June 28, 2018 

Offices of the New Jersey Senate 

State House 

PO Box 099 

Trenton, New Jersey 08625 

Offices of the New Jersey General Assembly 

State House 

PO Box 098 

Trenton, New Jersey 

Dear Members of the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly, 

Last week, you passed a state budget that would continue funding we believe is vital to our communities and congregations. 

This budget would invest in our public schools, in workforce development to give people a leg up for a good job, and in reentry programs to give individuals leaving incarceration a new beginning.  These are important investments in New Jersey, we are thankful you took the time to include them in the budget, however there is a caveat. 

We are deeply concerned that the budget you passed quite frankly does not have the revenues necessary to ensure these investments are capable of being made and certainly not sustainable.  We are critically aware that the budget you chose to pass falls nearly $1 billion short of balance, putting these important items in jeopardy almost immediately. 

We, the Faith Leaders of Congregations across the state, strongly urge you to return to the negotiating table with Governor Murphy in good faith and a renewed determination of facilitating the process of finding a more productive and sustainable path forward. 

We request with a sense of urgency that you look once again with a clear lens at tax fairness.  We are of the belief that asking New Jersey’s millionaires and billionaires to pay a little more will ensure that ALL children in our great state can get the very best education.  We also ask you to look to closing the corporate tax loopholes that help only the biggest and most powerful corporations, so that there can be reinvestment in our communities and in the working families who desperately want to become part of New Jersey’s middle class.  It is our fervent belief that true investment in our citizens is a moral issue and the power to do that rests in your capable abilities to govern on behalf of all the people. 

You have been duly elected and the power has been vested in you to change the way New Jersey works for countless hard working residents who are losing hope of a better day and a better day forward for themselves and their families.  We cannot continue on the path we’ve been on. 

We are pleased and hopeful at what has transpired in the past six months.  The Governor has done more for New Jersey’s forgotten families than what had been done in the prior eight years.  We must keep “Our eyes on the prize” and we cannot stop that magnificent progress now.  We ask you to pass the reliable and sustainable revenues necessary to ensure every New Jerseyan has a fair shake. 

In Truth, 

Rev. Dr. Darrell L.  Armstrong 

Rev. Louise RoundtreeRev. Steffie BartleyRev. Dana Owens 

Rev. William RutherfordRev. Jerry SmithRev. Ameer Natson 

Rev. Gregory J. JacksonRev. Alfred JohnsonRev. T Durr 

Rev. Errol StoddartBishop Ronald JonesRev. Fondrea Lewis 

Rev. Dr. James KuykendallRev. Eric McCoyImam Daud Haqq 

Imam Mustafa El-AminRev. John TaylorMinister Jonell Green 

Rev. Bryant AliRev. Vincent RouseRev. Ella Hayes 

Rev. Cory JonesRev. Clabon BoganRev. John Givens 

Rev. Charles Boyer Pastor Wayne WeathersDr. John McReynolds 

First Lady Tamika McReynoldsMinister Donna WestMinister Fred L. Sullivan 

Minister Tonya BryanRev. Dr. Calvin McKinneyRev. Gwennie Burt 

Minister Tracey WilliamsMinister Lynelle GranadyRev. Carolyn Watson 

Minister Tahir JohnsonMinister Janiqua CoddringtonRev. Michael Lewis 

Rev. Alan BoyerRev. Kenneth D.R. ClaytonRev. Macy Allen 

Rev. Dr. Carol PattersonRev. Dr. Lester HarrisRev. Dwight Franklin 

Rev. George Britt