April 30, 2020
Screenshot via YouTube/The White House
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and President Donald Trump appeared to have a productive meeting at the White House on Thursday.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and state officials met with President Donald Trump and members of his Coronavirus Task Force at the White House on Thursday, as the state is seeking direct financial assistance and increased COVID-19 testing capabilities from the federal government.
New Jersey could need $20-$30 billion in financial assistance to keep the state afloat because of the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, Murphy said.
"This will allow us to keep firefighters, teachers, police, EMS on the payroll serving the communities in their hour of need," Murphy said to reporters in the Oval Office. "That's something we feel strongly about. We don't see it as a bailout. We see this as a partnership doing the right thing in what is the worst health crisis in the history of our nation."
New Jersey Department of the Treasury reported on April 15 that the state's revenue rose by 3.6% year-over-year in March, but it warned that the economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic will begin to be felt in April.
Murphy said last Wednesday that New Jersey would have to make deep cuts to expenses to keep the state from going bankrupt if Congress does not provide aid. Those decisions could result in teachers, police officers, firefighters, and paramedics losing their jobs, he warned.
After the U.S. Treasury Department said last week that money received by the states from the $2.2 trillion CARES Act could not be used to cover state revenue shortfalls due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Murphy said much of the $1.8 billion New Jersey received from the coronavirus stimulus bill would unusable and need to be returned to the federal government. Murphy said he had been assured that the funding came with more flexibility.
States must use the money to cover expenses incurred by the COVID-19 crisis. Those expenses also must not have been accounted for in the most recent budget and must occur between March 1 and Dec. 30, the Treasury Department said.
According to the guidelines, eligible expenses include various medical and public health costs, some payroll expenses and costs incurred by providing economic support. The funding cannot be used to cover Medicaid expenses, damages covered by insurance, costs that will be reimbursed by federal programs, workforce bonuses, severance pay, legal settlements and some payroll costs.
While Congress passed a second coronavirus relief package totaling $500 billion to benefit small businesses and hospitals and to provide funding to expand COVID-19 testing, the bill did not have any direct cash assistance to state governments.
Murphy and Trump's meeting was the latest step in a series of working initiatives between New Jersey and the federal government during the coronavirus outbreak.
New Jersey has two FEMA-partnered testing sites at Bergen County Community College in North Jersey and the PNC Bank Arts Center in Central Jersey. The Army Corps of Engineers helped New Jersey set up three field medical stations in each region of the state to help expand hospital bed capacity. Additionally, New Jersey has received 1,550 ventilators from the federal government, which is the most of any state, and 1.8 million pieces of PPE from the Trump administration.
Murphy said on Monday during the announcement of his six-point plan to reopen New Jersey's economy that the federal government will help the state in its efforts to at least double its COVID-19 testing capacity by the end of May through more kits and increased lab capacity for rapid turnaround on test results.
As a result of the meeting, the federal government sent 550,000 new testing kits and 750,000 swabs to New Jersey, Murphy said during his daily briefing later on Thursday. Additionally, 358 nursing homes across the state will receive a direct shipment of PPE from the federal government. That will include 220,000 masks, 19,000 goggles, 200,000 gowns, and 1 million gloves, Murphy said.
Long-term care facilities have been hit especially hard by the coronavirus in New Jersey. Almost 500 facilities have had outbreaks of COVID-19, resulting in 18,533 confirmed cases and 3,376 deaths due to the virus in these spaces. Over 15% of confirmed coronavirus cases in New Jersey are connected to long-term facilities, and over 46% of deaths due to COVID-19 in the state have come from these establishments.
Murphy, a Democrat, and Trump, a Republican, heaped nothing but praise upon each other during their meeting on Thursday. President Trump said, referring to Murphy, that "you can't have a better representative (of New Jersey) than this man."
"(New Jersey) is a great place and a great state, and they have a wonderful man who's running it," Trump said. "He runs the state with heart, with brains, and he's done a terrific job."
President @realDonaldTrump: "We're working very hard with New Jersey." pic.twitter.com/WaNq2RodQr
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 30, 2020
Murphy said that New Jersey is "forever thankful" for the federal government's help in the state's "hour of need."
"I thank you for the enormous help in our darkest hour of need," Murphy said. "We couldn't be making the progress we're making without you and your administration."
President @realDonaldTrump just met with @GovMurphy on Coronavirus testing, financial assistance, and planning a great comeback for New Jersey.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) April 30, 2020
“I thank you for the enormous help in our darkest hour of need," Gov. Murphy said. pic.twitter.com/1VS4n0MOJJ
