Latino Action Network Foundation Executive Director Dr. Jesselly De La Cruz issued the following statement in response to Governor Murphy’s State of the State address:

We applaud Governor Murphy’s continued focus on equity and investment in underserved communities as expressed in his State of the State address today.

From fighting to increase the minimum wage to expanding health care access to children regardless of immigration status, Governor Murphy is a champion of New Jersey’s Latino community.

We are particularly gratified to see Governor Murphy’s strong support of an effort to strengthen New Jersey’s affordable housing rules. We want to ensure that the we continue to build on the momentum we have gained in finally tackling our state’s affordable housing crisis by creating a simple and clear set of rules to address the problem of systemic racism and economic exclusion.

We look forward to working with him in the coming year to realize a shared vision of a state where every family, regardless of race or ZIP code, has access to a high-quality education, a good job and a safe neighborhood.