Here now are excerpts from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s 2021 State of the State Address:
“My fellow New Jerseyans. I don’t need to tell you these are different times. So, this is a different kind of speech. Instead of delivering this address in a crowded state house, I’m standing in an empty theater.
“Yet for all the changes, the most important things remain constant. Our values. Our priorities. Our vision. And that we are all New Jerseyans.
“The stories we just heard have echoed across our state for the better part of the past year. They are stories that show our grit and reveal our heart. They echo the pain of 2020 and they preview the hope of 2021.
“They are tied with a common thread – that we are all in this together. Most of all, these New Jerseyans reflect the state of our state. Although wounded deeply, we enter 2021 tougher than ever, wiser than before, and ready to move forward together.
“We have lived this truth together – that New Jersey was one of the first and hardest-hit states. That our communities of color have been disproportionately impacted. And that we are currently battling a second wave which is just as brutal as the first.
“Every single day, as we have for nearly a year, we face this challenge head-on. Every single day we wrestle with the tough, yet necessary, decisions, and we know there are more to come – the right decisions for the long-term public health and vitality of our families.
“We weigh every pro and con to ensure that every decision is not only effective, but equitable.
“And in typical Jersey style, we are leveling with each other and making sure that no one is left behind. We are facing this pandemic not with a dismissive wave or partisan pandering, but with a full-scale counterattack.
“We are making the fight against COVID-19 one that engages every New Jerseyan…
“…Long before I became Governor, I called for sweeping and fundamental reforms to our incentives system. The old ways worked for too few and left too many behind.
“So we set out to create a new system that is transparent and fair, which focuses not on huge corporations, but on job-creating small businesses and innovative startups.
“A system that, most of all, promotes good-paying, future-focused jobs. A system that has sensible caps in spending and an inspector general to safeguard every penny of taxpayer money.
“We set out to lift up the New Jersey-based innovative companies of tomorrow through a venture fund encouraging public-private investments. There is no other fund like this in America. We set out to turn brownfields and other long-neglected areas into new, walkable, and inviting communities.
“We set out to ensure workforce and affordable housing options, and to eliminate food deserts. We set out to create the state’s first historic preservation tax credit, so our future can be built by repurposing the buildings that made us an economic power in the first place.
“And we set out to ensure our incentives come with strong protections for our union workers.
“Everything I just mentioned – everything we initially set out to do – is now reflected in our groundbreaking new incentives program.
“This is what change looks like. This is what putting people ahead of the powerful looks like. This is what focusing on Main Street looks like. This is what protecting today and planning for tomorrow looks like…
“…And, as New Jersey starts getting back to work, commuters will find that NJ Transit is safer and more accountable.
“We proved the naysayers wrong by beating the deadline for federally mandated train-safety technology – completing eleven years’ worth of work in less than three.
“As a new portal bridge rises along the Northeast Corridor, they’ll see our efforts to eliminate one of its most-frustrating choke points. This new commuter-rail bridge will not only improve the commutes for hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans, but it will also stimulate local economies and provide thousands of new union jobs.
“Commuters will also see our efforts in the hiring and training of multiple classes of the new rail engineers we need to ensure on-time operations. We inherited a system with depleted ranks and, to date, we have added 94 new engineers with another 82 in training.
“And, when President-elect Joe Biden takes office next week, we’re going to begin working alongside him and his team to see the full gateway program fulfilled – including the new tunnels under the Hudson River…
“…Last year, I was proud to propose the first comprehensive set of ethics reforms in a decade, with bipartisan support, and I remain committed to them. New Jerseyans need to know – not just believe – that their government has their backs.
“With all the turmoil in Washington, let’s set New Jersey as an example for moving forward.
“This is how our future will be powered – by bold ideas, real oversight, and a commitment to the task ahead.
“It will also be powered by clean energy, using our natural resources and talent pool to reach our goal of a 100 percent clean energy economy by 2050…
“…And a stronger New Jersey is one that ensures and protects justice for all. A fairer New Jersey recognizes the powerful truth of the words Black Lives Matter. We are attacking and ripping up the root causes of centuries of systemic racism.
“Given the national moment, we can – and must – choose to make our state a model for moving forward. There is no more important step than reforming the way our communities and law enforcement work together. That is why we are implementing the first broad-scale reforms to our state’s use-of-force policy in a generation.
“We’re making our justice system more transparent and fair not just for our sake, but to make New Jersey a national model for positive transformation in policing and ending racial inequities…
“…A year ago, we had no idea of what 2020 would throw at us. As the poet Langston Hughes wrote – and I quote – ‘a dream deferred is a dream denied.’ And for so many, 2020 was a year of deferred dreams.
“But we stuck together, even in the darkest of days, as the New Jersey family we are. Out of shared pain we forged shared purpose. Because of all we did together, here in New Jersey, 2021 can be the year where dreams are once again possible, and the wind is at our back.
“So, when we emerge from the darkness of the pandemic, together, we will be stronger, fairer, and more resilient than before, and we will be prepared to move forward as one state and one family.
“After all, this is New Jersey. No state has our character. Our backbone. Our attitude. Our fight.
“We’ve always fought because we’ve always been the underdog. We’ve been counted out over and over again. But we’ve never been bowed, and we’ve never, ever failed.
“May God bless you and your family with a healthy new year.”
