CWA District 1 Statement on New Jersey's FY27 Budget TRENTON, NJ – As the Legislature gives final approval to Governor Mikie Sherrill's first state budget, CWA District 1 is disappointed by the continued failure to address the State Health Benefits Plan and New Jersey's worsening healthcare affordability crisis.

However, credit where credit is due: this budget makes a full payment to the public worker pension system, raises the state child tax credit, and requires some of the largest corporations operating in New Jersey to pay a fairer share to fund our communities. Our members fought for those wins, and they’re significant.

But once again, the State has fallen short on one of the core drivers of New Jersey's affordability crisis: rising healthcare costs and the State Health Benefits Plan.

With working people already stretched thin, it is concerning to close another budget season without securing meaningful cost controls, additional transparency, or reformed governance of the SHBP, a proposal that has broad support. The healthcare industry too often puts profits over people, and New Jersey must be willing to take a stand. Governor Sherrill has committed to solving this issue, and we will hold her administration accountable to that commitment.

The stakes are high. The State Health Benefits Program serves as a benchmark for New Jersey's broader private insurance market, meaning what happens to our members' healthcare ripples across the entire state. The SHBP is also one of the single largest drains on the state budget, a core driver of rising property taxes and, importantly, a significant burden borne by the public employees who keep this state running.

That is what makes this budget so disappointing. After months of collaboration that produced broad consensus among labor and local government management, the opportunity to enact meaningful reforms was ultimately left on the table. At the same time, the budget assumes $150 million in annual savings from the SHBP without implementing the reforms needed to achieve those savings. Meanwhile, the state actuary has forecast another double-digit premium increase for state and local governments this July. Public employees and municipalities will face those increases with no relief from Trenton.

New Jersey's voters have made clear they expect more than half-measures that leave the underlying cost drivers untouched while working families foot the bill. The State has a real opportunity to deliver results for working people, but that requires the courage to confront the industries driving up costs, rather than asking workers and public employees to keep absorbing the consequences of inaction.

Governor Sherrill has committed to bringing her Administration together with us now that the budget process has concluded to address the State Health Benefits Plan and finally confront the issues that have been driving up healthcare costs for far too long. CWA District 1 stands ready to work to deliver real savings, greater transparency, and meaningful reforms that protect both workers and taxpayers.

ABOUT CWA DISTRICT 1

CWA District 1 represents more than 170,000 active and retired members across New York, New Jersey, and New England in public service, telecommunications, media, healthcare, manufacturing, and other sectors, including roughly 70,000 members in New Jersey.