Letter to the Hon. Philip Murphy, Governor of the State of New Jersey - Rep. Sherrill Leads NJ Delegation in Letter Calling for Governor Murphy to Distribute CARES Act Funding to Small Counties

Letter

Dear Governor Murphy,

We write to thank you for all your work to protect the public's health and fight for ever
additional resource our state needs during this time of crisis. As you are aware, Congress passed
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (H.R. 748), which became
law on March 27. With the assistance of your advocacy, the CARES Act created a much needed
$150 billion Coronavirus Relief Fund for state and local governments. Of this fund, we expect
approximately $3.44 billion will be allocated to the state of New Jersey, as a combination of a
direct block grant to the state and additional payments to New Jersey counties with populations
greater than 500,000 people.

However, we are concerned about the twelve counties in New Jersey with populations less than
500,000 people. Just like their more populous neighbors, these counties are bearing an incredible
burden as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic and work to keep their populations safe. It is
imperative that the enormous costs they face in responding to this crisis are given due
consideration as New Jersey deploys its allocation of the Coronavirus Relief Fund, as well as
other funding from the CARES Act that flows through the state.

As such, we strongly urge you to provide direct stabilization funding from the Coronavirus
Relief Fund to the counties in New Jersey with less than 500,000 people: Atlantic, Burlington,
Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Salem, Somerset, Sussex, and
Warren. Their work is essential to keeping our constituents safe and mitigating the spread of the
coronavirus as effectively as possible, and we fear that without targeted stabilization funding
these less populous counties will be unable to continue providing critical services at their current
rate.

Thank you very much for your hard work and attention to this matter. We look forward to
working with you on this issue and pledge to continue to fight for the federal funds necessary to
address this crisis.