After 35,000 People Died, NJ Gov. Murphy Proposing To Use Federal COVID Pandemic Funds To Bailout NJ’s Failures To Plan For And Regulate Development And Invest In Water And Public Health Infrastructure

Diverts Money From Investment In NJ’s Woefully Underfunded Public Health System

Another Federal Bailout Of Irresponsible NJ Politics

$1 Billion In Corporate Subsidies

Black Death – Bosch (1450 – 1516)

Gov. Murphy must not be allowed to divert resources from a demonstrably underfunded and totally inadequate public health program that is facing increasing threats – 35,000 people DIED to demonstrate that.

In his third article on the issue in the last week, today NJ Spotlight reporter Jon Hurdle again reports on Gov. Murphy’s plans to divert federal COVID recovery funds from public health programs, this time to stormwater infrastructure programs, see:

• Stormwater management: Who pays for it?

“This budget will invest federal American Rescue Plan funds to continue upgrading and replacing our aging water infrastructure. We’re on a multiyear path to securing clean water for every family. And this budget will keep us on that path,” Murphy said.

I am astounded that none of those reports mentioned the purposes of federal COVID relief money, under legislation dubbed The American Rescue Plan.

I find it equally astonishing that after over 35,000 people died from COVID and a million more suffered from a broken and underfunded public health system – a system that faces growing pandemic and other threats – that there is absolutely no mention of the need to invest in public health.

NJ has failed to invest in public health programs. We warned about that at the outset of the COVID pandemic, in March 2020:

• NJ State Officials Knew For Years That A Pandemic Could Cause Healthcare System To Collapse And 50,000 Residents Could Die

To at least inform the “debate” (there seems to be none, at least according to Hurdle and NJ Spotlight), here is US Dept. of Treasury program fact sheet and program’s final regulations. Does anyone know of this priority use of funds?

• Provide premium pay for essential workers, offering additional support to those who have and will bear the greatest health risks because of their service in critical sectors

I was disgusted by the failure by Congress to target those federal funds for public health related investments, by the elevation of corporate economic interests over public health, and by the extremely broad allowable uses by States of those funds. Revealingly, there are only 2 ineligible uses and one is ideological:

Compounding all that, the federal COVID money repeats a longstanding pattern of federal bailouts of irresponsible NJ State government, particularly regarding NJ’s State government failures:

• to plan for and regulate development;
• to invest in critical infrastructure, including public health program infrastructure; 
• to adequately tax corporations, developers, and the wealthy to fund those investments.

NJ is one of the worst states in the country for repeat FEMA flood claims due to poor land use planning and regulation.

NJ has stormwater flooding problems due to poor land use planning and regulation.

NJ has abdicated State level taxing and regulatory powers and devolved them to local government.

Yet NJ is one of the country’s wealthiest states and is the home of multi-billion dollar profitable Fortune 100 corporations in pharmaceutical, chemical, real estate, and energy industries.

For all those failures to be totally ignored and again bailed out by federal COVID funds makes me literally sick to my stomach.

But it gets worse.

Of course NJ Spotlight reported that the business community supports the diversion of COVID funds to water infrastructure – that alleviates their burden of paying impact fees for the flooding and water quality problems they create:

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association also called for the money to be spent on water upgrades.

“Using this money to make transformational changes will also alleviate the need for more taxes or rate hikes in the future, all of which businesses pay,” said the group’s Ray Cantor [NJBIA]

Diversion from public health to water infrastructure is a huge corporate subsidy (another $700 million this year would make the total $1 billion).

Of course, NJ Spotlight frames the issue and parrots the right wing slogan “rain tax” to describe what is really an IMPACT FEE:

That may not be easy given opponents’ claims that a stormwater utility amounts to a “rain tax” that they say would add to already-high New Jersey property taxes.

“I think a lot of municipalities are shying away from it because they think it is a rain tax. Let’s call it something else, not a tax,” she said

Of course NJ Spotlight limits potential revenue sources to unpopular and highly regressive local property taxes and ratepayer fees:

If New Jersey doesn’t take bold action today, New Jersey residents will be forced to shoulder the burden of higher water rates, surcharges and other costs,” Rodriguez [of NJ Future] said

An of course corporate founded, funded and dominated astroturf groups like NJ Future literally carry the business community’s water (just look at the NJ Future Board and their funders and supporters).

So, when the next pandemic or public health crisis hits, don’t forget Gov. Murphy and his friends at NJ Future and NJ Spotlight.