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New Proposed New Jersey Budget Features Baby Savings Bonds

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Governor Phil Murphy today released his revised budget proposal for fiscal year 2021 (FY 2021) including savings bonds for select newborns, cuts across state government, increased taxes, emergency borrowing, and additional plans to invest federal funding received to date to help close a nearly $6 billion budget hole as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Besides setting off an unprecedented public health crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic also unleashed an economic crisis that can only be rivaled by two other times in our state’s entire 244-year history: the Great Depression and the Civil War,” said Governor Murphy. “Over the past few months, we have learned hard lessons but also important lessons: that the old answers won’t fix the new problems, and that the old status quo didn’t work for too many New Jerseyans. We must now have the unavoidable conversation about what it means to not only see our state through this emergency but what we will look like when we emerge from it.”

“This budget proposal is not simply about getting New Jersey back to where it used to be but moving forward to where we need to be by building a new economy that grows our middle class and works for every single family while asking the wealthiest among us to pay their fair share in taxes,” said Governor Murphy.

The revised budget was proposed six months to the day after the Governor originally laid out his FY 2021 budget proposal.  Since then, COVID-19 has ravaged New Jersey from both a public health and an economic standpoint, prompting the state to move important April tax filing deadlines to July and extend the fiscal year from the traditional June 30 ending to September 30. As a result, the revised budget unveiled today addresses spending for only the nine-month period from October 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021.

For the traditional 12-month fiscal year, decreased revenue collections left the state facing a $5.7 billion shortfall over what was projected during the Governor’s Budget Message (GBM) in February. The Governor’s proposed budget relies on a series of solutions to help close this gap and protect many shared priorities. As a result, the Governor’s revised budget overwhelmingly preserves many core state programs:

  • It does not cut K-12 aid, post-secondary tuition assistance, or operating aid for senior public colleges and universities;
  • It restores funding for the Homestead Benefit and Senior Freeze property tax relief programs and does not decrease core municipal aid; and
  • It does not impose new burdens on Medicaid recipients or curb the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC).

The Covid-19 pandemic has disproportionately impacted low income communities and communities of color. The Governor’s budget recognizes those impacts and protects core programs to aid those communities in their recovery. The revised budget proposal also includes targeted growth to address long-standing disparities and ensure that the recovery includes all New Jerseyans.

Notably, the budget includes a new proposal advanced at the federal level by Senator Cory Booker and prominent economists to launch a statewide “baby bonds” initiative. This program would provide a $1,000 savings bond for the approximately 72,000 infants born in 2021 into families whose income is less than 500 percent of the federal poverty level, or $131,000 for a family of four. When these residents turn 18, they can withdraw these funds to help them pursue higher education, buy a home, start a business, or pursue other wealth-generating activities. This will assist three of four children born in New Jersey.

In addition, the budget calls for an investment of $60 million into the Clean Water and Drinking Water programs to ensure safe and modern water infrastructure statewide and it increases the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to 40 percent while proposing to expand EITC eligibility to assist tens of thousands more young adults.

The budget also includes a nearly $4.9 billion contribution to bolster the state pension system, which equals 80 percent of the Actuarially Determined Contribution (ADC) and represents the largest percentage of the ADC contributed in 25 years.  Additionally, it includes a robust $2.2 billion surplus, which represents 5.59 percent of appropriations over the 12-month period.  The Governor is committed to maintaining this surplus to address the very real possibility of another shutdown due to a resurgence of the novel coronavirus.

The Administration was able to protect these priorities, in part, by tightening state spending while making sure budget cuts were targeted and not draconian in nature in order to avoid the same pitfalls that stymied recovery during the Great Recession. Governor Murphy’s revised budget proposal includes $1.25 billion in spending reductions across all executive state departments including: Medicaid solutions proposed by DHS totaling $336 million; DOC’s inmate population management initiative and other reductions totaling $59 million; and $66 million in solutions proposed by DCF, which will help fund the increased investment in the Children’s System of Care.

In order to curtail painful budget cuts and limit the size of emergency borrowing, the Governor is also proposing a variety of progressive tax policy changes that are estimated to yield just over a billion dollars for the nine-month FY 2021 period including:

  • Imposing the millionaire’s tax on all income above $1 million;
  • Permanently incorporating the 2.5 percent corporation surcharge;
  • Restoring the sales tax on limousines;
  • Removing the tax cap on boats; and
  • Applying a 5 percent surcharge to high-income individuals with federally Qualified Business Income (QBI) who have benefited from a regressive new deduction for pass-through entities created under the 2017 federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The Governor remains committed to tax fairness and ensuring that most fortunate among us—millionaires and large corporations—pay their fair share.

The proposed budget also includes $4 billion in borrowing to help address the massive economic fallout created by COVID-19 and better position the state to weather future public health and economic uncertainties. The proposed loan amount must first be approved by the legislative Select Commission on Emergency COVID-19 Borrowing.

Additionally, the Governor’s revised budget proposal details the major recovery efforts the Murphy Administration has launched using a combination of federal and state funds.

Additional details on spending plans for the full $2.39 billion in aid from the Coronavirus Relief Fund as well as the other components of the governor’s revised FY 2021 budget proposal may be found online here.For a one-page summary of the governor’s budget proposal, please click here.

For other coverage of the state’s economic recovery from Covid-19, click here.

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As Key Coronavirus Stat Rises, NJ Limits Indoor Gatherings

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Gov. Phil Murphy points finger at massive house parties as reason for growing coronavirus infection rate

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By Lilo H. Stainton

Concern about the rising spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey has led state officials to reinstate earlier limits on indoor gatherings, reducing the cap to 25 people from the 100-person maximum established in June.

Other restrictions are under consideration as well, they warned, if trends don’t improve.

Gov. Phil Murphy said that while some data continues to head in the right direction — hospitalizations and ventilator use are still on the decline, for example — New Jersey is experiencing what he has called a troubling rise in its RT, or rate of transmission. On Monday Murphy said the rate, which indicates how many people are likely to be infected by a single person, now stands at 1.48, roughly twice the level it was in early June.

As a result, Murphy signed an executive order limiting indoor gatherings to a maximum of 25 people, or 25% of capacity, whichever is less; events were previously capped at 100 people or 25% of capacity. The governor said weddings, funerals, religious services and political activities are exempt from the latest change, allowing them to include up to 100 participants.

“I’m exercising this option not out of joy, but out of necessity,” Murphy said. “To be clear, this caps indoor house parties at 25 people, period,” he said.

Knocking ‘knuckleheads’

Murphy has railed against reports of massive house parties — including events in Jackson and on Long Beach Island now linked to nearly 100 COVID-19 cases — which he said endanger police tasked with breaking them up and exacerbate community spread of the novel coronavirus. He blamed the new indoor-gathering limits on the actions of a few “knuckleheads” in private homes, but also reiterated the need for businesses to play within the current rules, which allow for dining outdoors or inside if two of the four walls can open entirely. Full indoor dining, once slated to reopen in early July, remains on pause.

“The only way we can get to where we want to be with indoor activities is if everyone plays by the rules and no one tries to make end-runs around them,” the governor said. “This is not a game. This is about public health and safety.”

More than 182,600 New Jerseyans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since March, including roughly 14,000 — and likely close to 16,000 — individuals who have died from the disease. “Everyone needs to get it together, folks, and fast. This is not past us yet,” Murphy said.

“I know we all want life to return to normal, but COVID-19 is still circulating and now is not the time to be complacent,” said state Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli. She reminded the public to limit the time spent with those outside their household, maintain at least two arms-length of space, chose outdoor activities, always wear a mask when possible and wash their hands repeatedly. Mask use is required outside when individuals cannot maintain at least 6 feet of distance.

Growing pressure to reopen

Murphy has faced growing pressure from business groups, Republican officials and even members of his Democratic Party to reopen additional aspects of the economy, including restaurants, many of which have suffered significant economic losses under the months-long closure prompted by the pandemic. There is also pressure from some officials, like President Donald Trump, to reopen schools in roughly five weeks, something Murphy has generally supported. But the move is prompting a rising tide of questions about safety and logistics.

On Monday Murphy said he would also issue an order clarifying the state’s guidelines about the use of face coverings in school. Essentially, they will be required at all times — except during meals or water breaks — unless the student has disabilities or health issues that prevent mask wearing. “We know that face coverings work, and we will now ensure everyone in school buildings will wear one,” Murphy said.

In order to continue reopening the state’s economic sector, a process originally outlined in April, Murphy said Monday that he’d like to see a faster turnaround time on coronavirus test results, which now take close to a week, and better participation in the state’s online screening process for travelers from state’s with high levels of coronavirus.

In June New Jersey joined New York and Connecticut to order out-of-state visitors — or local residents returning — from states with a certain level of COVID-19 transmission — to quarantine for 14 days; at least three-dozen states are now affected. The three states also created an online form to help identify and track travelers, but in New Jersey participation has depended on individual cooperation.

Persichilli said Monday that fewer than one in 10 of the travelers who should be filling out the online form detailing their quarantine plans are currently participating. Uptake is “not as high as we wanted it to be,” Persichilli added, “so we’re working on the public awareness aspects of that.”

In addition, doing away with other restrictions would require that the RT decline and remain under 1 for close to a week, Murphy said, and the positivity rate — or percentage of positive tests, now at 1.88 — to stick to its current low range.

“If the rate of transmission remains in this neighborhood (of 1.48) for a prolonged period of time, my guess is that leaves us to take more action” to roll back or further delay reopening, he said. “I can’t tell you today what that action would be,” he added, but he said it would likely initially involve more aggressive enforcement of the current restrictions.

 

Header: Photo by Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash

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Fine Print: Virtual Back-to-School Checklist

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State guidance defines what’s needed for families to stay all-virtual when school starts in September

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

Title: “Clarifying Expectations Regarding Fulltime Remote Learning Options for Families in 2020-2021”

Author: New Jersey Department of Education, sent to all public school districts and charter schools

Date: Friday, July 24, 2020

What is it: The new guidance for the all-remote option was added last week to the state’s existing guidance for what schools needed to do to physically reopen schools in September. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues – even at relative stable levels in New Jersey – schools are facing pressures from families who want to be allowed to stay at home with remote instruction if they so choose. This three-page supplement is the state’s rules for that option, including requirements for specific online learning plans, request procedures and communications.

What it means: The guidance was released several days after Gov. Phil Murphy announced that families would be allowed to stay all-remote if they so choose. He had initially said that schools would need to provide at least some in-school instruction for all students. This latest guidance was inevitable. But it also speaks to the near-certainty of still more guidance and changes coming in what has been a fluid situation, to say the least.

Flexibility key: Murphy said on Friday in releasing the guidance that districts will be afforded wide flexibility in how they want to address each need.

Quote: “We have heard from numerous parents and families who have asked for this, and we have heard them loud and clear. Our top priority is keeping students, their families and educators safe. And to do that, flexibility, local decision making and empowering parents and educators are all critical,” Murphy said.

On the ground: As many as a third of New Jersey families have said in polling and surveys that they may opt to stay home as schools reopen. About 18% of surveyed parents in the Freehold Regional district said so even before this new guidance came out. Superintendent Charles Sampson said now districts can plan for it. “I’m sure every district at this time is working with their families on how they will do this. That is a good chunk of families.”

Six key pillars:

  • “Unconditional eligibility” for full-time remote learning: Any family can opt for all-remote instruction, regardless of medical condition.
  • Procedures for submitting requests: Minimum requirements will be in place for submitting a request to a district, including the span of time being requested and plan for transition to full in-person.
  • Scope and expectations of remote schooling: The guidance says “any student participating in the board’s fulltime remote learning option must be afforded the same quality and scope of instruction and other educational services as any other student otherwise participating in district programs.” That includes the length and time of instruction, equal access to materials, and a multitude of other schooling components.
  • Procedures to transition to in-school: A minimum amount of time for remote instruction will need to be defined by the family and district before being able to transition back to in-school. The process also includes specific services that would transition back.
  • Data collection: Districts will be required to collect data on their remote instruction option, who is using it and how it is implemented. The required categories include the number of students participating in full-time remote learning by each of the following subgroups: economically disadvantaged; major racial and ethnic groups; students with disabilities; and English learners.
  • Communication: The districts will be required to develop full communications programs that will inform all families of their options, including in all home languages of the district. The communications must include the full scope and expectations of the instruction, procedures for making requests and transition planning.

What’s not answered: Basically leaving it up to districts, the new guidance does not detail next steps in how districts will develop remote programs for students who request it. The districts’ plans are due to the state and then the public within four weeks of the opening of school, basically early August.

Teachers, too: The latest guidance does not speak at all to teachers and other employees who may seek a remote option as well. The administration has said that would be left to local personnel decisions and collective bargaining.

Quote: “The health and safety of our educational communities is paramount, and with this guidance we are providing districts with even greater flexibility to ensure that they can meet this need,” Murphy said. “We are not mandating any one specific way to move forward.”

Digital divide: District-by-district counts remain elusive, but state officials continue to say that as many as 230,000 students statewide – a sixth of the state’s total enrollment – do not have the necessary tools to take advantage of remote instruction. Murphy last week announced an additional $50 million in federal relief, but that is half of the need by officials own count.

What’s next: The Legislature has continued to press for a host of issues related to schools reopening, with some leading lawmakers calling for the start of school to be pushed back so districts can better prepare. Short of that, the districts’ plans will be coming out over the next two weeks, previewing what the fall will look like.

 

Header: Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

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Governor Phil Murphy

New Jersey Has Spent Only a Fraction of $2.4B Federal COVID-19 Aid, Legislative Sources Say

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It’s difficult to follow the money, but evidence is that Murphy administration has used less than 3% of state’s allotment

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

While Gov. Phil Murphy complained Wednesday about the latest federal stimulus proposal from Senate Republicans and its lack of funding for states, New Jersey has spent less than 3% of the almost $2.4 billion it has received from the federal government to cover general needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic.

As of Wednesday, the state had spent $229 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), the federal assistance giving states and local governments the most flexibility to use the money to offset impacts from the novel coronavirus, and allocated another $51 million for spending, according to legislative sources. That leaves almost 97.7% untouched about four months after the state learned how much it would receive.

The state treasurer’s office did not respond to a request for comment about the spending figures.

Last week, Murphy signed a bill that allows the state to borrow up $9.9 billion to cover what he and sponsors say are emergency costs associated with the coronavirus crisis. But speaking on the floor of the state Senate as that house debated the borrowing bill, Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R-Morris) said, “$2.1 billion of federal CARES Act block grant money sits in treasury accounts today.”

Republicans and some Democrats, as well as numerous groups — including those representing immigrants, businesses and counties — have been calling on the governor to spend this money, and soon, because there are so many needs throughout the state.

“That money should have been out on the street as soon as we got it,” said Assemblyman Hal Wirths (R-Sussex), the Assembly Republicans’ budget officer. “I actually think he is hoarding that money.” Murphy disputed that during a briefing on the viral pandemic last Friday.

Murphy: State still needs guidance from the feds

“The extent to which money is spent is overwhelmingly due to … still needing guidance from the feds on how we can spend it,” he said. “All federal money comes with very strict regulations, and there’s approval processes … We don’t know if any additional federal money is coming.”

The U.S. Treasury department has issued guidance about how funds from the CRF, which was part of the major stimulus bill known as the CARES Act, can be spent. In brief, the money can be used to cover necessary expenditures due to the pandemic that were not already budgeted for and incurred between March 1 and Dec. 30, 2020. The guidance provides examples of permissible spending — such as for coronavirus testing and telemedicine, disinfection and quarantining, and grants to businesses and to county and local governments.

In remarks at his media briefing Wednesday, Murphy said the state received some “flexibility” in spending the $2.4 billion after fighting with the Trump administration for that. But he complained the latest proposal from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) for a new stimulus bill would allow “zero flexibility” and that New Jersey and other states need more financial help.

“What New Jersey has gotten back is a drop in the bucket compared to our needs,” Murphy said. “Moreover, you would be hard-pressed to find a state that would say differently.”

The state has so far received a total of $5.3 billion from close to 50 separate federal relief programs, a majority of which is earmarked for specific purposes such as K-12 school reimbursements and emergency food assistance. Included in that total is the almost $2.4 billion CRF money from the CARES Act that the state has some leeway in spending.

CRF money was distributed to states and to county and local governments based on population. All government entities with a population of at least 500,000 were eligible for funding. In addition to the $2.39 billion the state received, nine counties — Bergen, Camden, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic and Union counties — shared another $1.05 billion.

Republican criticism

Some Republicans say they think Murphy is holding tight to that money in the hope a change of heart from the Trump administration will allow him to spend it to make up for lost revenues in the current and next budgets. Although Murphy and other governors have said this is where they most need the money, such spending is expressly prohibited by federal guidelines.

“Funds may not be used to fill shortfalls in government revenue to cover expenditures that would not otherwise qualify under the statute,” according to U.S. Department of the Treasury guidance.

“I think he is just hoping to be able to use that money for the budget,” Wirths said.

A report last month from S&P Global Ratings suggested another reason why the administration may not have spent much CARES Act funding: “This money does not provide state budget relief as it can only be spent for additional coronavirus related expenditures and must be completely spent by Dec. 31, 2020. However, as these funds can be held in the state general fund, they can be co-mingled with other investments and will have the effect of improving cash liquidity, at least until December.”

The Democratic-controlled House of Representatives has passed legislation, known as the HEROES Act, that would provide money to help states ($500 billion) and localities ($375 billion) to close budget gaps. But the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to take up the measure. McConnell discussed his plan for a new stimulus bill earlier this week and while he said it has money for individuals, businesses and schools, it does not have general aid for states.

With restrictions on spending CRF money well-known, lawmakers and various organizations continue to call on Murphy to spend the money.

“The money in that treasury account needs to be put out on the street to do exactly what it was designed to do: Help small businesses and the hospitality industry,” Bucco said of the $2.11 billion in unspent CARES Act funds.

Relief for restaurants proposed

Bucco is a co-sponsor, along with Sen. President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and others, of a bill (S-2704), introduced last Thursday, that would spend $30 million of CARES Act funding to provide relief to restaurants that had geared up to open indoor dining July 2 only to have Murphy change his mind a few days beforehand and keep indoor dining shut.

Bucco said he hears every day from business and restaurant owners who say they are in dire financial straits and may not be able to survive without help from the state.

Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) wrote to Murphy and the leaders of both houses of the Legislature in May asking them to use some of the federal stimulus funds to provide “hazard pay bonuses” for essential workers, including grocery store cashiers, chefs, health care workers and others.

“I hope that you will agree that these frontline workers are absolutely deserving of recognition that goes beyond the symbols of community gratitude already shown to them — thank you signs, drive-by parades, and donated meals,” Singleton wrote. “While these gestures are undoubtedly appreciated and significant, the state of New Jersey should properly compensate these heroes financially for their courageous efforts and provide them with a hazard pay bonus.”

Murphy has not been receptive to legislative requests for additional spending related to COVID-19. Since early May, he has vetoed six measures that sought to provide more than $245 million to such diverse interests as the unemployed, health care facilities, food banks, hospitality businesses and renters. In some cases, he said the relief was duplicative of other programs; in others, he said the state could not afford the expenditure.

The New Jersey Association of Counties has been pleading with the governor for months to use CARES Act funds to reimburse the dozen counties that received no direct help from the federal government for the millions they have spent responding to the pandemic. Counties with populations of more than 500,000 got direct federal assistance for testing, personal protective equipment, disinfecting county facilities, collecting and sharing public health data, providing shelter and many other purposes.

Counties clamor for assistance

“Although the United States Department of Treasury authorized states to provide much needed relief for local governing bodies that did not meet the above noted population threshold, the State of New Jersey has yet to release any CRF monies for COVID-19 related expenses,” wrote John Donnadio, the association’s executive director, in a July 10 letter to Murphy. “NJAC is once again urging Governor Murphy to release this critical funding in a timely manner to help alleviate the daunting fiscal burden imposed on local governing bodies and property taxpayers.”

A May 22 report from the state treasurer on the state’s finances contains a preliminary plan for spending CRF money. That includes $250 million to reimburse local and county governments for pandemic-related costs for which no other funding was available. It “may prioritize” giving money to the 12 counties that did not get any direct federal stimulus funding. But it is unclear when, or if, Murphy will make that money available: The introduction to the proposal notes that it is only a “framework” and could change.

It is hard to know exactly how the administration has spent any of the money it has gotten so far from the federal government to deal with the viral outbreak. The administration currently has no central source for income and spending data related to COVID-19, but Murphy announced on Friday plans to set up a website to “track” the progress of the new Governor’s Disaster Recovery Office, which will coordinate all recovery programs funded through federal sources.

An NJ Spotlight analysis of available public information — mostly press releases or contracts obtained through the state’s open records law — found that about $406 million has been spent to date on items ranging from a special voting app for the disabled ($89,000) to emergency food assistance to school children and families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) support (at least $143 million as of early July). The total also includes money spent on personal protective equipment, lawyers and consultants and a database to assist with contact tracing. It is likely that the state has spent, or at least allocated, significantly more than that.

It is unclear whether some of this is being funded with CRF dollars or from other, earmarked grants.

As far as money coming specifically from the CRF is concerned, Murphy has so far announced two fairly large expenditures. Two months ago, he announced plans to spend $50 million for small business grants and loans. And last Thursday he said he will commit up to $50 million — along with another $10 million from funding targeted for school relief — to help schools improve internet connectivity and provide digital devices to all students who need them.

 

Header: Courtesy Governor Phil Murphy’s Facebook page

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Murphy Offers ‘Virtual-Only’ Option for 2020 School Reopening

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Governor yields to pressure from all sides, steps back from requirement that students, teachers must attend in-class instruction some of the time

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

New Jersey’s attempts to come up with a plan for reopening its schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic has been a frenetic whirlwind.

And we’re still six weeks out.

Facing pressures from all sides, Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday created a bit of a stir and said families that want to sit out the physical reopening of schools now will have a choice to stay with virtual instruction after all.

He didn’t say much beyond that, saying state guidelines were forthcoming and leaving open many questions about exactly how his announcement would work.

“The details will be coming out later this week, but we wanted everyone to know now that we will allow for this step,” Murphy said at his daily media briefing.

The latest announcement from Murphy of a “virtual-only” option for families came suddenly, as concerns were mounting about how to address those who may not feel comfortable going back to school, even with all the precautions of screening, masks and distancing.

No time for full reopening?

Murphy’s statement came after the head of the state’s powerful teachers union last week said she doubted there is enough time for a full reopening anyway. And Murphy himself  said an initiative to close the digital divide has already left hundreds of thousands of students behind.

The swirl of developments — all in late July — has left superintendents and others with their heads spinning as they prepare their districts’ reopening plans, which are  due in the next two weeks.

At least that’s the current timetable.

Brick-and-mortar instruction

Murphy had said that all districts would have to have at least some in-person instruction, leaving to districts how to design that but promoting there would likely be at least a couple of days a week of remote or virtual instruction.

But the questions grew about whether that meant all families had to participate in in-school instruction. The state has been unclear in its guidance so far, with some hearing that families may even have to withdraw their children from the school system altogether.

The state’s 104-page package for reopening schools currently does not include any provisions for parent choice, only a handful in the country without such provisions, according to one study by Johns Hopkins University.

Reacting to the news on Monday, some superintendents and other school advocates welcomed the opportunity for as much flexibility as possible. A letter to the governor signed by scores of superintendents had asked for a remote option and clarification from the state.

“We were heartened that Gov. Murphy was responsive to the voices in the field and has moved forward on clarifying a remote option for parents which will assist all of us in our planning for reopening,” said David Aderhold, the West Windsor-Plainsboro superintendent who has been outspoken in calling for better guidance from the state.

“There was great advocacy for this option,” Aderhold said in an email. “We appreciate the willingness of the governor and his administration to listen and consider issues faced by school districts across the state.”

No details yet

The department said guidance would be coming by the end of the week, although it provided no details at all about what would be covered.

A host of questions arise: Will those insisting on virtual instruction be put at any disadvantage or a possible advantage? Could it be a fluid decision to be made by parents or for a set time? What about busing; is that a separate choice?

“Districts and parents need reliable assurances from the Department of Education that it counts for enrollment and attendance purposes, and that we’re not just relying on some informal nonbinding guidance,” said school board attorney David Rubin, whose Metuchen law firm represents more than 50 districts.

“Will students whose families have opted to keep them home for the school day be permitted to take part in on-campus extracurricular activities or sports, perhaps displacing students who’ve committed to be fully present?”

Murphy on Monday would not take further questions on the issue, but acknowledged there will be many to come.

“There are a lot of moving parts to this,” Murphy said. “We want to get it right. We want to do it responsibly.”

 

Header: Photo by Allie on Unsplash

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Murphy to Use $54M in Federal Aid to Help Bridge Digital Divide in State’s Schools

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But Department of Education says the full cost of equipping schools, families for remote instruction is likely close to $115 million

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Mooney

Hosted at an elementary school in one of the poorest cities in the state, Gov. Phil Murphy last week presented a plan that he said would help close the gaping digital divide for New Jersey public education in this COVID-19 pandemic world.

His plans only confirm just how gaping a divide it is.

Murphy traveled on Thursday to Irvington’s Madison Avenue School to announce a plan to target $54 million in existing federal aid to help buy the thousands of Chromebooks, laptops, Wi-Fi hotspots and other tools for schools and families in need if remote instruction is again to be a big part of the mix in the fall, as expected.

He said 4,800 students in Irvington alone — more than half the district — were left out of full use of remote instruction in the spring due to technology needs and in peril for the same for the fall.

“It is an untenable divide,” Murphy said Thursday. “It is not a cost we can ignore, we must address this now.”

It was an inevitable acknowledgment from the governor that whatever schools look like in September, computers for remote instruction have become the new paper-and-pencil of basic school supplies — and tens of thousands of New Jersey kids are without them.

DOE has more work to do

But despite the promise to fully close the gap, this looks to be only the start. The state Department of Education on Friday said that the full need is likely close to $115 million, and Murphy himself said as many as 230,000 students — a fifth of the state’s public school enrollment — were without the needed devices and connectivity this spring.

That’s even more than previously reported, when officials in May said about 90,000 families were without connectivity and 130,000 without adequate devices. But the state’s numbers have also always been loosely reported, and the department said it would release updated ones this week.

The DOE on Friday maintained that districts have already started to close the gap, and the additional public investment — along with an undefined public pledge drive for corporate philanthropic support — will go a long way toward closing it entirely. It cited a rough estimate of about $500 per student.

The plan would include three main components:

  • $10 million in existing federal funds to districts to purchase and provide the technology;
  • $44 million in other federal emergency funds provided by the state; and an
  • unidentified sum in business and other philanthropic funds.

The federal money that districts could receive anyway would be available in a grant process through the state education department. In what is an unusual outreach, Murphy’s plan for philanthropic support would have the state’s Economic Development Authority open a formal process for private funds to be donated from organizations and corporations.

“Any help we can get from our business community will allow us to stretch our state funds even further and offset other costs face in reopening,” Murphy said.

The details were posted last week, and proposals are due by July 31.

Sweeney, Ruiz back governor

Standing with Murphy on Thursday were Senate President Steve Sweeney and state Sen. Teresa Ruiz, inarguably the two most influential legislators when it comes to education policy. Sweeney’s attendance especially didn’t go unnoticed, given his often-contentious relationship with Murphy.

“These are tough times and there is not a lot of money, but it’s critically important that the governor will insure that all children – that’s a big word, all children – are going to be ensure the opportunity for an education,” Sweeney said.

“How many Einsteins have we lost, how brilliant kids did we lose because they did not get a good education,” he said.

Ruiz has been among the state’s most outspoken when it comes to the digital divide, and she said this investment was a start.

“The pandemic uncovered an ugly truth that many of us always knew,” Ruiz said. “It is not something that happened over the last five months, it is something that we have been screaming about for decades.

“We do not know what September will bring, but we know that many districts will be going hybrid [in-person and virtual], so let’s equip every child with that they need,” she said.

When contacted afterward, Ruiz said more investment will be necessary, citing the needs and training for teachers, as well.

“This was the easiest part to do,” she said in an interview with NJ Spotlight. “It’s just the beginning.”

 

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Does Uptick In COVID-19 Transmission Rate Mean Murphy Will Slow Down Recovery?

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Answering that question means assessing how closely residents are still following social-distancing policies, viral visitors from other states and the ‘knucklehead’ factor

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By Lilo H. Stainton

New Jersey’s pandemic recovery process may have hit a speed bump, after a rise in the COVID-19 transmission rate led Gov. Phil Murphy to warn that additional public-health restrictions may be necessary to control the spread of the coronavirus.

On Monday, Murphy announced that the COVID-19 reproduction rate, or Rt, had ticked above 1 for two days, the first time it had been over this key threshold in 10 weeks. A value above 1 indicates the virus is spreading more efficiently, with each infected person giving it to more than one other individual.

While Rt is among an array of data Murphy’s team says it monitors closely, along with the positivity rate, hospitalization rate and other indicators, the governor suggested the rising reproduction rate had forced his administration to consider an outdoor mask policy for the public. Murphy also warned that people who ignore current mask or social-distancing guidelines are putting New Jersey’s economic reopening at risk.

“I want us to be able to deliberately and responsibly continue down our road back,” Murphy said at his media briefing Monday. (He is now hosting these sessions three times a week, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, instead of daily.) “I do not want to have to hit another pause on our restart because a small number of New Jerseyans are being irresponsible in spreading COVID-19, while the rest of us continue to work hard to stop it, but we all need to be traveling down this road together.”

Rt rate — missing in action?

While the state posts a wealth of data related to the pandemic, Rt rate is not on the administration’s dashboard and details on how Murphy’s team calculates it have not been made public previously. Administration officials said Tuesday the calculation is based on a model developed by Imperial College London and considers the number of new cases over time and  how quickly such cases develop. Generally speaking, Rt depends on factors like new case data, the population’s vulnerability to infection, how long people carry a disease and how many recover or die — but the methods and models vary.

“It all depends on what the epidemiologist or modeler assumes or has belief in being the best indicators of this number,” said Henry F. Raymond, an associate professor with Rutgers School of Public Health and expert in epidemiological models. “There’s no gold standard in how to do these things.”

Another “pause” on New Jersey’s reopening would likely be unpopular. Murphy has faced a barrage of criticism over his decision, announced last Monday, to postpone the planned reopening of indoor dinning, initially scheduled for Thursday, July 2. But Murphy said  that sitting in proximity to others without a mask poses too much risk; he has also raised concerns about photos of young people packed into outdoor bars at the Jersey Shore and elsewhere, without masks or distance between them.

“We are continuing down our road back. However, today we are seeing a sign that we all need to take with the utmost seriousness, and which we all need to work together to reverse,” Murphy said Monday in announcing the Rt rate had reached 1.03 over the past two days. “This means that for every new case of COVID, we are seeing that case is leading to at least one other new case. This means increasing rate of spread statewide. This is an early warning sign that quite frankly, we need to do more.”

Beyond the possibility of an outdoor mask policy — which Murphy conceded would not be easy to enforce — it’s not clear what adjustments the state is considering. Outside dining has been open since mid-June, beaches since late May and arcades and other boardwalk entertainment sites began welcoming guests last weekend.

The unknowable ‘knucklehead’ factor

Murphy said Monday it was not clear how much of the Rt uptick reflected the state’s businesses reopening, the behavior of “knuckleheads” who ignore public-health recommendations or infections connected to out-of-state visitors. But the governor noted two Garden State case clusters were tied to travel, one of which involved a wedding in South Carolina, a coronavirus hotspot.

“We knew when we opened up the state again, we said this, we’re taking on more risk and that’s going to lead to more transmission, but we felt was responsible and manageable,” Murphy said. “I don’t know that a month ago, anyone — anyone — would have anticipated that Florida would be printing 10,000 or 11,000 positives a day, or Texas, Arizona, parts of California,” he added, “so I think it’s a mix.”

Seeking to prevent against a spike in cases here, in late June Murphy announced a mandatory 14-day quarantine for people traveling from — or returning home to New Jersey from — states that met certain criteria indicating high viral activity. With limited enforcement options, the policy essentially depends on personal responsibility for compliance. There were 19 states on the list Tuesday. While hospitalizations and new case counts have declined significantly since peaking in April, nearly 174,000 New Jerseyans have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and more than 1,800 have died since March.

A state Department of Health spokesperson said Tuesday the model New Jersey is using considers the number of new cases over 10 days and various “standard interval parameters” to determine how quickly new infections develop. This factor ranges from 4.5 to 6.5 days, according to assumptions culled from a global literature review of work published by epidemiological experts, administration officials said. The outcome can fluctuate depending on many factors, according to the DOH, including the number of tests involved, the amount of physical contact between residents and a region’s population.

Raymond, with Rutgers, noted that whatever data is being used in the calculation is subject to limitations as well. New case numbers depend on testing, for example, and if that isn’t widespread, then it may not reflect the true spread of the disease. (New Jersey has now tested more than 1.5 million people, according to state tracking.) In addition, the vulnerability of a population is impacted by how willing people are to adopt public-health protections like rigorous mask use, hand washing and isolating when sick — factors that are hard to measure.

“This is not a moon launch where we have everything down to who urinates when and what they eat when,” Raymond explained. “We’re dealing with human behavior,” he said. “But the point is, what’s a good number to guide public policy,” Raymond added, noting public health officials, “do the best with the numbers we have.”

 

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Indoor Dining is Postponed Indefinitely

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Governor Phil Murphy announced today by Twitter that indoor dining is postponed indefinitely.

Due to Covid-19 spikes in other states that have resumed indoor dining, New Jersey will not allow it to resume as originally planned this Thursday.

Murphy said he is pausing the resumption of indoor dining because of examples across the state of overcrowding, a complete disregard for social distancing and few face coverings.  The numerous scenes in newspapers and on social media like this one from Jersey City Chief Municipal Prosecutor Jake Hudnut cannot continue.

Murphy said “the carelessness of one establishment can completely undo the good work of many others.” “We will not tolerate outlier bars and restaurants – and, frankly, patrons who think the rules don’t apply to them.”

He concluded by saying that “compliance isn’t a polite suggestion, it is required.”

No other information was provided when indoor dining could resume.

For more Covid-19 information, please see our coverage here.

 

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Guidance to Reopen Schools

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Governor Phil Murphy and Department of Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet announced on June 26 the release of “The Road Back: Restart and Recovery Plan for Education,” which provides guidance to reopen schools this fall.

The plan announces that, absent a change in public health data, public schools will open for in-person instruction and in some capacity at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year. Individual school districts together with community stakeholders will be expected to develop plans that best fits their own district’s needs.

The guidance sets the minimum standards for returning to school and describes several health and safety standards to be prioritized in school reopening:

  1. Social distancing: Schools and districts must allow for social distancing within the classroom. This can be achieved by ensuring students are seated at least six feet apart. If schools are not able to maintain this physical distance, additional modifications should be considered. These include physical barriers between desks and turning desks to face the same direction (rather than facing each other)or having students sit on only one side of a table and spaced apart.
  2. Face coverings: School staff and visitors are required to wear face coverings unless doing so would inhibit the individual’s health or the individual is under two years of age. Students are strongly encouraged to wear face coverings and are required to do so when social distancing cannot be maintained, unless doing so would inhibit the student’s health. It is necessary to acknowledge that enforcing the use of face coverings may be impractical for young children or certain individuals with disabilities.
  3. Limited capacity: It is recommended that students and staff be seated at least six feet apart in class when practicable. When weather allows, windows should be opened to allow for greater air circulation.
  4. Cleaning/disinfecting: Procedures must be implemented by each school district for the sanitization of school buildings and school buses. Increased hand washing measures are also important for students and staff.

These provisions are informed by Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, which call for protecting staff and students who are at higher risk for severe illness, such as providing options for telework and virtual learning; providing reasonable accommodations for older adults (65 years and older) and individuals with serious underlying medical conditions; and, when possible, keeping early childhood students apart during naptime and avoiding close-group activities like reading circles.

Other provisions in the guidance include:

  1. Cafeteria directors should consider staggering meal times to allow for social distancing; discontinuing self-serve or buffet lines; having students eat meals outside or in their classrooms; and requiring staff to disinfect eating areas between groups.
  2. Recess should also be held in staggered shifts, with efforts to promote social distancing and hygiene protocols.
  3. Cohorting: Schools may wish to identify small groups of students and keep them together (cohorting) to ensure that student and staff groupings are as static as possible, thereby limiting exposure to large groups of students.
  4. School bus operators should encourage social distancing. CDC guidelines recommend seating on a school bus such that there is one student seated per row, skipping a row between each child, if possible. Barriers separating rows of bus seats may also be considered. If social distancing is not feasible, face coverings must be worn by students who are able to do so. Increased ventilation (i.e. opening windows) is also recommended in the guidelines.

As being able to reopen schools is dependent upon health data and informed by experts in the health field, districts will need to be prepared to switch to remote instruction at any time during the 2020-2021 school year should circumstances change. The guidance stresses that each school district should be working to ensure every student has a device and internet connectivity available, and it identifies funding streams available to school districts to ensure students have access to technology.

Districts should strive to share preliminary scheduling plans to reopen schools with staff, families, and students at least four weeks before the start of the school year in order to allow families to plan childcare and work arrangements.

Click here for a summary of the guidance.

Click here for the full guidance.

For more on the Jersey City School Board’s plans to reopen schools, please see Sally Deering’s coverage J.C. School Board prepares for September reopening.

 

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Debt

Fine Print: What to Watch for as NJ Lawmakers Examine Gov. Phil Murphy’s Emergency-Borrowing Proposal

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The Murphy administration has adjusted budget plans to account for the pandemic’s impact on state revenues, but wants greatly expanded borrowing authority; will legislators agree?

This story was written and produced by NJ Spotlight. It is being republished under a special NJ News Commons content-sharing agreement related to COVID-19 coverage. To read more, visit njspotlight.com.

Full story link – HERE.

By John Reitmeyer

Emergency-borrowing legislation that Gov. Phil Murphy wants lawmakers to enact so the state can deal with revenue losses caused by the coronavirus pandemic is scheduled to get its first committee review in the Assembly on Monday.

The emergency-borrowing proposal is also expected to be a topic of debate as Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio appears before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee to discuss her department’s recent moves to rebalance spending in the wake of the pandemic.

So far, the Murphy administration has been able to make cuts and other budget adjustments to keep spending balanced through the end of September without borrowing. But Treasury officials are predicting deep revenue losses will continue for months and into next year as the pandemic continues, and they want the power to issue debt to address future shortfalls.

Here are five key issues to keep an eye on as the borrowing legislation advances in the State House:

How much borrowing?

The legislation introduced in the Assembly last week allows for $5 billion in state bonds, which would make it one of the largest debt issues in New Jersey history. The bill would also allow the state to borrow from the federal government, including on behalf of local governments. And it permits short-term borrowing, but also allows refinancing that could ultimately push the debt and interest payments out as long as 35 years.

Is this constitutional?

Murphy’s administration has argued that language in the state Constitution allows for otherwise strict limits on spending and borrowing to be relaxed during times of war or natural disaster. Language in the bill also says the borrowing is needed to “maintain and preserve the fiscal integrity of the State and its local government units.” But some lawmakers have questioned the administration’s interpretation of the Constitution’s emergency-borrowing powers, arguing the Constitution does not allow for bond proceeds of any kind to be treated as “revenue” to plug future budget holes. A recent opinion from the legal counsel for the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services also raised similar concerns. If the borrowing measure advances, it will likely end up in court as lawsuits have already been threatened.

What’s the cost for taxpayers?

It’s too soon to say for sure, but the borrowing legislation allows for the issuance of general-obligation bonds, which are backed by the “faith and credit” of the state instead of a specific revenue source or a payment promise from lawmakers. That means the state pledges to increase taxes like the sales tax and even local property taxes to ensure general-obligation bondholders are paid. But without knowing the exact amount that will be borrowed, and the expected interest costs, it’s too soon to say exactly how taxpayers will be impacted. New borrowing could also bring on another credit-rating downgrade, which would only add to the interest costs that would ultimately have to be covered by taxpayers.

How much is New Jersey already in debt?

The pace of new borrowing has slowed during Murphy’s tenure. But New Jersey has for years been ranked by many measures as one of the nation’s most indebted states, including debt per capita and debt as a share of gross-domestic product, (GDP). Treasury’s most recent official accounting of the total amount owed to bondholders was $44.4 billion, which is more than the state’s annual budget of just under $40 billion. Also on the state’s books is an unfunded public-worker pension liability that measures more than $100 billion by some estimates.

What happens next?

If the borrowing proposal clears the first legislative-committee hurdle on Monday, it could go before the full Assembly as early as Thursday. From there, its fate remains uncertain. While the measure has enjoyed strong backing from Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) and many liberal groups that make up the governor’s base, it has yet to win the backing of Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester). And since spending has been rebalanced through the end of September without any revenue from borrowing, it may take until income and corporate-business tax payments are collected and tallied up in July for the Senate to make a final decision on whether new borrowing is needed. From there, the threat of litigation could keep the borrowing proposal sidelined even longer.

 

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