The following appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer on May 30 as an endorsement from the Inquirer Editorial Board.
Murphy, 59, of Middletown, understands the need to raise taxes on the wealthy and slash corporate loopholes to collect the revenue needed to heal the nation’s sickest pension fund, properly fund public schools, and provide more access to health care.
Murphy promises to do a better job getting federal funding for disaster and foreclosure relief, a smart idea considering New Jersey sends much more revenue to Washington than it gets back.
To address the pension mess Christie tried to fix, Murphy, who chaired a pension task force during the Codey administration, would wisely pull pension money out of high-risk investments like hedge funds. But if Murphy is elected he will need to lose his apparent hesitancy to get unions to reduce benefits for new employees.
That may be a hard sell after the state reneged on its agreement to pay its legally required share into the pension fund if the unions agreed to increased costs. But it’s going to take more concessions to protect the retirement savings of government workers, and the next governor can’t be shy about asking for them.
Murphy says he would be open to upgrading building standards in flood-prone areas, a necessary step toward making them resilient. He would attack New Jersey’s lingering foreclosure crisis by purchasing vacant homes and converting them to rentals with an eye toward helping tenants become homeowners.
The former chief of investment firm Goldman Sachs’ European and Asian operations says he wants to build up the state’s new energy and technology sectors. He says New Jersey, with its exceptional universities and proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, should be a natural leader in green energy.[…]
The Inquirer endorses Phil Murphy as the better choice for Democrats. He understands the issues, has a wealth of executive experience, and offers practical solutions to problems that should never have been allowed to fester this long.