In an address to business and political leaders and students at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, Murphy said that the far-reaching economic agenda hinges on leveraging New Jersey’s often-overlooked and underutilized advantages of its location, internationally recognized higher education and research institutions, and strong workforce.“I start with an economic vision because the path forward starts with our economy,” said Murphy. “The solutions to nearly all of our state’s problems are rooted in a stronger economy that works from the middle class out. When we get this right, we get New Jersey right. We can no longer tolerate a zero-sum economy, where some are able to succeed only because others have been left by the wayside.”The economic platform draws on Murphy’s unique decades of experience in helping economies grow and create jobs and his work as United States Ambassador to Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy, which remained among the world’s strongest even during the Great Recession. It also signals a significant break with special interest politics by investing directly into the state and its people.
To spur investment in the state, Murphy proposed the creation of a public bank to bring home some of the billions of dollars New Jersey currently places with Wall Street and foreign banks — the state currently has $1.5 billion in banks in Canada, Japan, and Sweden — and putting it to work to reignite the economy. Murphy said the bank would work in partnership with New Jersey’s community financial institutions to help back new loans for small businesses, underwrite student loans at interest rates and terms more favorable than currently available, and work with municipalities to provide funds for local infrastructure projects more efficiently and without the need for them to enter the bond markets.
“New Jersey will invest in New Jersey, period,” said Murphy. “I propose a public bank not as a competitor to the commercial institutions the state and our municipalities already use, but as a complementary tool to fill a gaping void. These are real opportunities — and they might just be the difference between a student staying or leaving, a business succeeding or failing, or a town growing or declining.”
Only one other state, North Dakota, currently has a publicly held bank. This year alone, the Bank of North Dakota returned to that state’s taxpayers more than $130 million in returns on its investments.
Murphy said he believes a New Jersey public bank would be even more successful, creating a new stream of non-tax revenues to pay down the state’s debt while simultaneously spurring small business investment, restoring affordable rates to college loans, and removing Wall Street influences from the system.
“It’s time for us to put New Jersey’s interests ahead of the special interests so that we can put our state dollars to work more efficiently and effectively,” Murphy said.
Murphy said securing the economic future of the state must also include expanding access to the middle class and securing the economic futures of all working families struggling to keep pace. He committed in his first 100 days in office to sign legislation to raise the minimum wage, enact paid sick leave protections for all workers, make “equal pay for equal work” state law, expand the Earned Income Tax Credit, and create a child and caregiver tax credit.
“These efforts will directly reduce poverty and enable families to actively contribute to an economy with dignity,” said Murphy. “An economy simply works better when people can afford to participate in it. Anyone working full time in 2016 should not be living in poverty, plain and simple.”
Murphy further proposed new initiatives to make the state’s institutes of higher education a focal point of economic revitalization. He noted that New Jersey is one of only a handful of states that exports more high school graduates than it retains, a statistic that must be reversed. He proposed an expanded high school curriculum in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) for students who wish to pursue that track, to better prepare them for college. And he would use his office to aggressively fight for federal research grants to the state’s colleges, universities, and medical schools to create new opportunities for those students to stay in-state.
For students who want to pursue an alternative path to success, Murphy will expand apprenticeship and vocational training programs programs, and partner with industry to create new pipelines for applicants to enter the workforce. He also will direct state and federal resources to lower the cost of community colleges and use public-private partnerships to create new professional pathways not only for recent high school graduates, but also for the mid-career and long-term unemployed residents to learn the skills they need to get back on their feet.
“One thing I learned as Ambassador to Germany, in a growing economy, everyone should have a place and everyone deserves a path to success,” said Murphy. “And whether they aspire to be engineers or artists, it all begins in our schools. These investments will fuel a start-up ecosystem in which our world-class universities partner with innovative entrepreneurs to create a dynamic economy.”
To make the state more welcoming for business, Murphy said he would convene an Innovation Cabinet — comprised of individuals from both the public and private sectors — to modernize state government “to move at the speed of innovation.” The state currently relies on multiple offices and agencies to undertake the work of economic development, and with aging, sometimes incompatible, computer information systems. Murphy said making the state work efficiently, effectively, and responsively to all constituents is essential to improving the business climate.
“My vision is clear — nothing less than to return our state to its rightful place as a driver of innovation — innovation that improves lives, innovation that creates good, family-supporting jobs, innovation that expands opportunity to more and more families, innovation that is durable and real, not a stopgap until the next bubble bursts,” said Murphy. “It doesn’t just grow the pie, but it ensures that everyone will be able to have a slice.”