Recovery4All Coalition Launches Petition Drive in Key Legislative Districts to Urge Funding for Excluded New Jerseyans

Petition Urges Members of JBOC to Provide Full Relief to Immigrants and Excluded Workers through American Rescue Plan Funds

Passaic, New Jersey — August 25, 2021 – The Recovery4All Coalition has launched a petition drive in districts represented by members of the Joint Budget Oversight Committee (JBOC) to urge the committee to fully fund the Fund for Excluded New Jerseyans to provide real relief to the nearly half million New Jerseyans excluded from federal aid.

The JBOC has oversight over the American Rescue Plan (ARP) funds and must approve expenditures in excess of $10 million. New Jersey has received more than $6.2 billion in federal aid through the ARP funds but has yet to spend additional funds on excluded New Jerseyans.

The petition calls for sufficient support for the Fund for Excluded New Jerseyans so that all people left behind from aid that are in need are able to access relief. That means $2,000 payments per excluded individual and unemployment-like benefits in the form of $600 per week payments to workers that have lost their jobs during the pandemic but do not qualify for unemployment insurance due to their immigration status. The total cost of this program is approximately $989 million.

On May 7, 2021, Gov. Murphy launched the Fund for Excluded New Jerseyans, a fund to provide one-time relief to low-income individuals excluded from federal relief programs that can prove they have been directly impacted by the pandemic. While this fund is a welcome first step, the initial $40 million allocated to the program will serve less than 10 percent of those individuals and families that are in need of aid.

Members of the JBOC include Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli, Senator Steven V. Oroho, Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin, Senator Paul A. Sarlo, Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman Harold J. Wirths,

###