Gov. Phil Murphy laid out his vision and priorities Tuesday for his final year in office as New Jersey’s governor. Following, reaction continues to pour in from around the great Garden State.

In the speech, Murphy vowed to finish the job of building a fairer and stronger New Jersey.

“Eight years ago, I ran for this office on a vision to help every New Jerseyan achieve their own American Dream,” said Murphy. “That has been the singular goal of our administration – building a stronger and fairer state for our educators, our caregivers, our entrepreneurs, our veterans, and everyone who keeps our state moving forward. And today, my message to New Jersey is this: I’m not done yet. Over the next year, we are going to run through the tape in delivering economic security and opportunity to every New Jerseyan.”

You can read a recap of the main points of the speech here.

The reaction to the speech runs the gamut here in the Garden State.

“I look forward to working with the governor to build upon the progress we have made in making the lives of New Jersey’s residents more affordable and improving the quality of life in communities throughout the state,” said Senate President Nick Scutari, D-22nd District. “We need to maintain our commitment to job creation, public safety, affordable housing, educational excellence, strategic investments that promote economic growth, and services that care for the most vulnerable. We also have to continue to be a national leader in protecting a woman’s right to choose.

“I will keep an open mind on the governor’s proposals and work with my legislative colleagues to address the needs and priorities of the people of New Jersey.”

“I am proud of the progress we’ve made to keep New Jersey an affordable place to live while meeting our obligations and making prudent investments for the future,” said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, D-19th District. “From our continued efforts to provide property tax relief and fund programs to help New Jersey families, we have made real strides in improving the quality of life for everyone in New Jersey.”

Coughlin noted the challenges ahead, while also pointing to a number of initiatives and accomplishments over the last several years. He cited property tax relief, improving the state credit rating as well as making the state a safer place to live.

“Our shared vision for a safer, more affordable New Jersey is becoming a reality and together through our partnership with the Senate and the governor, we will continue to build on the momentum we have created,” said Coughlin.

Republican response

Republican leaders had a much different take on the speech and vision Murphy laid out.

“That was an interesting State of the State Address by our governor. I think he did what the governor is supposed to do – paint a rosy picture about the state, how it’s stronger and fairer,” said Senate Republican Leader Anthony Bucco, R-25th District. “But I ask this question – stronger and fairer for who?

“You don’t have to go any further than the grocery store and see how much the cost of basic food is for a family today. You don’t have to go any further than pull up to the gas pump and see what a gallon of gas is costing a family today,” continued Bucco, adding, “You don’t have to go any further than mass transit to see what the fares are going up to. Get on the toll roads – the tolls are increasing. And then maybe get your electric bill to see what the utility rates are now here in the State of State of New Jersey.

“And that doesn’t even touch upon where property taxes have gone,” said Bucco. “This state has become, in the last seven years, more and more and more unaffordable. And in my opinion, that’s happened because we’ve been under one party rule and these progressive policies that you heard about today are choking our families.”

“In six weeks, we’ll hear from the governor about his budget proposal – a massive budget shortfall, underperforming revenue, a depleted surplus, higher taxes, and the Stay NJ nightmare,” said Assembly Republican Leader John DiMaio, R-23rd District.

Already, that budget fight is surely gearing up in the coming months here in the state.

Here is a look at the reaction from some business organizations and advocacy groups:

“From his first day in office, Governor Murphy talked about creating a stronger and fairer economy. Over the last seven years, in our estimation, he has created the fairest economy in the nation,” said New Jersey Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Tom Bracken. “However, the stronger side of the equation has had considerable less focus. Today’s speech covered a lot of initiatives to make our economy even more fair by continuing what has already transpired over the last seven years.

“In November’s elections, the overwhelming message from the public was that they wanted change and for government to focus on economic growth and a stronger economy. Neither of those were addressed in today’s speech. We have been saying for many, many months that our economy, and supporting business, needs to be the main focus of the Administration and the Legislature. If that does not happen, the initiatives proposed by the governor will have difficulty being funded.”

Business affordability

“Today we heard some good positives from Gov. Murphy, including the potential for the construction of more housing, recent full pension payments, and the commitments to address the awful public contracting disparities and to use business taxes for its intended use, NJ TRANSIT,” said New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) President and CEO Michele Siekerka. “While the governor was quite optimistic on many fronts in today’s address, the New Jersey business outlook isn’t as rosy.

“New Jersey’s job creators are guarded as they entered 2025, according to our 66th annual Business Outlook Survey. For two years in a row, only 4% said the governor and lawmakers have done enough to address business affordability. Further, 79% said business affordability has decreased in New Jersey over the past five years.

“New Jersey does not need energy policies that send money and jobs out of state so that we can meet an arbitrary, paper goal that won’t have any impact on the climate or the lives of people in this state,” commented NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor. “If there is anything we should have learned from the tragic events of the last week, is that we need to focus on the basics: Spending our tax dollars and ratepayer monies to strengthen New Jersey’s infrastructure so that we are prepared for the future and our citizens are protected from both inevitable natural disasters and the needs of our aging electrical grid.”

South Jersey

“As Gov. Murphy enters the final year of his term, the Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey looks forward to continuing its collaboration with the Administration to enhance the business environment for all New Jersey residents and businesses,” said Christina Renna, president and CEO, Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ). “In his State of the State address, the Governor highlighted that New Jersey currently boasts the largest number of small businesses and workers employed in the State’s history. The CCSNJ is proud that this aligns with the growth southern New Jersey is seeing as new businesses and industries continue to seek out the region for new endeavors.

“Additionally, the CCSNJ shares the Governor’s enthusiasm for New Jersey’s growing small business community. However, more must be done to reduce burdensome regulations and lower the cost of doing business, so these small businesses can not only launch, but thrive in the state.”

Renna said that CCSNJ also applauds the focus on closing the disparity gap with diverse businesses, pertaining to public contracts.

“The results of the 2024 Disparity Study were incredibly disappointing, but the CCSNJ looks forward to supporting any measure that takes meaningful steps towards creating opportunities for the State’s minority-, women-, veteran- and LGBTQ+ businesses,” she said.

Affordable housing

Kolakowski

“On behalf of the residential homebuilding industry, I commend the Governor on encouraging the Legislature to take additional steps to support New Jersey’s housing ecosystem following the historic passage of A4 (the affordable housing law),” said New Jersey Builders Association (NJBA) Chief Executive Officer Jeff Kolakowski.

“New Jersey has the fastest growing population in the Northeast but suffers from a significant housing shortage that prevents even middle-income New Jerseyans from being able to afford housing,” Kolakowski continued. “By modernizing our zoning and permitting we can ensure we are using our limited land in a responsible manner that will enable our State to meet demand and lower costs for New Jerseyans. We look forward to working with the Administration and Legislature to modernize our inefficient and inequitable land use laws.”

“We applaud Governor Murphy for his focus on advancing affordable housing in New Jersey, on the heels of landmark legislation enacted last year to streamline and strengthen enforcement of the Mount Laurel Doctrine,” said Fair Share Housing Center Executive Director Adam Gordon. “The shortage of affordable housing in New Jersey hurts everyone, especially low-income families and people of color. While the state’s new affordable housing law is a crucial step forward, much more needs to be done.

“The proposals Gov. Murphy announced today — such as reforming the state’s zoning and permitting laws to create thousands of new affordable homes — are important steps forward.”

Paid leave

“We commend Governor Murphy for his considerable accomplishments as we enter the final year of his administration,” said New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA) Executive Director Dena Mottola Jaborska. “We have not agreed on everything, but he has made New Jersey a far more just and equitable state. His landmark achievements include enacting paid sick leave and expanding paid family leave, increasing the minimum wage, protecting state residents from the worst effects of medical debt, overhauling our fair housing laws, and ensuring quality, affordable health care is accessible to many more New Jerseyans.”

“We’re pleased Gov. Murphy is focusing his attention on paid leave,” said NJCA’s Workplace Justice Program Director Yarrow Willman-Cole. “The action taken by the state acknowledges the connection between paid leave and how equitable access can improve the health of birthing people and contribute to lower maternal mortality rates.”

“CWA appreciates Gov. Murphy and the First Lady’s support of family friendly policies like full pay for parental leave and hybrid work schedules for State Workers,” said CWA District 1 Vice-President Dennis Trainor. “These types of initiatives are lower-cost, common sense ways that allow parents to spend important quality-time bonding with newborns without having to make the difficult choice of losing pay or going back to work.”

Clean energy

“In his State of the State Address, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy doubled down on the Administration’s commitment to clean energy,” NJ Coalition said in a statement. “We commend Gov. Murphy for his continued leadership in advancing bold and transformative clean energy goals in the final months of his term, cementing both his legacy and New Jersey’s as a clean energy leader in the U.S.

“Under Gov. Murphy’s leadership, New Jersey is prioritizing jobs and affordability by advancing clean energy production. By Executive Order, New Jersey has one of the most ambitious standards in the country, aiming for 100% clean energy generation by 2035. Codifying this goal is the next step to ensuring New Jersey’s energy security,” the statement continued. “Today, Gov. Murphy called on the Legislature to advance legislation to establish a clean energy standard by law. We commend Gov. Murphy for his leadership on this issue and are committed to working with the Administration and the Legislature to advance legislation to protect New Jersey’s clean energy future.”