Senator Joe Pennacchio Releases Review of the Montgomery McCracken Covid Report

March 14, 2024

State Senator Joe Pennacchio today released his review of the administration’s report of the Covid pandemic and the State’s response. The report commissioned by Governor Murphy was compiled by the Law Firm of Montgomery McCracken at a cost of $9 million to the State’s taxpayers.

“Unfortunately, for the taxpayers,” Pennacchio stated “even with its large girth of more than 900 pages, the cost of the report was not justified by its content.”

“It is obvious to me that the report tried to do with size what it should have done with substance. With a history of the Covid outbreak and the report’s footnotes, both take up a considerable portion of the 900 plus page exercise. All in the report cost taxpayers more than $10,000 per page,” said the Senator.

“A disservice was done to the people of New Jersey by not assigning blame for some of New Jersey’s failed Covid policies. Most if any of the criticism was directed at the administration of the Menlo Park and Paramus Veterans’ nursing facilities. This no doubt could not be escaped because of two scathing reports on Covid policies and deaths in Veterans’ nursing homes done by the U.S. Department of Justice and the State’s Commission of Investigations,” said Senator Pennacchio.

There are questions that require answers. One of the most glaring is the report’s claim that over 16,000 patients and staff died in long term nursing facilities. The current New Jersey Department of Health’s dashboard shows that figure at 9,221. Why?

As with the report, most of the Senator’s review deals with the private and veterans’ long-term care facilities, Covid related actions and resulting deaths. The Senator has included a link to a copy of the Montgomery McCracken report, as well as his review.

“I encourage everyone to read and determine for themselves the scope and significance of the State’s actions during the Covid pandemic.

Thousands of citizens including the 16,000 who died in nursing homes deserve that consideration,” concluded Pennacchio.

To read Sen. Pennacchio’s full review, click here.