Murphy under fire for “beyond ludicrous” hoarding of federal COVID-19 aid

TRENTON, N.J. – Despite frequent demands for more federal aid and an unconstitutional borrowing scheme in the pipeline, it was revealed this week that the Murphy Administration hasn’t used the vast majority of the aid already at its disposal.

Murphy’s critics are predictably pouncing.

“While Governor Murphy is sitting on more than $2 billion of federal relief funds, we have businesses across New Jersey that still haven’t gotten a penny of aid to help them survive the many impacts of COVID-19,” said state Senator Mike Doherty (R-23) on Thursday. “He’s squirreling away billions for his own purposes while acting like the crumbs he’s doling out through his benevolence are going to save New Jersey. It’s beyond ludicrous. That money isn’t his, it’s a return on the surpluses New Jersey taxpayers send to Washington year after year. It was supposed to be disbursed quickly to help struggling employers and employees to survive this crisis. He still refuses to do that.”

Murphy continues to veto legislative efforts to allocate the available funding including a $100 million appropriation for emergency loans for the hospitality industry and restaurants. Meanwhile, the funds actually being disbursed are going to a small and select list of businesses.

On Thursday, Murphy announced a commercial rental assistance program which allots a mere $6 million of $2.1 billion in unspent CARES Act funds; the disbursement benefits a small collection of businesses from only 64 communities.

“Ignoring the majority of the businesses in the state is bad enough, but when you realize the ‘favorites list’ includes two municipalities with some of the best commercial performances in the state, it is stunning,” added state Senator Mike Testa Jr. (R-1) on Friday. “How can Murphy defend sending money to Asbury Park and Jersey City and telling Main Street businesses elsewhere that they are out of luck?”

Things are desperate in the state’s business community; another nearly 26,000 unemploymnet claims were received last week and the statewide unemployment rate sat at 16.6% in June.

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