Doherty: Murphy Sitting on Billions in CARES Act Funds, Giving Out Crumbs While Main St. Businesses Close Forever

Senator Michael Doherty called on Governor Phil Murphy to start distributing in full the $2.1 billion of unspent CARES Act funds received by New Jersey to the small businesses, non-profit organizations, and local governments that it was intended to help.

“While Governor Murphy is sitting on more than $2 billion of federal relief funds, we have businesses across New Jersey that still haven’t gotten a penny of aid to help them survive the many impacts of COVID-19,” said Doherty (R-23). “He’s squirreling away billions for his own purposes while acting like the crumbs he’s doling out through his benevolence are going to save New Jersey. It’s beyond ludicrous. That money isn’t his, it’s a return on the surpluses New Jersey taxpayers send to Washington year after year. It was supposed to be disbursed quickly to help struggling employers and employees to survive this crisis. He still refuses to do that.”

According to a published report by NJ Spotlight, 97.7% of the CARES Act relief funds delivered to New Jersey remains unspent four months after receipt from the federal government.

The governor has vetoed attempts by the Legislature to dedicate substantial portions of that federal aid to support the critical needs of local businesses, including a $100 million appropriation to support the hospitality industry and restaurants that have struggled to survive restrictions imposed through executive orders.

Meanwhile, the governor held a press conference today to tout a commercial rental assistance program that would dedicate just $6 million of the $2.1 billion of unspent CARES Act funds to a handful of businesses located in just 64 of the Garden State’s 565 municipalities.

“In this rare instance where Governor Murphy is spending CARES Act money to support businesses, he’s doing it in such a narrow way that most of New Jersey will see no benefit,” added Doherty. “He is purposefully trying to hold onto as much money as he can. He wants to wash it into the State budget to maintain unnecessary spending that New Jersey can’t afford for things like tuition assistance for illegal aliens and other ‘progressive’ spending priorities. Meanwhile, more shops on our Main Streets are closing forever each day while aid that could help them remains unspent. It’s inexcusable.”