Topic Category: General

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 14,380,042
Fully Vaccinated People: ​​6,811,830
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

Affordable for Who?

Earlier this week, the Legislature held its first public hearing on Governor Murphy’s budget proposal where advocates and direct service providers called on lawmakers to provide more funding for critical public services, while business lobbyists asked for more tax cuts. With everyone talking about affordability, NJPP’s Peter Chen urged lawmakers to ask, “Affordable for Who?” when weighing different proposals aimed at making the state more affordable. “With an unprecedented budget surplus, we have the tools to ease this pain with direct cash relief for families who need it most,” said Peter. [NJ Monitor / Sophie Nieto-Munoz]

12

Happy birthday to the Affordable Care Act! The landmark health care law was enacted 12 years ago this week, and millions more people have comprehensive health coverage because of it. But the success of the ACA varies across states depending on which ones expanded Medicaid and took steps to increase access to affordable care. In New Jersey, lawmakers invested in subsidies and assistance to keep costs down and, as a result, nine in ten enrollees qualify for financial help, with a majority of those receiving assistance paying $10 or less per month for their insurance. [NorthJersey.com / Governor Murphy and Commissioner Marlene Caride]

100,000

The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission announced earlier this week that the state’s existing medical marijuana dispensaries will no longer be permitted to sell recreational weed starting next month. Proponents of cannabis legalization are praising the decision, however, as the state is short approximately 100,000 pounds of marijuana to meet the demand of medical patients and recreational consumers. Chris Goldstein of NORML said the delay shows the commission plans to “stand up for consumers, small businesses, and medical marijuana patients.” [NJ Monitor / Sophie Nieto-Munoz]

25 Percent

Black residents are now more likely to die of overdoses than white residents, according to new data released by the State Police. Representing 12 percent of New Jersey’s population, Black residents accounted for 25 percent of overdose deaths in 2021. This serves as proof that preventing overdose deaths is a racial justice issue and that the state should do all it can to expand harm reduction services proven to save lives. [NJ.com / Riley Yates]

90 Percent

Through February, New Jersey has recovered 90 percent of jobs lost during the height of the pandemic, according to new jobs data from the state Department of Labor. After adding nearly 26,000 jobs in February — the strongest jobs report since last July — the state’s unemployment rate has dropped to 4.6 percent. Not all sectors are recovering jobs at the same rate, however, with leisure and hospitality jobs still 4.5 percent below their pre-pandemic peak. [Courier Post / Michael Diamond]

ICYMI

NJPP’s Peter Chen joined Chat Box with David Cruz to discuss Governor Murphy’s budget proposal, what “affordability” means, and a new Rutgers-Eagleton poll on whether New Jersey is on the right or wrong track. Peter’s panel starts around the 12:10 mark. [NJ Spotlight News / David Cruz]

Pets of NJPP

Meet Seamus Patton! Seamus was adopted from Joyrides Rescue in 2021 and is the calmest 13 lb. Chihuahua-mix you’ll ever meet. Seamus loves to make appearances at many Jersey City community meetings and lounge around at Lafayette Park. He hates peanut butter, going to New York City, and anti-taxers. His mom Dana is part of the Jersey City Together Education Team. Woof!

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy. 

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 14,363,013
Fully Vaccinated People: ​​6,800,438
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

1 Million

More than one million New Jersey families benefited from the now-expired federal Child Tax Credit expansion, according to a new report by Rutgers Center for Women and Work. The study found that families spent a majority of the credit on food, clothing, rent, and, for families with young kids, child care. One big red flag: nearly 60 percent of low-income families (earning less than $25,000) said they did not receive the payment. This underscores the need for lawmakers to lower barriers to safety net programs by setting up non-tax filer application portals and boosting outreach and assistance so all eligible residents get the benefits they deserve. [NJ Monitor / Sophie Nieto-Munoz]

Bail Reform

There’s a new bill advancing through the Legislature that would severely weaken New Jersey’s bail reform law — a national model that’s been proven to rein in mass incarceration and reduce racial disparities in the prison population. If this sounds bad, that’s because it is: According to New Jersey Public Defender Joseph Krakora, the bill would result in hundreds if not thousands more people being incarcerated even though they do not pose a risk of reoffense. Making matters worse, the proponents of the bill “lack even a shred of evidence” that this bill will do anything to reduce crime, as The Star-Ledger Editorial Board so eloquently wrote a few weeks ago. [NJ Monitor / Nikita Biryukov]

Racial Disparities

We all know that the COVID-19 pandemic exposed deep-seated racial disparities — so the question now is, where do we go from here? For starters, lawmakers should make temporary expansions to the safety net permanent and expand access to health coverage, according to NJPP’s Brittany Holom-Trundy. But racial inequities exposed by COVID-19 have root causes far beyond health care. “You can deal with COVID as a Band-Aid, or you can deal with what’s fueling COVID and HIV and obesity and cardiovascular disease — and that means higher-level issues [like] economic equity,” said Perry Halkitis, Dean of the Rutgers School of Public Health. [NJ Spotlight News / Taylor Jung]

$1 Million

The pandemic not only exposed racial inequities but showed just how underfunded and understaffed New Jersey’s public health infrastructure is. After years of budget cuts at the state level and local levels, New Jersey’s public health workforce is half that of other comparable states, explaining why health officials struggled to meet the needs of their communities during the pandemic. Fortunately, a new report by the Robert Wood Johnson (RWJ) and Nicholson Foundations provides a simple, yet powerful solution: a new, nonprofit public health institute. To help get it up and running, the RWJ Foundation is soliciting applications for a $1 million grant to develop, incubate, and launch the institute. [NorthJersey.com / Lindy Washburn]

172

New Jersey is one step closer to its first legal cannabis sale, with the Cannabis Regulatory Commission accepting applications for those interested in opening a dispensary. So far, more than 170 businesses have applied (including a CBD store around the corner from me 👀). Still, the application review process means that even those approved to open are likely six to eight months away from making their first sales. “They may start selling by the end of the year… Looking more like early next year,” said Michael DeLoreto, Director at Gibbons’ Government and Regulatory Affairs Department. [NJ.com / Suzette Parmley]

ICYMI

Looking for a breakdown of Governor Murphy’s budget proposal? Well, you’re in luck! A new budget report by NJPP’s dream team of analysts highlights what’s in the budget, what’s missing, and asks: Who do these new programs — looking at you, ANCHOR — make the state affordable for? [NJPP / Sheila Reynertson, Peter Chen, Brittany Holom-Trundy, Marleina Ubel, Mark Weber, and Nicole Rodriguez]

Pets of NJPP

We have a posthumous pet pic this week, courtesy of NJPP Interim President Jon Shure. Ginny was a black Lab who was originally trained for Seeing Eye before she was reunited with the Shure family; Maxine was a Beagle mix. The two pups were great buddies and wonderful companions of the Shure household for more than a decade. Woof!

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy. 

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 14,340,084
Fully Vaccinated People: ​​6,787,037
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

$48.9 Billion

Budget season is back! Earlier this week, Governor Murphy unveiled his $48.9 billion budget proposal in front of the Legislature — the first in-person budget address since the start of the pandemic. The budget includes a lot of good stuff: a full pension payment, more funding for schools and Pre-K expansion, no fare hike for NJ Transit, a healthy surplus, and a new property tax relief program to replace the Homestead rebate. The NJPP team has been busy crunching numbers on the proposal since it was released (including who benefits the most, and who is left behind), so keep an eye out for a robust analysis coming out next week. Until then, you can read our statement here from NJPP Interim President Jon Shure. [NJ.com / Derek Hall]

80,000

More good budget news: Governor Murphy’s budget proposes a new relief fund for workers excluded from federal pandemic assistance. The program would provide one-time $500 payments to workers who file taxes using an Individual Tax Identification Number (ITIN), benefitting approximately 80,000 households across the state. This is a big step toward a fairer recovery and something the state could build on by expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to ITIN filers. [NJ Monitor / Sophie Nieto-Munoz]

89,000

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the American Rescue Plan becoming law. The expansive pandemic recovery legislation included a big expansion to the Child Tax Credit, which helped more than 1 million families and lifted roughly 89,000 children out of poverty. The bad news? The Child Tax Credit expansion expired and has yet to be renewed by Congress. While there’s still time for Congress to act and make the expansion permanent, state lawmakers do not have to wait to act: A state-level Child Tax Credit based on the federal program would similarly help families meet the high costs of raising kids, making the Garden State affordable for all. [NJ.com / J.D. Salant]

$580 Million

Remember how funds from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) were meant to help workers and families harmed most by the pandemic? Well, there’s a new bill advancing through the Legislature that would use ARP funds to give businesses a big tax break by earmarking $580 million in federal relief to replenish the state’s unemployment trust fund — a fund that businesses are supposed to pay into. NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Sheila Reynertson slammed the proposal in a legislative hearing earlier this week, calling it “worse than short-sighted. It’s inequitable and it’s insulting to the essential workforce.” [NJ Monitor / Nikita Biryukov]

Undercount

The 2020 census undercounted Black, Hispanic/Latinx, and Native American residents, according to a new report by the U.S. Census Bureau. While the report contains no state-level data, the undercount likely impacted New Jersey’s census count more than other places given the state’s diversity (even with the undercount, more than 48 percent of New Jersey residents are people of color). An undercount means that New Jersey will receive less than its fair share in federal funding and that our state and congressional districts will not adequately reflect the state’s true diversity. All of this is to say, New Jersey lawmakers need to start planning for the 2030 census right now so this doesn’t happen again. [NPR / Hansi Lo Wang]

ICYMI

NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Peter Chen appeared on NJ Spotlight News to provide live analysis and commentary on Governor Murphy’s budget address. Click the link for Peter’s perspective on the Murphy administration’s tax and budget policy decisions during the pandemic and ways the state could do a better job making sure the families hurting the most are prioritized in this year’s budget. [NJ Spotlight News]

Pets of NJPP

Meet Sheila Reynertson’s cat, Mercury! He was a feral creature for his first year of life, so embracing all the comforts of domestication has been a slow process. He loves to flop down on his back for a good armpit massage, but still won’t sit on anyone’s lap. He has long preferred to sleep on floors, so only recently did he discover the cool pleasure of an empty sink. Meow!

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy. 

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 14,314,403
Fully Vaccinated People: ​​6,771,217
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

$700

On Thursday, Governor Murphy unveiled a new property tax relief program, ANCHOR, which would provide rebates averaging $700 to nearly 1.8 million residents. The proposal, which would replace the current Homestead rebate program, will be included in Governor Murphy’s budget address this upcoming Tuesday. We’re still waiting on further details of the program to gauge who will benefit the most from it, but in the meantime, NJPP’s Peter Chen sat down with NJ Spotlight News to highlight how renters — who also pay property taxes — need more relief directed their way. [NorthJersey.com / Katie Sobko and Dustin Racioppi]

Upgrade

Remember how then-Governor Christie cut taxes for the wealthy and well-connected, cut government departments to the bone, and the state received 11 credit downgrades as a result? Well, now the state has received its first credit *upgrade* since 2005, thanks in no small part to progressive tax policies enacted during the Murphy administration that bolstered the state’s finances and stabilized the public pension fund. Bookmark this article so you can share it the next time someone tells you New Jersey needs to cut taxes to fix its finances, because this is proof that progressive tax policy is fiscally responsible tax policy. [NJ Spotlight News / John Reitmeyer]

2

This week marks a somber anniversary: It’s been two years since New Jersey reported its first case of COVID-19. Since then, the pandemic has claimed the lives of more than 30,000 New Jersey residents, and roughly 2 million residents have tested positive for the virus. To reflect on the anniversary, New Jersey Monitor asked policy experts — including NJPP’s Peter Chen — to grade the New Jersey state government’s handling of the pandemic. “Part of what the pandemic has shown is that we need robust state governments in order to respond to crises,” said Chen, commending the Murphy administration for rejecting austerity in the face of an unprecedented crisis. [NJ Monitor / Dana DiFilippo, Sophie Nieto-Munoz, and Nikita Biryukov]

22.3 Percent

There are 393,000 households in New Jersey that are behind on their rent — representing 22.3 percent of renters — according to a new report by the Rutgers Center on Law, Inequality, and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME). Even with Governor Murphy boosting eviction protections during the pandemic, COVID-19 has exacerbated the housing crisis, especially in communities of color and urban municipalities where low- and moderate-income households are more prevalent. With the first tranche of Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds set to expire in September and over $1 billion already allocated to the program, there’s still more work to be done to make sure all who need relief receive it to stay in their homes. [Rutgers CLiME / Katherine Nelson]

Equity

Another day, another virtual hearing. The Cannabis Regulatory Commission met on Wednesday and heard suggestions from residents on how to spend tax revenue from recreational cannabis sales. New Jersey’s cannabis legalization law mandates that 70% of revenue be reinvested in communities most harmed by the failed drug war. The ACLU of New Jersey’s Ami Kachalia argued that funding for law enforcement under the guise of community investment goes against this decree: “We want real community reinvestment that supports the kinds of needs — things like social services and harm reduction and educational support and economic development — that truly increase access to opportunity for New Jerseyans and help communities thrive.” NJPP Policy Analyst Marleina Ubel also submitted testimony to the Commission — you can read that here. [NJ Monitor / Dana DiFilippo]

ICYMI

With state lawmakers saying they want to make New Jersey more affordable this legislative session, essential workers and advocates gathered outside the State House on Thursday to ask: “Affordable for who?” Far too often, policy proposals that emphasize “affordability” would actually enrich the already wealthy and big businesses, without making New Jersey truly affordable for all. Click the link to read more about the event and how we can make New Jersey #AffordableForAll. [NJPP]

Pic of NJPP

No pet this week — but for good reason! It’s not often that the NJPP team gets together given the ongoing pandemic, but most of us made it out to the #AffordableForAll press conference yesterday in Trenton. I did not get the memo that everyone decided against wearing their hats (in my defense it was pretty cold out).

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy. 

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 14,274,456
Fully Vaccinated People: ​​6,750,242
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

February 28

With the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund revving on all cylinders thanks to the new, simplified application process, the program is set to expire at the end of the month. State lawmakers and advocates alike are pushing to keep the program open so all residents excluded from federal pandemic relief have a chance to apply. To date, the program has received more than 20,000 applications, a fraction of the state’s nearly half-million undocumented residents who were excluded from pandemic relief. “Why, if there is a pathway and there is funding, and the Department [of Human Services] has gone out of its way to fix the problems with the program, why would we stop it?” said Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex). [NJ.com / Susan Livio]

424,000

A state-level Child Tax Credit would make New Jersey a more affordable place to raise a family, according to a new report by NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Peter Chen. The report analyzes two ways to structure a state-level Child Tax Credit — one targeting young children, and one open to children of all ages including adult dependents. The Child Tax Credit proposals, inspired by the wildly successful federal Child Tax Credit expansion, would help up to 424,000 New Jersey families offset the high costs of raising children, reducing child poverty and advancing racial equity. [NJ Spotlight News / John Reitmeyer]

The Line

Want to see just how powerful “the line” on New Jersey’s primary ballots is? Look no further than Hudson County. With Senators Sacco and Stack both double-bunked in the new 33rd Legislative District, party leaders are already jockeying over who gets to “pick” who will get the district’s Assembly seats — because in Hudson County, it’s the mayors who pick state elected representatives, not voters. [NJ Globe / David Wildstein]

Russia

On Thursday, Senate Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) announced imminent legislation to bar public entities from doing business with Russia in response to the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. While the bill’s specifics are not yet public, the goal is to cut off all financial interactions with Russia and Russian-tied companies. “Cutting off all avenues of investments and finances in New Jersey and other states will reinforce the international sanctions being led by the United States,” said Senator Sarlo. “I hope to see other states take similar actions.” [NJ Globe / Joey Fox]

$22,500

Earlier this week, NJPP joined Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) as he unveiled the New Jersey College Affordability Act, which helps low- and middle-income families save for college, pay for tuition, and repay student loans. The legislation, which went into effect at the start of the new year, will allow households with incomes up to $200,000 to deduct up to $22,500 from their state income tax bills to help cover the costs of higher education. “I’m glad that we’re continuing to take steps to address what has been one of the biggest barriers — perhaps the biggest barrier — to students obtaining a degree, and that’s cost,” said Speaker Coughlin. [NJ Monitor / Nikita Biryukov]

ICYMI

You may have noticed a few changes to our logo today! NJPP will officially turn 25 on Sunday, and we are planning a celebration that will last the full year. Watch your feed, your inbox, and your mailbox for special videos, publications, and invitations to events marking our silver anniversary year. No matter how much NJPP has accomplished over the last quarter-century, we know our work is more important now than ever before. We can’t wait to celebrate our past, present, and future together!

Pets of NJPP

Meet Chichi, Raquel Mazon Jeffers’ co-working pup! Chichi was adopted when she was 4 years old. She was originally from Georgia and is believed to be a Chihuahua-Corgi mix, which explains her adorably awkward sweet-potato-like shape. She is the sweetest, calmest most loving creature Raquel has ever met. Woof!

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy. 

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 14,153,497
Fully Vaccinated People: ​​6,696,883
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

41 Percent

Here’s a stark example of how policy choices have real-world implications for working families: Child poverty rose by a whopping 41 percent in January after the expanded federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) expired at the end of last year. In real numbers, this equates to 3.7 million more children living in poverty now than at the end of December. Making matters worse, the expiration of the CTC is worsening racial inequities, as Black and Latinx/Hispanic experienced the largest percentage-point increases in poverty. Now it’s up to federal lawmakers to extend the expanded CTC — and for states to establish their own versions of the tax credit (more on that next week). [The Washington Post / Jeff Stein]

20,000

Now for some good news: Thousands more residents are receiving pandemic relief thanks to the new, streamlined application for the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund! On Thursday, the state Department of Human Services announced that they have received more than 20,000 applications for relief, more than enough to exhaust the initial $40 million in funding. Even better, the Murphy administration has committed to providing relief to anyone who applies before the end of February. Now that the program is working as intended, the state “should sustain this momentum until no one is left behind in New Jersey’s pandemic recovery,” NJPP Research Director Nicole Rodriguez said in a statement. [NJ Monitor / Sophie Nieto-Munoz]

10 Percent

New Jersey’s teacher pipeline is in trouble, with more teachers retiring and fewer students studying to become teachers. According to NJ Spotlight News, more than 4,000 teachers retired last year — a 10 percent increase over last year. So why don’t more students want to become teachers? According to NJPP’s Mark Weber, the answers are simple. “The pay isn’t enough, the benefits have eroded, the job has more pressure attached to it, and people aren’t feeling supported.” [NJ Spotlight News / Ambreen Ali]

389

Nearly 400 police officers faced major discipline in New Jersey last year — for drunk driving, domestic violence, sexual assault, racist social media posts, and more — according to a new report by the state Attorney General. Of those disciplined, approximately three-quarters were not fired and instead received suspensions, demotions, or other punishment. While this data is a step in the right direction for transparency, New Jersey can and should do more to promote transparency and accountability in policing. [NJ Monitor / Dana DiFilippo, Nikita Biryukov, and Sophie Nieto-Munoz]

ICYMI

Last week, NJPP’s Marleina Ubel highlighted how police officers in New Jersey make more than double what social and community workers make, even though these occupations all contribute to public safety and help address the root causes of crime. In 2019, the average police officer made nearly $129,000 compared to $58,000 for community and social service workers. Click the link to read more! [NJPP / Marleina Ubel]

Pets of NJPP

No pet this week (sorry!). If you have a pet you’d like featured, send a hi-resolution picture and some fun facts to dipaolo@njpp.org.

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy. 

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 14,060,875
Fully Vaccinated People: ​​6,644,635
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

$2,100

With seemingly everyone in the State House focused on making New Jersey more affordable, a proposal advancing through the Legislature would increase the amount of money renters can deduct from their taxable income. The bill would increase the deduction for rent payments to 30 percent from 18 percent, saving the state’s average renter roughly $2,100 per year. NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Sheila Reynertson testified in support of the bill, with amendments, suggesting that lawmakers convert the deduction into a refundable tax credit so more low-income residents (who may not be paid enough to have to file income taxes) would benefit. [WHYY / Tennyson Donyéa]

Out of Date

New Jersey’s school funding formula is out of date, and the state’s large, low-income districts with majority Black and/or Hispanic/Latinx student populations are not funded enough to set students up for success, according to an NJPP report released Wednesday. The report recommends updating the outdated school funding formula to account for higher learning standards and the needs of today’s students. “Put simply, it costs more to achieve more,” said Bruce Baker, a co-author of the report. “It’s time to revisit the formula and recalibrate it for modern times and modern goals.” [Chalkbeat / Catherine Carrera]

$2 Billion

Earlier this week, the Murphy administration retired more than $2 billion in state debt, saving the state a combined $607 million over the next 10 years. “This is about making New Jersey more affordable for this generation and beyond,” Governor Murphy said in a statement. Granted, this is a fraction of the state’s roughly $40 billion in bonded debt, but it’s a step in the right direction and further proof that progressive tax policy (read: raising revenue so the state can actually pay its bills) is fiscally responsible tax policy. [NJ Spotlight News / John Reitmeyer]

$40 Million

Last week, after immigrants’ rights activists exposed the shortfalls of the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund, the Murphy administration announced they’d be restoring the original $40 million in funding to the program. Now, immigrant community members and advocates are calling on the Legislature to follow other states’ lead and draft pandemic relief legislation so no resident is left behind in the pandemic recovery. [NJ.com / Star-Ledger Editorial Board]

24 Percent

Nearly one in four temp workers (24 percent) reported that their employers have stolen wages from them, according to a new report by the National Employment Law Project and New Labor, the New Brunswick-based worker center. The report also finds that temp jobs aren’t always temporary, with more than a third of temp workers reporting that their current job assignment has lasted more than a year. Even more alarming, 17 percent of temp workers reported workplace injury, and a whopping 71 percent said they experienced retaliation for raising workplace issues with management. Not good. [National Employment Law Project, New Labor, et al.]

ICYMI

Following the release of New Jersey School Funding: The Higher the Goals, the Higher the Costs, report co-author Bruce Baker joined Chat Box on NJ Spotlight News to discuss the school funding formula and how New Jersey can move forward so all its students can succeed. Bruce’s interview starts at the 8:48 minute mark. [NJ Spotlight News / Joanna Gagis]

Pets of NJPP

Meet Pickles, a Texas native who now resides in Portland, Maine with Mario Moretto! Pickles loves to lounge, sometimes has short-lived bursts of energy, and has no problem begging for food. Fun fact: One time, Pickles took a DNA test and it came back saying she was an Alaskan Malamute (Mario, I imagine, quickly asked for a refund). Woof!

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy. 

Friday Facts and Figures is a weekly newsletter with data points, analysis, and commentary on the biggest policy debates in New Jersey and beyond.
Sign up here.

Vaccine Doses: 13,948,160
Fully Vaccinated People: 6,580,266
[New Jersey Department of Health / COVID-19 Dashboard]

$40 Million

First, some good news: Last night, the Murphy administration announced that the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund will be extended for another month — and that the original $40 million in funding has been restored. The fund, which was cut by $34 million earlier this month, was set to expire at the end of January despite reaching only a fraction of residents excluded from pandemic relief. Even better, the state will also simplify the application process, which immigrants’ rights advocates have long criticized for being too cumbersome. Big shoutout and congrats to all of the immigrant community members and activists who helped make this possible! [NJ.com / Susan Livio]

$1.4 Billion

Now for the not-so-good news: Even with its funding restored, the Excluded New Jerseyans Fund was never big enough to reach all of the residents excluded from COVID-19 relief, according to a must-read report by NJPP Research Director Nicole Rodriguez. The program, initially funded with $40 million in CARES Act dollars and then supplemented with $10 million in American Rescue Plan dollars, would only be able to cover 25,000 individuals or 12,500 households. Nicole’s report finds that the fund would need roughly $1.4 billion to cover the state’s nearly half a million undocumented residents excluded from federal relief. [WHYY / Tennyson Donyéa]

Hundreds of Millions

Last week, Governor Murphy used his inaugural address to highlight more than a dozen tax cuts enacted during his first term, stating his administration delivered “​​hundreds of millions of dollars in direct tax relief.” Well, the folks at NJ Spotlight News provided a fact check on this claim, and … it’s true! Not only did the Murphy administration provide hundreds of millions of dollars in relief, but they did so in a targeted way that primarily benefits seniors, low- and moderate-income parents, low-paid workers, and college students. Click the link for examples, because there are a lot — including many policies NJPP has reported on and advocated for over the last few years. [NJ Spotlight News / John Reitmeyer]

Unlikely

Some more not-so-good news: No legal weed this month — or next! With a self-imposed deadline of the end of February to get the legal cannabis industry up and running, the Cannabis Regulatory Commission says it’s unlikely that recreational sales will begin due to a number of factors, including a lack of municipal buy-in. This deadline seemed to be more aspirational than anything else as there were no clear ways to enforce it, despite pressure from the New Jersey Cannabis Trade Association and New Jersey Senate President Nicholas Scutari. [NJ.com / Suzette Parmley]

$300

A groundbreaking new study by a team of investigators from six universities finds that, when mothers with low incomes received just over $300 in monthly cash assistance during the first year of their children’s lives, their infants’ brains displayed more high-frequency brain waves at 12 months old. The expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC), which expired last month, provided support very similar to the cash assistance studied in the new paper. Add this to the already long list of reasons why the federal government should reinstate the CTC — and why states like New Jersey should enact their own version of the program. [Center on Budget and Policy Priorities / Danilo Trisi]

ICYMI

Shocking news from earlier this week: Sean Caddle, a political operative who worked for former state Senator Raymond Lesniak, pleaded guilty in a murder-for-hire plot of a long-time associate. Adding intrigue to the case, Caddle was never taken into custody and was released to home confinement as “he has been working, collaborating, with the FBI in developing an important investigation.” [NJ.com / Ted Sherman]

Pets of NJPP

Meet NJPP Policy Analyst Marleina Ubel’s pet mice, Potato Chip and Soot! Chip is an athlete who loves running on her wheel and climbing. Soot, on the other hand, enjoys eating and cuddling. Chip is quiet and Soot is a little more talkative. They are both very sweet, lots of fun, and eat more than you can imagine. Squeak squeak!

Have a fact or figure for us? Tweet it to @NJPolicy.