Governor: Firefighters Might be Among 200K NJ Public Workers Laid Off

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Gov. Phil Murphy on Friday made a dire prediction of 200,000 additional layoffs among the ranks of New Jersey public workers without imminent federal cash assistance to battle the coronavirus pandemic.

In a Friday afternoon call-in interview with Bloomberg, Murphy said that without a federal cash infusion, layoffs in the Garden State would continue, with droves more public workers let go.

“This is about keeping firefighters, police, EMS, healthcare workers, educators employed," said Murphy. “The alternative, I should say, to not getting that funding is a whole lot of layoffs. We think as much as 200,000 more at the state level alone in New Jersey.”

The grim projection come the week after Murphy announced plans to cut $1.3 billion in spending and a massive $10 billion state revenue loss in the coming fiscal year, as the pandemic continues to ravage the state’s finances.

Without direct federal cash assistance, Murphy told Bloomberg, essential public workers — including frontline workers who are actively battling the pandemic and its effects on New Jersey residents — would most likely lose their jobs across the state, destroying public services that residents cling to.

“It would gut them," said Murphy. "It would gut them at the very moment when we can least afford the services being gutted. Our residents need those workers, literally, more than ever before. It’s unfathomable. Which I think is why the case is so compelling for that federal cash assistance.”

When asked if there were other revenue sources to help bridge the gap, Murphy said the shortfall was just too big to overcome without federal help.

“The hole is so significant from this — and it’s not just New Jersey — I don’t think theres any amount of cuts or any amount of taxes that comes close to filling the hole up," said Murphy. “We’re already a state that is not the cheapest place to live in America.”

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the state had been managing its finances well, said Murphy.

“There’s a certain myth out there, well we’re just going to help you all because you hadn’t managed your legacy realities, your outstanding indebtedness or your structural deficits or your pension obligations,” said Murphy. “We were doing just fine with that. It’s a long slog, but we were making a lot of progress.”

On Friday, new confirmed cases brought the statewide total to 11,531 known fatalities related to COVID-19, with at least 158,844 cases, since the first case was reported March 4. New Jersey, a densely populated state of 9 million residents, has the second-most deaths and cases among U.S. states, after New York.

“This is one of these moments where the federal government plays that existential role that no one else can play,” said Murphy. “And we need that role to be played to its maximum.”

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