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One is additional federal assistance with as few strings attached as possible. The other is the ability to carry over billions of dollars in debt over time to keep essential services going.
On the borrowing front, that takes a deal with the legislature.
“We had very productive meetings with both the Senate President Steve Sweeney and Speaker Craig Coughlin and I’m very proud and happy to announce that we have an agreement on bonding,” Murphy said.
That agreement will allow for as much as $9.9 billion of borrowing, with the approval of a legislative commission, according to Sweeney’s office.
That four-member panel, two from each chamber, will have to approve each request by a majority vote.
Republicans have vowed to go to court over any bonding plan, saying programs should be cut instead.
The state now has 174,628 coronavirus cases and 13,532 fatalities.