In the 2024 State of the State address he delivered this afternoon, Gov. Phil Murphy touched on many of the topics that have been centerpieces of his gubernatorial administration for years – bringing down health care costs, ensuring abortion access, expanding voting rights – as well as one new one: fostering artificial intelligence (AI) in New Jersey.
Flanked by Senate President Nick Scutari (D-Linden) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge) and speaking before a newly sworn-in State Legislature that includes dozens of new members, Murphy lauded the progress the state has made during his tenure.
“As we begin our seventh year of partnership, New Jersey stands tall, resilient, and brimming with ambition,” Murphy said. “Together, we have lived up to our promise to build a state that is not just stronger or fairer – we are building a state that is stronger and fairer.”
Murphy pointed towards a number of affordability-related programs that the state has enacted in recent years, particularly the ANCHOR Program and the StayNJ Program, which provide property tax rebates to New Jersey homeowners and renters. He also noted that as of this month, New Jersey’s minimum wage has now exceeded $15 an hour, the culmination of a major bill Murphy signed in 2019 that steadily raised the wage from its starting point of $8.85.
“I believe we can, and we must, put the American Dream back in reach for anyone willing to work for it,” Murphy said. “That we can provide every family the same opportunities my family had. And that is exactly what we will do, by addressing the drivers of high costs.”
The next step towards ensuring affordability, Murphy said, is to tackle medical debt, which puts a strain on hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans and can prevent them from seeking medical help when they need it. Last year, the state began a $10 million medical debt relief program; now, Murphy wants to pass a larger debt relief package taking that investment much further.
“I am calling on our legislature to enact a new package that will help families avoid being caught in a medical debt trap and require every medical bill to be clear and transparent,” Murphy said. “And I am asking for the first part of this package to be named in honor of a brilliant public servant who was taken from us far too soon: the Louisa Carman Medical Debt Relief Act.”
Carman, a 25-year-old Murphy aide who worked in the governor’s Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency, was killed in a car crash on New Year’s Day, but Murphy said that “with this legislative package, we can carry her mission forward.”
Carman wasn’t the only tragically departed member of the governor’s administration that Murphy commemorated today. He also asked for a moment of silence for Lieutenant Gov. Sheila Oliver and state Board of Public Utilities President Joe Fiordaliso, two “brilliant, beloved colleagues” who died in 2023.
“This is the first time I have addressed this chamber without Sheila by my side – by all of our sides,” Murphy said. “This place is not the same without her. And not just because she stole the show with her style and poise, but because she brought out the best of us. She was the best of us.”
In addition to his medical debt package, Murphy outlined a number of other affordability-related policies he intends to prioritize in 2024, likely his second-to-last year in office. Among them is increasing New Jersey’s affordable housing stock; a recent legislative push to reform the state’s affordable housing regulations petered out in the lame duck session, but Murphy indicated he’d continue pushing for it in the new legislative session.
“We are committing to eliminating our state’s shortage of hundreds of thousands of affordable housing units,” Murphy said. “And we will aim to build new housing options where they are needed most, in locations close to jobs, transit hubs, and Main Street businesses.”
Continuing his longstanding efforts to safeguard abortion access in New Jersey, Murphy said that he’d work to pass legislation that would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortions and enact various other protections for abortion providers and patients.
“Let’s do it before the summer,” the governor said. “We cannot lose any momentum in the fight for fundamental freedoms.”
And Murphy staked out several voting reforms he said he wants the legislature to pass in 2024: allowing 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in school board elections and implementing same-day voter registration. The latter proposal has long been a contentious one, with Scutari previously voicing his opposition to allowing New Jerseyans to register to vote the day of an election.
“Nobody should ever be denied access to the ballot box because they missed a deadline or forgot to send in paperwork,” Murphy said. “Same-day voter registration will help prevent that, and it will empower every voter to have their say on Election Day.”
Murphy also hit on a number of other top Democratic priorities in New Jersey and nationwide: strengthening unions, completing infrastructure projects like the Gateway Program, reducing gun violence, and launching a new clemency initiative for those behind bars. But the governor ended his address with a more unusual focus on artificial intelligence, which he said represents a huge opportunity for New Jersey in the 21st century.
“With AI, I believe we are at the dawn of a new era, much like we were thirty years ago, with the internet,” he said. “Think about it this way: if a governor, back in 1994, talked about the transformative potential for the internet, you might have yawned. Looking back, we have long since stopped yawning. That is why I am talking about generative AI today. It is just as big – likely, a lot bigger.”
With that in mind, Murphy announced what he’s calling an “AI Moonshot,” which aims to foster AI industries and attract AI-related jobs to New Jersey, with Chief Innovation Officer Beth Noveck taking the reins as the state’s first chief AI strategist.
“Our state government will be a catalyst for bringing together innovators and leaders to invest in research and development, and ultimately, establish New Jersey as the home-base for AI-powered game-changers,” Murphy said.
The address was on the whole an optimistic one, moving on from the state’s difficult years during Covid and focusing on the many things Murphy hopes to accomplish in the sunset years of his gubernatorial term. It was on that sunny note that Murphy ended his address: with a promise to continue making New Jersey “the best place to grow up, settle down, and raise a family.”
“Let me be absolutely clear about the state of our state: New Jersey is stronger and fairer than ever before,” Murphy said.