PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Gov. Phil Murphy said the COVID-19 crisis has put New Jersey on the brink of a fiscal disaster.
He said the Garden State is not asking for a bailout, but it does need more federal help to prevent a second Great Depression.
He said Congress needs to give more money directly to states in the next round of emergency aid, which is currently being debated.
“A fiscal disaster is not months away. Hard and unpalatable decisions are being made in the here and now. They'll be on our doorstep in just a few weeks. Several cities are currently, as we speak, currently preparing for layoffs,” he said.
Our administration is tackling New Jersey’s legacy fiscal issues.Yet, all some in Washington can hear are the noises from our past. They’re all the happier to lay the sins of those who created this mess at the feet of those trying to fix it.
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy)
May 11, 2020 Those layoffs could hit workers on the front lines of the pandemic, as well as Labor Department workers taking claims from thousands of residents.
“Some have suggested that it’s the fault of the states that #COVID19 has ravaged us,” Murphy tweeted. “Forget the fact that we have lost more than 9,000 New Jerseyans to this illness. Forget the fact that we have had to shutter our economy to try to save lives.”
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez attended the governor’s daily briefing to promote his legislation that would send $500 billion in flexible funding to states. Menendez expects to announce the support of two or three Republican senators by the end of the week.
“The federal government cannot sit on its hands and watch our states go bankrupt and our people suffer,” added Menendez.
On a more positive note, Murphy said the growth curve on new cases is continuing to decline.
The numbers of positive cases and deaths connected to our long-term care facilities continues to grow.We’re continuing to work hard to mitigate these numbers. We had good reports from this past weekend, when the first group of @NJNationalGuard members joined several facilities. pic.twitter.com/ugPrpIZnKb
— Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy)
May 11, 2020 The percentage of people testing positive for COVID-19 is about 26% of those being tested, down from a high near 50% last month, Murphy said. Hospitalizations from the virus are also down, as are the number of people in intensive care and on ventilators.
“We are getting data that is making us more comfortable and confident that we will soon have some hard dates as to when we can truly begin our road back to restart and recovery,” Murphy said.
At his next daily briefing, Murphy said he will outline plans for expanded testing and contact tracing. He also hinted he may announce more dates for lifted restrictions by the end of the week.
To date, New Jersey has 139,945 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 9,310 fatalities.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
