Phil Murphy campaign promise tracker: On minimum wage, PARCC testing, NJ Transit and more
Dustin RacioppiLast updated Oct. 19, 2021.
Gov. Phil Murphy made a lot of promises while running for governor. Now he has to try to fulfill them. The Record and NorthJersey.com have compiled a list of those promises and is publishing them here as a way of informing the public and to hold Murphy accountable.
This list is comprehensive but not exhaustive, and is culled from statements Murphy made during the campaign or posted on his website. The Record will update this list as needed with the status on these promises as Murphy moves through his tenure.
Taxes, spending and the economy
Promise: Pass a millionaire's tax
Murphy has supported raising taxes on New Jersey's highest earners for a while, and he has not moved off his position despite wavering by other Democratic leaders.
“Everything we’ve talked about this entire campaign is to back the truck up and get back to reinvesting in the middle class and asking those, the biggest among us, the wealthiest among us, to pay their fair share,” Murphy said in November 2017.
Unlike past attempts by Democrats to pass a tax on high earners, Murphy said on MTP Daily on Jan. 17, 2018 that he wants a true millionaire's tax.
Related:Gottheimer to Murphy - Don't hike taxes on NJ millionaires
"When we talk about a millionaire's tax, that's a millionaire," Murphy said. "We'll figure it out because the middle class needs, in our state, at all costs to be rescued," he added.
Status: This is a promise kept.
In his March 13, 2018 budget address, Murphy called on the Legislature to pass a measure "asking those with taxable incomes in excess of $1 million to pay a little more." He anticipated raising rates from the top 8.97 percent to 10.75 percent on incomes over $1 million to raise $765 million in the 2019 fiscal year.
He faced a major obstacle, though. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, had expressed resistance to the millionaire's tax and said it should be the "absolute last resort" after passage of President Donald Trump's federal tax overhaul.
After intense negotiations to avoid a government shutdown, Murphy abruptly abandoned his years-long quest to pass a true millionaire's tax and agreed to a Sweeney-backed proposal increasing the top tax rate to 10.75 percent on incomes over $5 million — a "multi-millionaires" tax, as Murphy put it. When asked what changed enough for him to change his mind and accept the higher income threshold, Murphy said it was the tax rate.
"A millionaire's tax was an existential item for me and for us, I believe, in order to achieve tax fairness," Murphy said in a June 30 news conference to announce a budget agreement. "The notion of how we did it was never as important as doing it and establishing that recurring revenue for the wealthiest among us."
That is quite a turnaround in philosophy from just one day earlier, when Murphy called the $5 million threshold a symbolic gesture from legislative Democrats because, he said, about 21,000 millionaires earning up to $5 million would be exempt from the new rate. And raising the threshold would dramatically reduce the expected revenue for the budget — about $280 million compared to the $765 million from a true millionaire's tax.
"We've got folks who are trying to protect 21,000 millionaires. I literally don't get that," Murphy said during a June 29 news conference.
That all changed after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, causing a major drop-off in revenues along with a public health disaster.
In a deal brokered by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Sweeney and Murphy agreed to raise the top rate on incomes over $1 million to 10.75% in exchange for rebates of up to $500 for parents. Murphy pitched it as middle-class tax relief, although it excludes a large portion of the middle class and wasn't expected to arrive to households until summer 2021, when he and lawmakers are expected to run for re-election.
Murphy signed the millionaire's tax into law on Sept. 29, 2020 as part of a nearly $33 billion budget.
"Importantly, this budget lives up to the ideal of shared sacrifice in trying times by including meaningful tax fairness," Murphy said.
Promise: Create a state bank
This was one of Murphy's big policy ideas at the outset of his campaign. He envisions it to invest tax dollars in small businesses, student loans and infrastructure projects and offer low-interest loans.
"I can look back at periods in this state under the leadership of both or either party, when we were both fiscally responsible, proudly progressive and we dreamt and took chances and took risks and embraced big ideas," Murphy said at a gubernatorial forum held by the New Jersey Bankers Association in April 2017. "If we believe in our future, let's put our money where our mouth is. Let's again think deeply and do more," he added.
He told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in March 2017 that the bank would be owned by the residents of New Jersey "and the business that it does would be restricted to New Jersey."
Status: This is a promise launched but unfulfilled.
On Nov. 13, 2019, nearly two years into his term, Murphy signed an executive order creating an "implementation board" to work out the details of how a state bank would be run in New Jersey. The 14-member board had one year to present its plan. As of November 2020, that hadn't happened and the board was set back by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Murphy acknowledged at the time that "this is one of the few (promises) that we haven't gotten to."
Promise: $15 hourly minimum wage
Murphy made this one of his top campaign promises and said on Jan. 17, his first full day in office, that it is "high on that list" of his legislative priorities. But Murphy favors a "clean" bill to gradually raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour, and said last March during a forum with the New Jersey Working Families Alliance that he would veto what the forum moderator called a "watered down" proposal.
Status: This is a promise kept.
On Feb. 4, 2019, Murphy signed the wage increase to make New Jersey the fourth state to pass a $15 hourly minimum wage law.
"Big day for New Jersey," Murphy said in an interview after the bill-signing.
The increase won't be automatic. The 2019 minimum wage of $8.85 an hour is scheduled to increase to $10 in July, then rise by $1 each January until 2024.
There are also exceptions. Seasonal workers, employees at businesses with fewer than six workers and farm laborers will have their pay increase on a slower timeline, beginning with an increase to $10.30 an hour in 2020.
Promise: Legalize recreational marijuana
Murphy has said marijuana legalization is a social justice issue and that the revenue generated from it is one of the last reasons he is in favor of it. He has said that as a father of four, it has taken him some time to come around to the idea of legal marijuana, but he has come to view laws being unevenly applied to minorities and young people.
"I want to legalize it, regulate it. I'm glad we're not the first state, because a lot of other states have done it and made mistakes," Murphy said during a debate on Oct. 18, 2017. "And at the end of the day, will we earn some revenues from it? Yes. But it's got to be social justice first."
Status: This is a promise kept.
Murphy had hoped to legalize marijuana through legislation, but after failing to reach agreement with fellow Democrats in the Legislature, he and lawmakers put it before voters to decide. They overwhelmingly approved it in November 2020.
But it took nearly three months for Democrats to agree on the legal framework to start the new industry, another sign of the difficulties New Jersey's policy makers had in fulfilling a long-sought objective.
After weeks of negotiations that appeared at times to collapse chances of a marketplace rising up in 2021, lawmakers delivered bills to decriminalize and legalize the drug to Murphy on Feb. 22. He signed it within an hour.
"New Jersey's broken, indefensible marijuana laws — which permanently stained the records of many residents and short-circuited their futures, disproportionately hurt communities of color and failed the meaning of justice at every level, social or otherwise — are no more," Murphy said in a press conference.
"In their place are laws that will usher in a new industry, based on equity, which will reinvest dollars into communities — laws which promote both public health by promoting safe cannabis products and public safety by allowing law enforcement to focus their resources on serious crimes."
The laws signed he signed allow the possession and use of marijuana by anyone over 21 years old within the state of New Jersey, who can have up to 6 ounces of weed on them without facing any penalty. They also allow the purchase and sale of the drug at state-licensed dispensaries.
Some marijuana offenses will remain criminal, including drug distribution and growing cannabis plants without a license.
Promise: Guarantee earned sick leave
Paid sick leave, like the $15 minimum wage, is another one of Murphy's central promises that he included to be "high on that list" of policy priorities early in his term. At a Jan. 17 round table in Newark on the two topics, Murphy said that even though about a dozen towns have passed sick leave ordinances, "we have 565 communities in our state and we need a statewide agenda, we need a statewide law that ensures earned sick leave."
Status: This is a promise kept.
On May 2, 2018 Murphy signed bill A-1857 giving most workers an hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. It caps sick time at 40 hours.
"This is not just about doing what's right for workers and their families," he said of paid sick leave. "This is about doing the right thing for our economy and protecting more New Jerseyans' place in that economy."
The law took effect at the end of October 2018.
Promise: Equal pay for equal work
Murphy aims to close the gender wage gap with a statewide law. On inauguration day he signed an executive order, his first, prohibiting state agencies from asking about a job applicant's pay history, saying employers should "pay people based on what their job is, not on what their past pay was." His campaign website said that he would sign a bill that "strengthens penalties for wage discrimination, bans employers from asking job applicants for their salary history, and prohibits employers from retaliating against employees who discuss compensation."
On inauguration day he called for lawmakers to deliver.
"They don't need urging on this one, trust me, they lead on this one," he said on inauguration day. "Send the bill to my desk to make this simple and common sense practice state law. As I said earlier, I will sign it."
Status: This is a promise kept.
In an April 24, 2018 ceremony at the Trenton War Memorial, Murphy signed that bill, known as the Diane B. Allen Equal Pay Act. It is considered one of the strongest, if not the strongest, wage discrimination laws in the country. Among other things, it prohibits employers from paying a woman or minority less than a male doing "substantially similar" work and allows for up to six years of back pay to be awarded to workers.
Promise: Create a new retirement plan for employees of small businesses.
According to his campaign website, "Phil will offer, just as a growing number of states do, a simple, opt-in retirement plan for small business employees. Doing so will help ensure that all workers in our state can adequately save for their retirement."
Status: This is a promise kept.
On March 28, 2019, Murphy today signed the New Jersey Secure Choice Savings Program, requiring employers with 25 or more workers to participate in a retirement savings program administered through automatic payroll deductions. They will be automatically enrolled in the program, which is funded through a payroll deduction, but can also opt out. Employees of businesses of any size can also participate.
By creating the program, Murphy said in a statement, "we are ensuring that every worker in New Jersey will have the opportunity to save for the future. "
Promise: Make home ownership affordable and accessible.
According to his website, Murphy plans to achieve this by "stopping Governor Christie’s practice of diverting affordable housing funds to plug holes in the budget; expanding counseling programs to keep people in their homes and repurposing foreclosed properties as affordable housing; expanding tax credits to create new housing; and lowering property taxes by funding our schools, incentivizing shared services, and restoring rebates to low-income, seniors and disabled residents."
Status: This is a promise partially kept.
In Murphy's 2019 budget, $59.3 million was dedicated for affordable housing and neighborhood preservation. The Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit, which among other things is used to develop affordable housing, increased from $10 million to $15 million for the fiscal year.
And after maintaining a cut in his budget proposal to the Homestead rebate program that helps low-incomes, seniors and disabled residents, Murphy restored $150 million to to bring the total appropriation to $298 million.
On Aug. 14, the Department of Community Affairs announced a new mediation program designed to save up to 2,000 homeowners from foreclosure. The New Jersey Housing and Finance Agency is providing $1 million to the program and there are at least two counseling agencies serving each county, according to the department, which is led by Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver.
Under the program, homeowners who have been served with a foreclosure notice will be notified of free U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development-certified counseling services and a counselor will help them navigate the process. The counselor can also determine if further assistance, such as negotiating with the lender or transition assistance, is needed.
In many cases, mediation can help avoid foreclosure.
Promise: Expand Earned Income Tax Credit
The earned income tax credit, or EITC, is a state benefit intended to help poor and low-income households. Christie had cut the state credit percentage relative to the federal credit in leaner years, but he raised it to 35 percent of the federal credit in 2017, his final year in office.
Murphy wants to raise the earned income tax credit to 40 percent of the federal level, his website said, "so that working families can lift themselves out of poverty."
Status: This is a promised kept.
Murphy outlined a plan in his 2019 budget address to reach the 40 percent level in three years. Aides said the credit would help more than 510,000 low-income families who could see an average benefit of more than $1,160.
Increasing the credit from 35 percent to 40 percent was included in the budget package Murphy signed July 1.
Promise: Create a new child care and caregiver tax credit
This didn't get much attention during the campaign, so there aren't many specifics. Murphy told the AARP Bulletin that he would create a credit similar to the state's child-care tax credit and, the bulletin wrote, "educate caregivers about how they can use the New Jersey Family Leave Act and make it more accessible."
Status: This is a promise kept.
In his budget address, Murphy said he would create a "Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit" for middle-class and working families. His office later said it would be tied to the federal program and would help more than 70,000 people in New Jersey earning less than $60,000 "with assistance to support the care of a child or other dependent when necessary for the taxpayer’s employment."
Like the expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit, the child care tax credit was part of the budget Murphy negotiated with Democrats and signed July.
Promise: Close loopholes for "wealthy individuals and large corporations"
Murphy talked often about closing loopholes without identifying them to help bring in revenue.
"We're going to stand for tax fairness," he said in the Jan. 17 MTP Daily interview. "If you're a hedge fund and you're getting away with carried interest that we should close as a loophole at the federal [level], we're going to find a way to do that at the state level, I hope with other allied states. If you're a big corporation that's living off of loopholes," he added, "we're going to close those loopholes."
Status: This is a promise kept.
The 2019 budget recommended changes that would "modernize and improve" business taxes and bring in an extra $110 million to the state.
Murphy's proposals included several changes, including combined reporting of corporate business taxes and re-instituting taxes on international holding companies.
In his budget agreement with Democrats, Murphy signed into law a business tax modernization that includes:
- Combined reporting, which targets tax avoidance of companies by requiring multi-state corporation to add together the profits of all of its subsidiaries, regardless of their location, according to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy.
- Recapturing income made available through the enactment of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act
- Addressing "abusive" profit-shifting activities
- A four-year tax on corporations earning more than $1 million
- Closing various loopholes
These changes are expected to yield $861 million in the 2019 fiscal year, many times more than Murphy had anticipated his initial business recommendations would.
Promise: Divest pension funds from hedge funds and private equity
This is one of the ways, along with closing loopholes and raising taxes, that Murphy plans to raise revenue to support his policy ideas. In an interview with NorthJersey.com and The Record in April 2017, he said that the state pays "exorbitant fees to hedge funds and private equity managers" but "the evidence is overwhelmingly the case you no longer get what you pay for."
"The space is overcrowded, the returns are mediocre, the fees are exorbitant. That's one obvious area," to save money, he said. "Probably not the only area, but it's the area that I'd look to first."
The State Investment Council, already facing criticism in Gov. Chris Christie's later years for its hedge fund investments, began scaling back its allocations in 2016 and seeking better fee structures.
Status: This is a promise launched.
Under Murphy, the State Investment Council has continued to decrease its investments in hedge funds. The council moved in March 2018 to hold off making any commitments to hedge funds given Murphy's view that the fees are too high for questionable returns.
At that time, equity-oriented hedge funds accounted for 1 percent of the public employee pension fund's assets and credit-oriented hedge funds represented 1.15 percent of assets, according to the trade publication Pension & Investments, citing a report submitted to the council.
As investment council chairman Tom Byrne noted in the body's annual report issued in February 2018, "No member of this Council has ever moved to get rid of hedge funds entirely." But Byrne also announced his plan to leave the council and the decision may rest with Murphy, who will choose Byrne's successor.
Promise: Establish a state-level Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and strengthen existing regulations in light of President Donald Trump’s efforts to roll back the federal Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law.
Murphy has not spoken much about specifics on this idea, but said when he named Assemblywoman Marlene Caride his choice to be the next Department of Banking and Insurance Commissioner that it is up to the state to push back against what he views as harmful policies of Republican President Donald Trump. Murphy specifically named the administration's actions to take control of the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau as the sort of "destruction that's coming at us from Washington."
Status: This is a promise kept.
On March 27, 2018 Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced the appointment of Paul Rodriguez as director of Division of Consumer Affairs, the lead agency in charge of protecting consumer rights.
Although Murphy has not established a state-level Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, an Attorney General spokeswoman said Rodriguez "the existing office will be used in a new way to tackle consumer financial protection."
Promise: Prosecute financial fraud
This is another promise light on details but was included on Murphy's multi-step plan of "ending Wall Street's influence on State Street." The state Attorney General's office already does prosecute financial fraud with regularity.
Promise: Reclaim the innovation economy
Murphy often talked about New Jersey being "Silicon Valley before there was a Silicon Valley." According to Murphy's website, he wants to return New Jersey to its technological glory by:
"Launching a “Computer Science for All” initiative to offer computer science education to every public school student; partnering with companies to expand access to science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, internships and vocational programs; providing loan forgiveness for STEM educators in high-need schools and creating a new STEM-educator fellowship program to recruit and train a new class of STEM teachers."
Murphy said he would also establish a Grant Management Office "to make sure we get our fair share of federal funds for research and development," increase state funding for research and development, provide affordable, high-speed internet for all New Jerseyans and configure public spaces to be digitally and universally accessible; convene an "innovation cabinet," increase access to capital for small businesses and startups and forgive student loans for new graduates launching businesses in "under-served and distressed communities."
Status: This is a promise launched.
Murphy's 2019 budget includes $2 million for a "Secondary School Computer Science Education Initiative," which his office says fits into his "computer science for all" plan.
And on May 29, 2018 Murphy announced plans to pay interns and chip into student debt in STEM fields.
Under Murphy's student debt plan, the state would pay up to $1,000 annually for four years toward eligible workers' college debt through the New Jersey Higher Education Student Assistance Authority. Employees must live in New Jersey and work in eligible science, technology, engineering and math fields for four years before becoming eligible. The state would then pay for the next four years. And Murphy's office said employers would have to match the cost, giving the worker $8,000 toward student debt.
Democratic lawmakers said at the time they planned to sponsor bills for the debt relief, but the measures had not made it to Murphy as of July.
Murphy's paid internship proposal would also apply to the STEM fields. Through the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, the state would reimburse participating employers up to 50 percent of wages paid to student interns in information technology, life science and health care fields. The program would cap employer reimbursements at $1,500 per student, Murphy's office said.
Murphy planned to pay for the initiative by increasing the state's Career Accelerator Program from $1.5 million to $4 million. But the 2019 budget he signed included $3 million for the program, which will come from the $34.5 million Workforce Development Partnership Fund, according to his office.
On Aug. 13, Murphy named Beth Simone Noveck, director of the Governance Lab at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, as the state's first chief innovation officer.
That position's responsibilities include "designing and deploying more effective and agile government services," using new technologies and collaboration with other governments, higher education institutions and private sector businesses to solve public problems; and helping to craft policies to "respond to the opportunities and challenges of new technology," Murphy's office said.
Noveck was the country's first deputy chief technology officer, under former President Barack Obama, before being appointed as former United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron's senior adviser for open government. She is a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School and is a member of the Scholars Council of the Library of Congress.
"Beth is an experienced, high-caliber professional who will make New Jersey a leader in government effectiveness," Murphy said in a statement.
Noveck will be paid $140,938 a year through Rutgers University, where she will be a visiting senior fellow at the university's Heldrich Center. That money will come from a $500,000 line item in Murphy's budget to Rutgers for an office overseeing coordination and improvements to technology and innovation.
On Dec. 14, Murphy signed into law a STEM Loan Redemption Program within the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority providing graduates of colleges and universities employed in STEM fields with $1,000 each year, for a maximum of 4 years, towards their student loans. The loans would be matched by the graduate's employer.
Health
Promise: Restore Christie's annual $7.5 million cut to Planned Parenthood
Christie repeatedly cut funding to Planned Parenthood and vetoed efforts from the Democratic Legislature to pass annual funding of $7.5 million. Murphy promised to restore that funding throughout the campaign, and during his inaugural address called on lawmakers to send him a bill to do so.
"To my partners in the Legislature: I ask you to send me the bills, among others, to reaffirm our support for women’s health and Planned Parenthood," Murphy said.
Status: This is a promise kept. After eight years of denials by Christie, the Democrats who control the Legislature were eager to send the bill appropriating $7.45 million for family planning services to Murphy for approval. Murphy signed the bill — his first — during a Feb. 21, 2018 ceremony at the Trenton War Memorial, where he was surrounded by lawmakers, his wife, Tammy, and Planned Parenthood's outgoing president, Cecile Richards.
Promise: Lower insurance premiums by reining in excessive out-of-network costs
Lawmakers in Trenton have tried for nearly a decade to end surprise medical bills due to out-of-network costs. Murphy has made doing so part of his plan to raise about $1.3 billion in revenues.
When he named Dr. Shareef Elnahal his choice to be the next health commissioner on Jan. 10, Murphy said that one of his challenges is going to be "helping close the out-of-network loopholes that erode affordability." Murphy likely has an ally in Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, who, before being named to lead the chamber, sponsored legislation to rein in excessive costs.
Status: This is a promise kept.
Murphy signed the "Out-of-network Consumer Protection, Transparency, Cost Containment and Accountability Act” on June 1, 2018 making New Jersey one of the rare states with such a strong consumer protection law.
It requires healthcare providers disclose what they expect to charge for out-of-network services and for insurers to disclose what they expect to pay. Patients will be able to find out in advance what their financial responsibility will be.
Out-of-network doctors and hospitals will have to enter into baseball-style arbitration over reimbursement disputes, which will be decided by an independent arbitrator.
Promise: Work to identify the state’s 75,000 uninsured children and enroll them in health coverage
Murphy listed this promise on his campaign website, but did not lay out how he would achieve it.
Status: This is a promise launched.
Murphy signed a "Cover All Kids" bill in 2021 that would put New Jersey on a path to universal health coverage. The governor's budget set aside $20 million to expand New Jersey FamilyCare, the state’s Medicaid program, and it would reach about 88,000 children over two years.
Promise: Expand access to addiction treatment and services
Another unclear promise on his website. Murphy suggested during his inaugural address that he would continue Christie's work combating opioid addiction, but did not specifically say how in his speech.
"There is much in your body of work from which to choose, but, in particular, your work to save lives from the epidemic of opioid addiction is a legacy worth applauding and continuing, and I intend to do so," Murphy said.
Status: This is a promise kept.
Murphy's 2019 budget included $100 million in opioid funding. That is half of what Christie budgeted in his final year budget, but Murphy said in April 2018 that just about $90 million of that was spent on treatment. A key component of Christie's push in his last year to highlight the heroin and opioid epidemic was a series of commercials and advertisements.
Murphy said most of the money he budgeted, $87 million, was to be directed to expanding treatment access and maintaining existing programs, such as linking overdose victims with recovering addicts and providing housing and workforce training to families and individuals. The remaining $13 million was planned to build out a "modern" data infrastructure to collect and analyze drug-related information and increase the use of electronic health records for providers.
Promise: Tackle opioid epidemic
According to his website, Murphy would do this by: pooling state, federal and private resources to expand access to addiction treatment facilities statewide; requiring health insurers to cover Medication-Assisted Treatment and allowing nurse practitioners, pharmacists and physician assistants to prescribe any medications necessary to treat addiction; and lowering the cost of Narcan.
Environment
Promise: Rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative
Murphy said he would "immediately" restore New Jersey's place in the cap-and-trade program that Christie pulled out of in 2011 because, he said, it was a failure. Murphy sees it as a necessary tool to help reduce emissions and follow a standard of environmental stewardship. In an April 2017 press release, Murphy's campaign said "he would make rejoining the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) one of his first acts in office."
Status: Murphy signed an executive order on Jan. 29, his 13th day in office, directing his administration begin the process to rejoin the cap-and-trade program. But it is not an immediate re-entry. The administration must work with the nine other member states to determine the best way to get back into the program and the state must create regulations on how to administer the program.
Promise: 100 percent clean energy by 2050
In an April 26, 2017 press release, Murphy outlined details of his plan and "committed, within his first 100 days in office, to starting the process of creating a new State Energy Master Plan to set New Jersey on a path to 100 percent clean energy by 2050, with higher renewable standards to motivate public and private sector actors to adapt and expand the clean energy market."
His plan also includes: A target of producing 3,500 megawatts of offshore wind generation by 2030, a goal of 600 megawatts of energy storage by 2021 and 2000 megawatts of storage by 2030; increasing funding and incentives for energy efficiency; and "prioritizing solar energy expansion and ensuring that New Jersey regains its status as a national leader in solar energy production and job creation — including the establishment of a community solar program, allowing low-income communities to work together to afford clean energy options."
Another component of his clean energy plan is a ban on fracking and storage of fracking waste in New Jersey, as well as a fracking ban in the Delaware River.
Status: This is a broken promise on clean energy and a promise launched on wind production.
Murphy signed an executive order on Jan. 31 directing his administration to develop on offshore wind plan, specifically with the 3,500 megawatt power generation goal by 2030.
Murphy announced a day later that the state intends to vote in favor of a fracking ban in the Delaware River basin.
But Murphy has broken the main component of his promise: 100 percent clean energy. He unveiled the state's Energy Master Plan on Jan. 27, 2020, saying that "in the absence of climate change leadership in Washington, these reforms will help propel New Jersey to 100 percent clean energy by 2050."
But the Murphy administration defines clean energy as "carbon neutral," meaning the carbon is captured or eliminated. That change allows the state to use other energy sources, such as natural gas, a fossil fuel that emits carbon. As a candidate, Murphy had pledged to "eventually" reach 100 percent carbon-free electricity.
Read the plan here.
The energy plan also does not include a moratorium on pending fossil fuel projects, which environmental groups had called for. Not including the moratorium, they say, will hamper Murphy's clean energy goals.
"Governor Murphy has changed the definition of clean energy to dirty energy," said Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club. "If Murphy really cared about reaching 100% clean energy, he would put a moratorium on all fossil fuel projects and make sure New Jersey divests from fossil fuels.”
On offshore wind production, the Board of Public Utilities took the first step toward meeting Murphy's power production goal by voting Sept. 17, 2018 to solicit applications for developers to build facilities to produce 1,100 megawatts of energy. The board said it intends to act on the applications by July 1, 2019.
Beyond that, Murphy called on the board to open two more 1,200 megawatt solicitations, in 2020 and 2022.
“In the span of just nine months, New Jersey has vaulted to the front of the pack in establishing this cutting-edge industry,” Murphy said in a statement the day of the board vote.
On Nov. 19, 2019, at an event with former Vice President Al Gore, Murphy said he plans to double the state's wind energy production, to 7,500 megawatts by 2035.
"When we meet this goal, our offshore winds will generate enough electricity to power more than 3.2 million New Jersey homes," Murphy said.
"We will meet half of our electric power need," he said. "We will generate billions of dollars in investments in our state’s future that will, in turn, generate thousands of union jobs."
Promise: Protect the Jersey Shore
"We will resist the dangerous and wrong attempt to allow drilling for oil off our precious shore. We will not allow this threat to our environment and our economy to stand. Our administration, along with the bipartisan support of our federal delegation, will not back down in our fight to protect the Jersey Shore from President Trump and the energy industry special interests," Murphy said in his inauguration speech.
Status: This is a promise kept.
During a beachside ceremony on April 20, 2018 Murphy signed into law a measure banning offshore drilling in state waters. But state waters extend just three miles from the coastline and Murphy does not have the power to extend the ban beyond that, into federal territory.
Conceivably the federal government could allow drilling off the Jersey Shore past the three mile point, but the bill Murphy signed includes prohibitions on pipelines and infrastructure crossing state territory, acting as a strong deterrent.
Promise: Preserve open space
According to his website, Murphy will "stop the practice of diverting constitutionally-dedicated open space funding away from its intended purpose" and "will also depoliticize key environmental staff and commissions — including those that protect the Highlands and Pinelands — and restore New Jersey as a leader in smart planning."
Guns
Promise: Sign all gun legislation Christie vetoed
"You can assume the measures he's vetoed we would have signed, and we'll endeavor to do so," Murphy said on an Aug. 24, 2017 conference call, where he accepted the endorsement of Americans for Responsible Solutions.
Status: This is a promise partially kept.
Christie vetoed more than a dozen gun-related bills during his eight years as governor, but the Legislature, as of July 2019, had not sent Murphy all those measures for his promised signature.
But Murphy has signed what he could. On July 16, 2019, he approved a bill to open the market up to smart guns, personalized firearms that use a fingerprint or radio frequency chip to identify just one authorized shooter. The intent is to prevent accidental deaths.
And Murphy signed six gun-related bills on June 13, 2018. Of them, three had been vetoed by Christie: reducing the magazine capacity limit from 15 to 10; requiring background checks for private gun sales; and codifying the state's justifiable need standard for a concealed carry permit.
The three other bills Murphy signed that day were:
- A-1217: Allows a police officer, family or household member of a gun owner to petition for an “extreme risk protective order,” authorizing authorities to seize the weapon.
- A-1181: Requires law enforcement to seize firearms from individuals deemed by a mental health professional to pose a threat to themselves or others.
- A-2759: Adopts the federal definition of “armor-piercing ammunition” into state law.
Promise: Tax gun sales to prevent violence
From his website: "All gun sales should be subject to a tax that will fund law enforcement, drug treatment centers, and mental health services." And on an Aug. 24, 2017 conference call, Murphy said he supports a tax on guns but he lacked specifics.
"We have not picked a particular level yet. That’s something we’re still trying to work through," Murphy said.
Status: This is a promise unfulfilled.
Murphy proposed the tax in his 2019 budget. While he did not specify a rate, he did anticipate $1.4 million in revenue from the fee increase, which he said haven't been updated in many years. But he did not have the support of legislative leadership and it was stripped from the budget he signed.
Promise: Create a regional gun coalition
Murphy offered the idea of a gun coalition as a way to cut down on illegal weapons crossing state lines. It was a plan modeled loosely on the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative to reduce carbon emissions. He didn't have much detail on the gun coalition plan at the time he discussed it with The Record in October 2017, but he said, "You’re stronger if you do this in numbers."
Status: This is a promise kept.
Murphy announced the States for Gun Safety coalition on Feb. 22, 2018 during a conference call with the participating governors of Connecticut, New York and Rhode Island.
Murphy said the coalition will strengthen ties between the states by sharing intelligence and information on guns, such as protective orders for individuals that would prohibit them from purchasing firearms. The states will also study gun violence, he said, and create a cross-state task force to trace and intercept illegal guns.
Days later, Delaware, Massachusetts and Puerto Rico joined the coalition. Murphy said he hopes to add more states in the future.
Immigration
Promise: Make New Jersey a sanctuary state*
During the Oct. 10, 2017 debate with Republican Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, Murphy said: "if need be, we'll be a sanctuary, not just city, but state."
Murphy quickly backed off that language after the election, saying he recognized that the term was charged. He instead adopted "welcoming community." Still, he has not provided a clear definition of what that may mean. In a December 2017 interview, Murphy explained his thinking:
"How we get it done, what the trigger is, I haven’t given more thought to that. But I will repeat what I said on the campaign trail: We’ll do what we have to do. And, by the way, that also is invariably going to mean we’re going to need to engage the federal government. And I don’t mean engage in a Kumbaya. I mean we’re going to need an attorney general, a governor, a lieutenant governor who are prepared to stand up to the Trump administration, probably locking arms with other like-minded states."
*There's a catch. Murphy did not propose making New Jersey a sanctuary state as something he would pursue on his own. It is a measure he would take in response to President Donald Trump's immigration policies. It isn't clear what exactly would prompt him to pursue sanctuary policies.
Promise: Protect immigrant rights
Murphy was vocal about being resistant to policies put forth by President Donald Trump that he found un-American and perhaps unlawful. He vowed to protect so-called "Dreamers", young immigrants who came to the United States illegally, and said he would oppose "any efforts," according to his website, to use state and local police to assist in mass deportations.
Murphy said he would extend immigrant protections to identification and education.
"I'm all in and I've been all in for years on everyone gets access to (a) driver's license, not just some of us, everyone gets a state identification card, everybody gets not just in state tuition but in state financial aid," he said at the March 2016 New Jersey Working Families Alliance forum. "That can't be for some. You're either in or you're out. And I want to be in, and you have my word I will be."
Status: The Murphy administration has kept the promise to oppose efforts to use state and local police in mass deportations, but New Jersey remains a popular place for the federal government to hold immigrants.
Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced a new directive on Nov. 29 restricting law enforcement's cooperation with the federal government's immigration operations.
Under the Immigrant Trust Directive, local police officers can no longer stop, search or detain any individual over immigration status or detain immigrants at the request of the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, except in cases of serious or violent crimes or final deportation orders.
"There is a difference between state, county, and local law enforcement officers, who are responsible for enforcing state criminal law, and federal immigration authorities, who enforce federal civil immigration law," Grewal said. "Put simply, New Jersey’s law enforcement officers protect the public by investigating state criminal offenses and enforcing state criminal laws."
But arrests of immigrants rose 35 percent in 2017, and ICE warned after Grewal issued his directive that more raids would come to New Jersey.
New Jersey jails are popular holding spots for detainees as well. The federal government pays Bergen, Essex and Hudson counties to hold immigration detainees, a practice that has been protested as hypocritical.
Promise: Create an Office of Immigrant Defensive Protection
Murphy wants to develop an office he described to The Washington Post as a "legal services-oriented" resource for immigrants. He said on MSNBC on Jan. 17 that there are a lot of "scared" people in the state and a "lot of rumors" going around under Trump. "We want one point of contact where folks can call up and get the right answer," Murphy said.
Status: This is a promise kept.
On July 4, 2019 Murphy signed an executive order to "design" an Office of New Americans — a name different from what he'd promised but whose function is "the same thing" he proposed during the campaign, according to his office.
The office is will "work to empower immigrants and refugees throughout the state" and must submit a plan to Murphy by the end of the year detailing its actions.
The office's objectives, according to the order are: "promoting trainings that inform new Americans of the availability of services and their rights, including in the employment context; working with organizations and advocacy groups to increase accessibility to state programs for new Americans; and ensuring that services are accessible to New American populations, including those who speak languages other than English."
In announcing the new office, Murphy also said his administration had submitted its intent to the U.S. Office of Refugee Resettlement to regain the state's role in overseeing New Jersey's resettlement program. Republican former Gov. Chris Christie pulled out of that program in 2016.
Murphy had already taken one "legal services-oriented" step toward aiding immigrants when he made the announcement.
On Nov. 19, 2018 the Treasury Department announced that it would allocate $2.1 million out of Murphy's first budget to help pay for legal representation for immigrants. The state's principal contractor, Legal Services of New Jersey, was scheduled to receive $925,000 for direct representation services to eligible immigrants. Another $925,000 was expected to go to the American Friends Service Committee for its direct representation services, and $125,000 for each of the law school clinics at Rutgers University and Seton Hall University.
“Families who came to New Jersey for a better life do not deserve to be torn apart by the federal government’s cruel and discriminatory policies,” Murphy said in a statement.
Education
Promise: Fully fund school funding formula
Murphy made it a feature of his candidacy to fully fund education under the Corzine-era School Funding Reform Act, which has not been done since it was passed in 2008 and upheld by the state Supreme Court in 2009. Three days after he was elected, speaking at the New Jersey Education Association conference in Atlantic City, he made his first big promise as governor-elect.
“For too long our educators, our students and New Jersey property taxpayers have suffered from under-funding,” Murphy said. “We are going to stop the under-investment in public schools. It is priority number one.”
Murphy has not said exactly how or when he would do that.
Status: This is a promise launched.
Murphy's 2019 budget increases school funding by $283 million, or 3.5 percent more than last year. Most districts — 94 percent — would receive extra aid, with the remaining districts getting flat funding. Total state education spending under Murphy's proposal would be $14.9 billion.
Murphy said he intends to reach full funding under the School Funding Reform Act in four years.
Promise: Tuition-free community college
Murphy announced the promise during a Sept. 18, 2017 news conference in Trenton with U.S. Sen. Cory Booker. He said it would cost between $200 million and $400 million.
"This is investing in the economy," he said. "This is investing in our most important asset, which is our people, so the return on the investment, if you will, is significant and relatively soon."
Status: This is a promise launched.
Murphy presented a path toward free community college within three years during his budget speech. In his first fiscal year, 2019, he has allotted $50 million that would allow about 15,000 low-income students attend college next spring. But the spending must be approved by the Legislature before he signs the budget into law. It's also unclear how Murphy arrived at the tuition cost, and other analyses suggest tuition-free college would ultimately cost much more than Murphy's estimate of $197.5 million.
Under the first budget Murphy signed July 1, 2018 his initial plan to spend $50 million was cut to $25 million.
With the reduced funding, Murphy formally rolled out a pilot program that July 31 to cover tuition and mandatory fees for students of the select colleges who make less than $45,000 in adjusted gross income and take at least six credits in the spring 2019 semester.
Due to limited funding, not all 19 community colleges in New Jersey will be selected for the pilot program. But every college that applies will receive at least $250,000 to either implement the program or "build capacity" for future rounds of funding.
Promise: End PARCC testing and eliminate exit test graduation requirement
“Good teachers and good students can have bad test days. Too much emphasis is being put on a single test, as opposed to weighing a student’s progress through years of instruction," Murphy said on his website.
Murphy said he is "committed" to ending Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, testing and the requirement that students take an exit test to graduate high school. Instead, Murphy said he would direct the state Department of Education to create an assessment that would meet the standards set in the federal Every Student Succeeds Act, or ESSA.
Status: This is a promise launched but unlikely to be fulfilled in the near future.
In March 2018, Murphy instructed education commissioner Lamont Repollet to form an advisory group “fulfilling the governor’s call to transition away from and to improve upon the current system of PARCC assessments.”
That advisory group conducted about 75 meetings and traveled the state over two months seeking input on the testing. It recommended number of changes that Murphy embraced, but during a July 10 news conference in Atlantic City he acknowledged that "we're not eliminating PARCC completely."
During that news conference Murphy announced that the state would transition away from the testing beginning with the 2019 school year by cutting down the length of testing and reducing the weight of assessments on teacher evaluations.
Before dropping PARCC, the state has to consider new testing vendors and costs, and make sure the new tests align with New Jersey’s education standards, Repollet said.
The transition is expected to take a couple of years, Murphy said.
“While I would have personally liked to have ditched PARCC on day one, that simply wasn’t feasible,” Murphy said. “But we are now on a clear path away from it.”
Promise: Expand universal pre-kindergarten
Providing pre-kindergarten statewide “is absolutely our aspiration,” Murphy told NJTV in September 2017. “I don’t think you can get there overnight, though. I think you have to phase it in over some number of years.”
Status: This is a promise launched.
New Jersey will not get to universal pre-K overnight, as Murphy acknowledged. But his budget proposal for the 2019 fiscal year would direct $57 million in new funding for pre-kindergarten, the largest increase in more than a decade, for a total of $83 million. The new money will support pre-k expansion in the current year as well as prepare districts for future expansion. More than 3,500 4-year-old students are expected to "gain access" to pre-k this year, the administration said.
Murphy's 2019 budget includes $403 million for education, including the pre-k expansion.
He's added more money in subsequent budgets and said in September, 2021 that true universal pre-k would be a reality in "several years."
Diversity, equality and military
Promise: LGBTQ equality
On his website, Murphy said he would work toward equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people by: Allowing transgender people to select their gender on birth and death certificates and ensure that access to facilities is non-discriminatory; ensuring that all residents, regardless of sexual orientation or gender, have equal access to healthcare and fertility treatment; expanding state contract set-asides to include LGBTQ-owned businesses;and reclassifying veterans dishonorably discharged due to the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy to an honorable discharge so they will be eligible for state benefits.
Status: This is a promise launched.
On July 3, 2018 Murphy signed a pair of bills into law allowing transgender people to select their gender on their birth and death certificates. He also created a 17-member Transgender Task Force to study issues on health care, housing and criminal justice, among many others, affecting the lesbian, gay and transgender community.
Promise: Gender parity and diversity
According to his website, "Phil believes the perspectives of women and minorities must be represented in every rank of government. He will appoint a cabinet that reflects the diversity of New Jersey, establish a Chief Diversity Officer position, and publish an annual review of state diversity contracting and procurement."
Status: New Jersey already has a Chief Diversity Officer, identified by the Treasury Department as Maurice Griffin.
Christie approved the position's creation in 2017 with his signature of A-1869. That person's duty is "to monitor the state’s public contracting process for the purpose of compiling information on the awarding of contracts to minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises, the total value of all contracts and the percentage of the value of those contracts awarded to minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises."
Griffin earns an annual salary of $130,000, according to Treasury Department records.
This counts as a promise kept by default. But Murphy had nothing to do with it.
Still, Murphy named his own choice for the position on April 20, 2018: Hester Agudosi, a 19-year veteran of state government. An attorney who previously worked in the Attorney General's office, Agudosi most recently served as director of the Office of Equal Opportunity and Public Contract Assistance at the Department of Environmental Protection.
Agudosi will earn an annual salary of $135,000, according to the Treasury Department. She will replace Maurice Griffin, who had been assigned the role while still working as the department's director of purchase and property. Griffin will return to his previous position. Agudosi will be full time, which the department said is more in line with the intent of the legislation.
Promise: Reflect New Jersey's diversity in his administration
"We will put together an administration that looks like our state in all its great diversity, experience and intelligence. We will seek the right people working in public service for the right reasons trying mightily to do the right things," he said on election night.
Status: Murphy has kept his promised to make his administration a diverse one. On Feb. 20, 2018 Murphy became the first governor in state history to nominate a majority of females to his Cabinet, he announced.
The female Cabinet nominees were: Zakiya Smith Ellis as the secretary of higher education; B. Sue Fulton as chief administrator of the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission; Deirdre Webster Cobb as chief executive officer of the Civil Service Commission; Elizabeth Maher Muoio as treasurer; Marlene Caride as commissioner of the Department of Banking and Insurance; Tahesha Way as secretary of state; Carole Johnson as commissioner of the Department of Human Services; Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti as commissioner of the Department of Transportation; Catherine McCabe as commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection; and Christine Norbut Beyer as commissioner of the Department of Children and Families.
Murphy's Lieutenant governor, Sheila Oliver, also serves as a Cabinet member, leading the Department of Community Affairs.
Murphy's Cabinet includes many minorities. Gurbir Grewal was the first Sikh attorney general in the country. Murphy's first health commissioner, Dr. Shareef Elnahal, was the first Muslim-American Cabinet member in state history. And he also named two African Americans to his Cabinet: Lamont Repollet for education commissioner and Col. Jemal J. Beale to lead the state National Guard.
All those nominees left the administration in the first term.
Promise: Help people with disabilities
Murphy said in his inauguration speech that having a stronger and fairer economy means that it "remembers that we all have value and we all can contribute, including, and especially, the differently abled." And on his campaign website he said that the state budget "is a $35 billion statement of our priorities. We must get back to prioritizing services for the people who need them the most, including those struggling with disabilities." He added that he is "determined to make New Jersey the most inclusive and most accessible place to live, work, and raise a family for people with disabilities."
Murphy plans to achieve that by better coordinating state services and making sure that people with disabilities "have a seat at our policy-making table."
Status: This is a promise kept.
Murphy named former Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn on April 19, 2018 to lead the Office of the Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities and Their Families, an office created by a law signed by former Gov. Chris Christie a week before he left office in 2018.
In the ombudsman position, for which he will be paid $120,000 a year, Aronsohn will be "the administration’s lead advocate and ally for New Jersey residents in need of critical services ranging from early childhood through adulthood," Murphy's office said.
Among other things, the office is charged with providing information to people with disabilities about resolving disagreements with state agencies, identifying concerns for disabled individuals and coordinating state programs. The office will also have to issue an annual report on its work.
Promise: Divide the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs into two agencies — one with responsibility for the National Guard and another responsible for veterans
"Veterans’ issues are fundamentally distinct from military affairs, and our bureaucratic structure should reflect that reality," Murphy said on his website.
Murphy said that "at a minimum," the new veterans affairs department should consist of divisions for employment and skills development; mental health; higher education; veteran-owned businesses and military transitions and families.
Transportation
Promise: Improve NJ Transit
Murphy has said that NJ Transit was once a model for the nation, but it has in recent years become a "national disgrace."
On his website, Murphy outlined a number of immediate steps for near-term commuter relief: "Appointing an emergency manager to re-convene a working relationship with Amtrak — a relationship that currently is broken — around issues at Penn Station, as well as coordinate with various state and federal agencies, including the Port Authority; undertaking an immediate capital and personnel audit of NJ Transit to understand the true needs of the agency; improving customer service by deploying more uniformed NJ Transit personnel in NY Penn Station, Secaucus, and Newark Penn, among other key stations."
More from the website: "Murphy also would require NJ Transit to have push notifications about delayed trains on its app, create a “Where’s my train?” app that would mirror the “Where’s my bus?” app, and make it easier for commuters to obtain delay letters both online and through the app; expanding options for alternative service by creating an indefinite cross-honoring agreement with PATH and also cross-honoring with ferries and bus services, including private carriers; increasing transparency by requiring weekly reports by NJ Transit including data on number of trains on time during peak and off-peak hours and length of delays, as well as opening more NJ Transit board meetings to the public and streaming them online; holding Amtrak accountable on repairs to ensure that no hour in which tracks are closed is wasted and disruptions are minimized disruptions, including requiring work to be done during off-hours and through holiday weekends."
In the long term, Murphy said he would: Restore operating assistance for NJ Transit; work with New Jersey’s Congressional Delegation and federal and regional officials to secure funding for the Gateway Tunnel Project and the Port Authority Bus Terminal among other critical infrastructure investments; and would work to build new relationships with public sector actors throughout the region – including both legislators and Port Authority commissioners – to better coordinate infrastructure investment."
Finally, Murphy said he would: "Restore professionalism to NJT management by implementing the recommendations of the capital and personnel audit to hire a new class of professional and nationally-qualified management," and "ensure NJ Transit’s board has commuter representation to better allow the agency to respond to consumer concerns, establish an ongoing working arrangement with Amtrak, NJTransit, and the LIRR to fund capital improvements in and around Penn Station, including those that would facilitate better passenger movement" and "expedite implementation of safety measures, including positive train control automatic braking technology, to guarantee long-range passenger safety."
Status: Murphy took the first steps toward his promise of improving NJ Transit but has a long way to go. He signed an executive order on Jan. 22 directing an audit of the transportation agency to be completed "as expeditiously as possible." He also named Kevin Corbett the agency's new executive director on Jan. 30, promising he would "yank it back from the brink."
Murphy also earmarked $242 million in his 2019 budget for NJ Transit, though much of that makes up for money the agency stands to lose from off-budget sources. Still, the infusion of cash will keep fares flat for the year, Murphy said, and allow the agency to hire more than 100 new employees and invest in improved communication with customers.
The long-awaited audit, released in October 2018, showed an agency where "morale is at an all-time low." It had become politicized, underfunded, lacked succession plans and had high vacancy rates in key areas, according to the audit.
On Dec. 6, Murphy unveiled a new initiative, called "Engage. Inform. Improve." It aims to improve customer service by having transit workers actively engage customers and identify problem, improve communications and upgrade technology. That included an upgraded smartphone app with transit alerts and the ability for customers to make purchases.
Murphy also said the agency was in the process of purchasing 113 new multi-level rail cars and 182 cruiser buses.
The agency successfully installed Positive Train Control by the end of 2018 and is moving to meet a 2020 deadline to have the safety system operational.
And on Dec. 20, 2018, Murphy signed into law the first major restructuring of NJ Transit in a generation. The law will expand the agency’s board of directors, add transparency requirements, streamline procurement procedures and create a new “consumer advocate” to represent the needs of commuters inside the agency.