Mayor Ras Baraka Joins Advocates Calling for More Progressive and Sustainable Revenue Solutions in the New Jersey Budget
Mayor Ras Baraka Joins Advocates Calling for More Progressive and Sustainable Revenue Solutions in the New Jersey Budget
Newark, N.J. — This morning, outside of the New Jersey Senate Budget public hearing in Newark, Mayor Ras Baraka and dozens of leaders from For the Many’s coalition of statewide organizations called on state legislators to stand up for working families and protect essential services that keep N.J. affordable for working families and support the most vulnerable communities.
"If we aren't talking about our tax policy, then we aren't really talking about working people in New Jersey," said Mayor Ras Baraka. "We aren't talking about affordability, and we definitely aren’t talking about building a fairer economy. Tax justice means making sure the wealthiest pay their fair share so our communities can support everyone. It means investing in public schools, affordable housing, and reliable infrastructure — not handing out tax breaks to the ultra-rich. A just tax system is how we create real opportunity for everyone, not just the few at the top."
Inside, leaders from community organizations, labor unions, and advocacy groups testified against many of the governor’s proposed cuts to essential support programs, community colleges, public hospitals, and legal services. Programs like these and more are on the chopping block in Governor Murphy’s final proposed budget, which must be passed by June 30.
For the Many’s coalition partners’s key proposals and concerns include:
- Reversing cuts to programs and services at New Jersey’s 18 community colleges, its only public hospital, and public legal services;
- Supporting raised revenues on wealthy individuals and big corporations to fund expanded affordability measures for working-class families;
- Protecting and growing the surplus to limit damage from federal dysfunction and the deep funding cuts proposed by the Republican-controlled U.S. Congress.
Nicole Rodriguez, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective, opened her statement by saying, "This is not the time for austerity. It’s a time for courage. We need to make the wealthy pay their fair share. With fairer revenue, we can fund what families actually need — schools, clean air, transit, and affordable homes.”
"We need to beat back the billionaires and Trump-proof New Jersey's budget," said Antoinette Miles, New Jersey Working Families State Director. "With Trump and his MAGA cronies seeking massive cuts in Washington, we need Trenton to pass a budget that invests in critical areas, like higher education and health care, that are on the federal chopping block."
“New Jersey has a deficit of over 200,000 homes that are affordable to extremely low-income residents, and the overall need is much greater. Now more than ever, the Affordable Housing Trust Fund is needed for home construction and rehabilitation—instead of cutting it, state lawmakers should increase it with dedicated funding from fees on million-dollar homes," said Al-Tariq K. Witcher, Managing Director of External Affairs, Fair Share Housing Center.
“Despite New Jersey’s dependency on immigrants for economic, cultural, and social prosperity, our state is swiftly becoming ground zero for immigration enforcement,” said Madison Linton, Policy Fellow at the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice. “Immigrant New Jerseyans contribute billions of dollars to federal, state, and local taxes every year and make up nearly 30% of the state’s labor force. Trenton must invest in immigrant legal services and language access, and commit to legislation that will protect and empower us, like the Immigrant Trust Act. Politicians must stop stalling to protect their careers and start protecting us from Washington’s destructive attacks.”
“Now more than ever, we need to invest in the programs that working families and immigrants across New Jersey rely on, said Flor, a community member from Make the Road New Jersey. “We need to ensure that everyone facing the deportation machine has access to legal assistance. We must say NO to all local and federal efforts planning to open new detention centers and trying to cut programs we depend on, like Medicaid and SNAP. The state must ensure that programs have sustainable funding. That is why ultra-millionaires must pay their fair share. A strong state budget, rooted in progressive revenues, ensures that we are not left without options if federal funds disappear.”
“We need the legislature to pass a budget that meets the moment and the massive federal cuts right now. Everything from cutting Medicaid–health care for all, including poor or middle-income people who got sick and fell into poverty; SNAP cuts to food security for families; rumored cuts to Social Security, the ACA, and so on. We need the legislature to join us in the streets more than they have been. We’ll be asking the legislature to do better than the governor did to meet the moment and to prepare us from the federal funding impacts that we think are coming,” said Dena Mottola Jaborska, Executive Director, New Jersey Citizen Action.
“We are here to tell the state legislators that they must protect New Jersey from the enormous cuts to Medicaid and Medicare. We must protect New Jersey’s public healthcare, including University Hospital here in Newark, our only state-owned public hospital. We’re also here to protect our public mental health, including University Behavioral Healthcare Center, and cancer care, and the Child Health Unit, among others, “said Debbie White, RN, HPAE President.
“Making this state more affordable isn’t just about fair taxation, it’s also about the hidden costs of inaction — when flood damage drains a family’s savings, when heat waves raise electric bills, when insurance becomes unaffordable or disappears altogether,” said Chris Sotiro, Climate Revolution Action Network, Mobilization Director. Climate change is draining our wallets just as much as it is endangering our future - it is THE MOST pressing issue of our time and our state budget must reflect that.”
