1.2 Billion Budget Surplus Plan Is Victim Of Coronavirus

"The COVID-19 pandemic is having a profoundly negative impact on the state’s economy and finances," Murphy said.

In order to ensure sufficient cash flow to meet emergency and statutorily required obligations, more than $1 billion has been held in reserve since March, Murphy said.

"The hard reality is that we will be facing unprecedented budgetary challenges in the coming months and beyond," he said. "I have been advised by the state treasurer that we expect this pandemic to cause precipitous declines in revenues both in Fiscal Year 2020 and Fiscal Year 2021.

Murphy said he understands the sponsors’ appreciation of the increased sanitization demands at these residential facilities, but "it is incumbent upon us to make informed decisions in full consideration of our budgetary and cash flow position."

The lost-wages bill, meanwhile, "sets forth a solid but imperfect framework to aid our most vulnerable residents," Murphy said.

"Even if the state had the resources that passage of the bond act will provide, the $20 million authorized by this bill represents only a tiny fraction of the amount needed to adequately address the large-scale unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, " he said.

The $10 million earmarked by the bill to compensate workers for lost wages would be enough to provide 10,000 workers with a $1,000 payment, he said.

"To put that number in perspective, as of April 13, 2020, there were 856,528 unemployment claims filed by New Jerseyans over the previous five weeks," he said.

Here are the bills he vetoed:

• A-3813/S-2292 (Burzichelli, Schepisi, Lampitt/Cardinale, Beach) - Permits use of virtual or remote instruction to meet minimum 180-day school year requirement under certain circumstances: Copy of Statement
• A-3841/S-2300 (Pintor Marin, Bramnick, Chiaravalloti/Diegnan, Sarlo, A.M. Bucco) - Automatically extends time to file gross income tax or corporation business tax return if federal government extends filing or payment due date for federal returns: Copy of Statement
• A-3842/S-2282 (Greenwald, Taliaferro, Quijano/Ruiz, T. Kean) - Establishes Bridging the Digital Divide in Schools Grant Program in DOE to provide and expand access to technology and equipment for students in certain school districts: Copy of Statement
• A-3846/S-2293 (Sumter, Chaparro, Quijano/Madden, Lagana) - Creates “Temporary Lost Wage Unemployment Program;” allows persons to claim for lost wages due to coronavirus disease 2019, and employers to pay wages to workers ordered under quarantine by licensed healthcare practitioner; appropriates $20,000,000: Copy of Statement
• A-3856/S-2297 (Downey, Wimberly/Gopal, Singer, Greenstein, Cruz-Perez, Pou, Ruiz, Addiego, C.A. Brown) - Makes FY 2020 supplemental appropriation of $10 million for healthcare and residential facility sanitation due to coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: Copy of Statement
• A-3857/S-2275 (Coughlin, Quijano, Speight, Jasey/Cryan, Singer, Turner, Singleton, Cruz-Perez, Ruiz, Addiego, Scutari, T. Kean, Bateman, C.A. Brown, O’Scanlon, Oroho) - Makes FY 2020 supplemental appropriations of $15 million for grants to food banks: Copy of Statement
• A-3858/S-2288 (Mukherji, Spearman, Zwicker/Greenstein, Vitale, Singer, Cruz-Perez, Ruiz, C.A. Brown) - Requires Commissioner of Human Services to issue supplemental cash assistance payments to Work First New Jersey recipients under certain circumstances; makes appropriation: Copy of Statement
• A-3864/S-2299 (Downey, Houghtaling, Swain/Greenstein, O’Scanlon, Gopal, Ruiz, Turner, C.A. Brown, Holzapfel, Singer, Singleton) - Authorizes notaries public to perform certain notarial acts remotely: Copy of Statement

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