Candidates for the legislature in New Jersey’s 16th district, Mike Pappas, Vinny Panico, and Joe Lukac responded to Assemblyman Zwicker and Governor Murphy’s Photo Op Press Conference this morning where the two Democrats took turns patting each other on the back for finally getting around to allotting what amounts to just 0.63% of the $2,400,000,000 New Jersey received in CARES act funding in April of last year.

“It’s been a year since the $2.4 Billion dollars of CARES Act funding has been available for distribution. I’m glad that more money is coming out, but it is unacceptable that it took so long.” said Senate candidate and former Congressman Mike Pappas. “During the presser, NJDEA CEO Tim Sullivan mentioned that small businesses have been disproportionately impacted by the economic downturn, especially those owned by women and minorities. He was right – last year, over one third of New Jersey’s small businesses have had to close their doors for good, thanks in no small part due to Governor Murphy’s one-size-fits-all approach to the COVID-19 pandemic which has gone unchecked by Andrew Zwicker and his cohort in Trenton.”

Assembly candidate Vinny Panico added, “Our representatives in the State Assembly have abdicated their oversight role and have failed to fight for fair, common sense, and locally-based control of COVID regulations. Instead of taking a victory lap over distributing a paltry amount of emergency funding  a year after the fact, Assemblymen Zwicker and Freiman should have stood up for our small businesses and against the unscientific lockdown measures that have crushed our state. We are far past the dark ages of understanding this virus. It is time for new leadership in District 16 to make a stand for a localized approach to handling re-opening.”

“Murphy and Zwicker might be well intentioned, but let’s be honest, they’re out of touch with the people,” added Assembly candidate Joe Lukac. “They are pretending that they can put out a five alarm fire with a watering can, all while they continue to prevent the engine of our economy from revving up. Their approach isn’t working and it’s time for a fresh perspective. As a municipal Councilman, my philosophy is always to govern as locally as possible. We need to empower County governments and take a regional approach to fighting COVID.”