It is deeply disappointing that through a closed-door, invitation-only, staged meeting, Governor Murphy is attempting to orchestrate a hit job on President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, and against me and my Republican colleagues because we voted for a bill to put America on the right course by providing massive tax relief for the middle class, growing our economy, securing our borders, offering new school choice tax benefits for parents, and protecting Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare precisely for those who are entitled and most in need of these precious benefits.

In endorsing the bill, the National Fraternal Order of Police—one of the many organizations to support the legislation—underscored the provisions that help its rank-and-file, middle class members, namely ‘an increase in the State and Local Taxes (SALT) deduction and the tax deduction for overtime pay.’ 

Most regrettably, Murphy, with his hand-selected participants including from his own administration, is fearmongering among those who are entitled to Medicaid and will still have it after this bill is signed into law.

To be clear, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act does not change the federal share or commitment to Medicaid recipients. It safeguards the federal funds and ensures the money is here for those who are eligible and need it most.

For instance, the bill prohibits people who are in the United States illegally from getting Medicaid. As the head of a sanctuary state, that presents a problem for the Governor that he does not want to face or discuss.

The bill also creates a new work and/or volunteer requirement for able-bodied recipients—modest requirements that can be met with approximately 20 hours a week of: work, volunteering, schooling, or a combination of the three. 

The Governor and his team are aware and should note there are significant and compassionate exceptions from these work requirements listed in Section 44141 of the bill ensuring that the work requirements do not apply to the following individuals:   

Pregnant women, individuals under the age of 19 or over the age of 64; foster youth and former foster youth under the age of 26; individuals who are considered medically frail (which includes, but is not limited to, individuals who are blind or disabled who have a chronic substance use disorder, who have a serious and complex medical condition, or who have a condition, as defined by the State and approved by the Secretary, as meeting the definition of medically frail); individuals who are already in compliance with the work requirements under other federal assistance programs. 

Also exempted are individuals who are a parent or caregiver of a dependent child or an individual with a disability and it provides short-term hardship waivers for natural disasters and for counties where the unemployment rate is high.

I have been on the frontline of helping with the expansion of quality medical care in our communities and I remain fully committed to ensuring a strong federal partnership in the delivery of health care to all residents of New Jersey.  This bill strengthens Medicaid by protecting it for those who truly need it. 

It is insulting that the Governor has portrayed this meeting as “official business”—this is a partisan, political, campaign-related event, and it’s shameful that taxpayer resources were used to stage it.

Like many other health care and public policy leaders in Lakewood, I chose not to attend this superficial meeting. 

KEY PROVISIONS OF INTEREST TO LAKEWOOD.

In Lakewood, we have been fighting for years for legislation such as the Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) and my bill, Education Achievement and Opportunity Act (HR 2097), to allow families to choose the academic options that best fit their children’s needs.

Among the many significant provisions in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is a section named “Scholarship Granting Organizations,” which will provide tax credits to individuals and businesses that donate to scholarship funds that families can then use to help cover expenses related to K-12 public and private education. 

Many states already have these programs, but the Governor has refused to advance these provisions in New Jersey.  Now many parents in Lakewood will be able to pursue this path with support at the federal level. 

The bill also renews the Opportunity Zone program to spur over $100 billion in new investment over the coming decade. Ocean and Monmouth counties are home to 18 Opportunity Zones; 10 in Ocean County, 6 of which are in Lakewood; and 8 in Monmouth.

For decades, I have aggressively and successfully supported Medicaid and other urgently-needed safety-net services for vulnerable populations including writing several laws for children and families with autism and other disabilities and, as the former chairman of the Veterans Affairs Committee, writing serval groundbreaking laws for veteran’s health and benefit programs and establishing several veterans’ health and services clinics in New Jersey.     

Specifically in Lakewood—the same town where Murphy is staging this fake roundtable discussion—I fought hard and won approval for two, not one, but two Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) that meet tens of thousands of Medicaid patient visits per year.