Joined March 12 by U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker at city hall in Elizabeth, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy thanked them and other leaders from the state who supported the American Rescue Plan, which was signed into law March 11 by President Joe Biden.
“For New Jersey at the state level, well over $6 billion dollars that we will be receiving in direct federal support will give us tremendous new degrees of freedom in meeting our obligations to our people and our business community and to secure the historic investments that will help us emerge from the pandemic stronger, fairer and more resilient,” Murphy said.
The day before, shortly after the American Rescue Plan became law, AFT President Randi Weingarten noted that the legislation “will change lives almost immediately.”
“It will send relief directly to the communities, schools, hospitals and workers that need it most, and help buoy the very institutions and people that have carried us through the COVID-19 crisis,” Weingarten said in a press release. “After one of our country’s darkest hours, the American Rescue Plan shows us help is on the way: It invests in the testing and vaccination plans needed to reopen school buildings for safe in-person learning and provides necessary relief for small businesses as well as child care and health care assistance.”