New Jersey goes to construct up a provide of medicine utilized in abortions, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy introduced Tuesday throughout his state of the state tackle as he each pledged to work with President-elect Donald Trump and warned that the state is able to push again towards the incoming administration.
Murphy is considered one of a handful of Democratic governors who criticized Trump on the marketing campaign path but now say they’re open to cooperation. However Murphy mentioned he is not going to again down within the face of “anti-choice” insurance policies supported by the Republican majorities in Congress. He mentioned the state will stockpile mifepristone “so every woman can access this crucial form of reproductive care.”
“I will never back away from partnering with the Trump Administration where our priorities align,” Murphy mentioned throughout his tackle earlier than a joint assembly of the Democrat-led Legislature. “But just as importantly, I will never back down from defending our New Jersey values — if and when they are tested.”
New Jersey joins different Democrat-led states, together with Massachusetts and California, in stockpiling mifepristone, considered one of two medication utilized in mixture to finish pregnancies.
Tuesday’s speech was Murphy’s second-to-last, and he emphasised his reluctance to grow to be a lame-duck governor within the remaining stretch of his second time period. Among the many different proposals he unveiled, Murphy mentioned he would direct faculties to ban cellphones in grades Ok-12.
“Our children are inundated with screens,” he mentioned. “And they are making it incredibly difficult for our kids, not only to learn, but to retain the substance of what they learn.”
Republicans, who’re within the minority, panned the speech, saying the governor is on the verge of overspending the state’s means
“These progressive policies you heard about today are choking our families,” mentioned Republican Senate chief Anthony Bucco. “If we don’t get this affordability crisis under control, we’re gonna be in real trouble.”
Murphy is getting into the ultimate 12 months of his second time period, coinciding with the daybreak of a second Trump administration, simply as the start of his governorship overlapped with Trump’s first time period.
Murphy has outlined himself as progressive and ran for reelection that means. However his 2021 victory was far narrower than many anticipated, and his social gathering’s losses within the Legislature noticed the Democrats refocus on affordability points like property tax aid.
“During this final chapter of our journey, our absolute top priority — as it has been since Day One — is delivering economic security and opportunity to every New Jerseyan,” Murphy mentioned.
Now Murphy’s legacy — which features a prolonged listing of laws because of the Democrat-led Legislature like tightening gun legal guidelines, legalizing leisure marijuana, taxing the rich and boosting schooling funding — is about towards the backdrop of a pitched Democratic major.
Time period-limited from searching for one other 4 years in workplace, Murphy will likely be turning the reins of the social gathering over to the eventual winner of a six-person discipline operating for governor on this yr’s contest. New Jersey and Virginia are the one two states often scheduled with gubernatorial races this yr.
Murphy’s imaginative and prescient for the state additionally coincides with a Democratic Celebration angling for a means ahead and a vote-getting nationwide message after final yr’s loss to Trump and the GOP victories, slim as they’re, in Congress.
The speech, analogous to the presidential state of the union tackle however on the state degree, quantities to a blueprint for a way the governor desires the yr to unfold.
Laws he sought final yr to bar debt collectors from divulging sufferers’ medical money owed to shopper credit score reporting companies, as an illustration, was enacted. He additionally succeeded in getting laws overhauling how reasonably priced housing necessities are managed within the state.
However the speech may also underscore how restricted the governor’s energy will be. Final yr, he referred to as for laws to allow 16-year-olds to vote at school board elections. The measure hasn’t superior within the Legislature, although he reiterated his name for the invoice on Tuesday. He additionally referred to as for an “artificial intelligence moonshot.” Up to now, a job power the governor established has issued a report calling for the state to embrace generative AI.
The U.S. Supreme Courtroom unanimously preserved entry in June to mifepristone, which is utilized in practically two-thirds of abortions. The case earlier than the court docket threatened to chop again entry to the drug, together with in states the place abortion is authorized. Abortion is banned in any respect levels of being pregnant in 14 states, and after about six weeks of being pregnant in three others, usually earlier than girls notice they’re pregnant.
