Newark Mayor and gubernatorial candidate Ras Baraka unveiled extensive economic proposals Wednesday aimed at creating a “reimagined opportunity economy.”
The progressive mayor’s economic agenda is his latest gubernatorial platform tenet to be released: He’s already announced landmark housing, tax, and healthcare proposals. The Democrat’s economic plan includes nearly two dozen proposals, including free community college, an expansion of the state’s child tax credit, a minimum wage hike, an expansion of NJ Transit, and efforts to keep college students and graduates in the Garden State.
In a letter to New Jerseyans, Baraka condemned what he called the “bottomless floor” of today’s economy and said his plan is about establishing a strong foundation upon which working-class people can fulfill their potential.
“Raising the floor for working people is not charity, it’s common sense,” Baraka wrote. “It’s an investment in the people who drive our economy forward every day, from the food service workers who feed us, to the delivery drivers who keep us connected, to the teachers and caregivers who shape the next generation.”
Baraka’s 20+ proposals fall under a quartet of categories: higher education, transportation infrastructure to connect workers to jobs, family stabilization, and government resources.
Other notable proposals include the exploration of universal basic income; the creation of roles and metrics to ensure equity goals are met; investments in infrastructure, small businesses, and startups; and increased housing development near transit hubs.
“The measure of a society is not how high the most privileged can climb, but how solid the ground is for everyone else,” Baraka wrote. “Right now, our world is becoming increasingly fragile, our economy more volatile. It’s not because we’ve limited the sky, but because we’ve allowed the floor to be bottomless.”
The mayor’s economic proposals are in line with his prior platforms: His aggressive housing policy looks to undo the state’s 200,000-unit housing deficit, for example.
The Democratic primary is crowded: Baraka must beat Rep. Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair,), Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-Tenafly), Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, former State Senate President Steve Sweeney, and teachers union leader Sean Spiller for the Democratic nomination.
You can read the mayor’s economic platform below: