ACS CAN Reacts to Murphy State of the State

Over 57,000 New Jerseyans Expected to Be Diagnosed with Cancer in 2021

TRENTON, NJ – January 12, 2021 – Today, Governor Murphy issued his State of the State Address for New Jersey. The following statement can be attributed to Michael Davoli, New York City & New Jersey Government Relations Director of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN).

“ACS CAN looks forward to working with Gov. Murphy in 2021 on an agenda that reduces our state’s cancer rate, helps identify cancers at their earliest- and often most treatable- stage, and ensures that cancer patients are adequately supported as they battle this devastating disease.

“While COVID-19 continues to grip the nation, cancer is ever-present. Earlier today the American Cancer Society released its annual Cancer Facts & Figures 2021 report.  While the report showed that the overall cancer death rates in the United States dropped continuously from 1991 through 2018 for a total decrease of 31%, in the state of New Jersey in 2021, almost 57,000 new cancer cases will be diagnosed and 15,870 New Jerseyans will die from cancer.

“While policymakers are understandably addressing the acute needs related to COVID-19, ACS CAN is calling on Gov. Murphy and the Legislature to adopt the following policy priorities:

• Ensure that patients have the right medicine at the right time by adopting A4815/S3051, which would reform the practice of step therapy/fail first in New Jersey;
• Continuing New Jersey’s efforts to reduce the toll of tobacco by maintaining the $7.8 million in state funding for tobacco control programs in Fiscal Year 2021-22 and passing legislation that would end the sale of all flavored tobacco products;
• Supporting groundbreaking cancer research in New Jersey by establishing a non-lapsing fund for the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research and committing $2 million to the fund beginning in FY 2021-22.
• Ensure that every New Jerseyan has access to lifesaving cancer screening by maintaining the current $3.5 million in funding for New Jersey Cancer Education and Early Detection Screening Program (NJCEED) in Fiscal Year 2021-22?

“We look forward to seeing Gov. Murphy’s budget presentation in the next few weeks and working with him and the Legislature on a cancer fighting agenda.”

Read the complete Cancer Facts and Figures.

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About ACS CAN
The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) is making cancer a top priority for public officials and candidates at the federal, state and local levels. ACS CAN empowers advocates across the country to make their voices heard and influence evidence-based public policy change as well as legislative and regulatory solutions that will reduce the cancer burden. As the American Cancer Society’s nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate, ACS CAN is critical to the fight for a world without cancer. For more information, visit www.fightcancer.org.