TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — In his final State of the State Address on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy said his administration fulfilled the promise of a stronger, fairer New Jersey and outlined new priorities for the year ahead.
New Jersey’s population is growing, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau. The state is growing faster than any other state in the Northeast, with an increase of 1.2% from 2023, bringing the overall population to an estimated 9.5 million.
In addition, the number of jobs and employers in the Garden State has reached a record high, according to new data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. As of November, the state had 4.4 million jobs, and as of September, there were more than 284,000 employers.
“It’s because we’ve remained devoted to our Jersey values, we have worked our tails off, and we’ve dared to dream big,” Murphy said.
The governor noted a key victory in an increase to New Jersey’s minimum wage, which nearly doubled to $15.49 per hour since he assumed office.
“A higher minimum wage has not held our economy back. Instead, it has made our economy one of the strongest in the entire region.”
He’s asked lawmakers to pass several new pieces of legislation to make abortions free, to codify clean energy standards, and ban cell phones at all K-12 schools.
“If you ask just about any educator, they will tell you that mobile devices are a distraction in the classroom, that they are fueling a rise in cyberbullying, and they are making it incredibly difficult for our kids not only to learn but to retain the substance of what they learn.”
Murphy called for full expansion of universal pre-K and extending full-day kindergarten in districts that don’t have it already. He also wants to extend paid parental leave for state workers to care for newborns.
“While we are providing this benefit to the state’s public sector workers, we hope that it will become the new norm for all of our state’s workers in every sector and every industry.”
In response, Republicans have proposed providing up to 24 weeks of parental leave to all workers, not just state workers, to care for newborns and family members.
Murphy also wants to digitize driver's licenses and state IDs so people can keep them stored on their phones.
Although this will be his final year in office, he emphasized it will not be a time for rest.