the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Trenton NJ, the New Jersey Supreme Court today unanimously sided with the Murphy Administration in deciding the law suit brought by Republicans against Governor Phil Murphy regarding the constitutionality of his $9.9 billion borrowing plan to combat the impact of COVID-19, In the ruling the New Jersey Supreme Court today unanimously ruled the following: “therefore [we] conclude that the Bond Act is constitutional, subject to certain limiting principles.”
In its decision, the court requires the governor or treasurer to certify the projected shortfall and the state can only borrow up to that amount (see below). Statutes challenged on constitutional grounds can be declared void only if their “repugnancy to the constitution is clear beyond reasonable doubt.” In this case, the scope of the COVID-19 disaster allows the borrowing, the Supreme Court ruled.
In short, “plaintiffs have not met that heavy burden”, the court decided.
More on three key limitations:
First, the Governor/Treasurer must certify revenue shortfalls before borrowing. Second, the State can’t borrow more than the certified amount. Third, the borrowing must be related to the pandemic – the borrowing cannot be “solely to maintain the State’s fiscal integrity, untethered to the effects of the pandemic.”
Finally, the court is reading the concept of “related to the pandemic” broadly, to include not just “masks, respirators, and field hospitals, and for direct aid to individuals and families afflicted by the disease,” but also for “public services like education, police, fire, first aid, child welfare, and prisons — to secure the continued functioning of government.”