
ON THE ISSUES
Affordability and the Economy
My parents chose to make New Jersey home because of the opportunities this great state provides. For my mom, a teacher back in Jamaica, great public schools were a priority so my brother and I would get a great education. But we have learned along the way that New Jersey is too expensive for too many people - people who work hard every day in our schools and other public service jobs, for our small business owners, for our students, and our retirees.
As Governor I will be laser focused on making this state more affordable for people like you and me. That means addressing the biggest cost drivers - such as housing, healthcare, childcare, higher education, and climate change. When we prioritize our needs above those of special interests and the well connected, we can make New Jersey more affordable for us all.
Housing
My first home was a duplex I bought after two years of hunting for a house I could afford. It is not easy buying a home on a teacher’s salary. I lived in the one-bedroom and rented the four-bedroom to make it work. But today it is even harder for people to become homeowners, especially with skyrocketing rents that make it impossible to save. As Mayor of Montclair, I got our town’s first ever rent control ordinance passed - one that capped rent increases with a lower cap for seniors - because I saw too many of our residents getting priced out of living in our great city.
Addressing housing costs is a top priority because it is foundational to so much else that matters. So here is some of what we need to do:
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Build the housing (over 200,000 homes) needed to reduce the critical shortage that contributes to rising costs.
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Partner with municipalities to meet their housing obligations without overreliance on developers. Every community needs to have homes that are affordable but too often we see developers build hundreds of luxury units in order to build just a few affordable units. That doesn’t work for our communities. So my administration will partner with municipalities to meet their obligations without the overdevelopment.
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Limit the corporate buy up of properties that result in rising rents and house prices.
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Establish statewide benchmarks for rent increases to reduce the number of people priced out of staying in their homes.
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Prioritize keeping people in their homes - investing in foreclosure and eviction prevention programs rather than see people lose their homes.
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Work with banks and municipalities to move foreclosed and abandoned properties back on the market.
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Focus state homeowner assistance programs on communities of color that for too long have been systematically left out of homeownership opportunities.
Climate Change & Clean Energy
New Jersey is on the front line of climate change - from the increasingly frequent and intense storms to more frequent days of extreme heat - and this is costing all of us. Businesses close, employees lose wages, and students lose time in school when extreme weather hits. From increased costs of air conditioning (for those who have it) to rising insurance premiums and reduced coverage to our physical and mental health.
Investing in our clean energy economy and building for the reality of climate change are required if we want to make New Jersey more affordable. We are going to be facing tremendous headwinds in the next few years with a Federal Administration that prefers to do favors for the ultra rich oil companies rather than invest in our future. This is what happens when corporations have more influence and power than people like you and me.
As Governor, I will not give up on the goal of clean energy by 2035. We must be creative and nimble, but we can make progress when we prioritize people over profits. So here are a few things I will do:
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Continue to innovate and invest in clean energy, looking for private/public partnerships especially where Federal dollars may be decreasing.
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Expand EV infrastructure and the EV tax credit.
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Invest in energy efficiency and resiliency program.
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Adopt a whole of Government approach to our programs so we maximize the existing programs and prioritize energy efficiency and clean energy in all projects.
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Collaborate with our education institutions to create a pipeline for the jobs of the green economy.
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Continue to electrify our ports and public transit systems.
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Prioritize the full implementation of the Environmental Justice law to ensure that communities of color, overburdened by pollutants have a say in their needs and future.
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Invest in aging infrastructure that becomes more susceptible to damage caused by extreme weather.
Democracy
Our Democracy is under attack by a President who is openly allowing Elon Musk to dictate policy, flaunt the law, and show his disdain for people like you and me. This is what happens when we let those with outsized wealth influence elected officials. The President and Musk are attacking our democracy, dismantling vital services, and intentionally causing fear.
We have to realize that what is happening in Washington D.C. is the ultimate corruption of our democracy by individuals and corporations that have the money to buy influence - and who will experience no harm by the chaos being caused by Trump and Musk.
I am an immigrant who came to this country as a young boy. I am a union leader who fights for the rights of hard-working people. I am a teacher who cares about our students and creating safe spaces for them to learn and grow. And I am the dad of two young boys who deserve to grow up in a country that respects them.
I am ready to defend our residents, our values, and our freedoms from President Trump and his Administration. I will not back down. I will fight for people, not profits. I will defend our rights, not their bottom lines. And I will not bend on our values in the face of bullies and billionaires. I will defend access to reproductive healthcare. I will codify protections for our LGBTQIA+ community, with a focus on transgender youth who disproportionately face challenges of housing, health, and addiction. I will expand voting rights to include same-day voter registration. I will protect the rights of unions to organize and prevent retribution or retaliation for those trying to join a union.
Education
As a career teacher, no candidate for governor cares more deeply or personally about education than I do. I’m a leading voice on New Jersey education policy as the President of the NJEA, and we have the second-ranked pre-K-12 education system in the country. When I’m serving as our governor, we’ll boost that ranking to first.
LGBTQIA+ Rights
I am a strong ally to the LGBTQIA+ community, and I’ll always fight for their right to marry who they love, to start a family, and to be free from discrimination by employers or corporations.
Gun Violence Prevention
As a teacher, I have had to watch too many students partake in active shooter drills. I support commonsense gun violence prevention measures that will keep our schools, streets, homes, and common spaces free from mass violence.
Climate Change
Climate change is an existential crisis in New Jersey, where we’ve had the highest extreme rain increase in the country. Our clean water sources will be contaminated, our shoreline could become decimated, and we’re one disaster away from having much our infrastructure and housing destroyed. But this problem presents New Jersey with an opportunity to create jobs, to improve our infrastructure, to develop new green energy technologies, and build energy independence that will make New Jersey safer and more affordable.
Jobs and Labor
I’m a labor leader — it’s hard to get more pro-worker than I am. As Governor, I’ll work hard to make New Jersey the best state in the country for new jobs and small businesses. I’ll champion our workforce, unions, and the right to collectively bargain for better wages and living conditions in our state.
Healthcare
Medical bills are the fastest cause of personal bankruptcy. Healthcare costs are a major cost driver for the state and employers all over the state. And all too often the cost increases are pushed down on people like you and me. We have no say. We have no power.
Healthcare is a fundamental right and we cannot let corporations drive up the costs, reduce the access, and make it harder to seek the care we need.
Here is some of what we need to do:
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Require pricing and cost transparency from our hospitals and insurance companies. We cannot allow them to hide the costs that they are increasing every year.
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Codify the Office of Health Care Affordability and Transparency and establish an independent board to set benchmarks, and evaluate hospital compliance with pricing.
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Continue to negotiate health care plans for public sector employees that deliver high quality, affordable plans that are able to save both the employer and employee money.
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Continue to implement price caps on certain prescription drugs so that people can afford their medicine without it trading off with other basic needs.
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Additional protections from medical debt including preventing medical debt from factored into credit scores or being collected by garnishing wages.
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Ensure that as we see increased hospital consolidation, we address healthcare deserts by creating more community health clinics including in our schools.
Childcare
For too many families the cost of childcare is prohibitive and puts enormous strain on families with young children. My wife and I know this firsthand, as we balance our jobs with raising our two sons.
High-quality, affordable early childhood education must be part of making New Jersey more affordable for all. We need to address this challenge from all sides to build a sustainable and affordable system of early child care and education.
Here is some of what we need to do:
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Continue to invest in universal pre-K across the state which must include investment in facilities and transportation costs.
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Streamline the licensing processing for childcare centers, and address the barriers to sustainability, so that government bureaucracy is not in the way of opening more early childcare centers.
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Expand the Childcare Tax Credits and other financial assistance for families that are struggling with the costs of childcare.
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Provide more opportunities for childcare employees to continue their education and other opportunities that professionalize the hard work they do.