Assemblywoman Carol Murphy (D-Burlington) issued the following statement Monday in response to Governor Phil Murphy vetoing S-2455:
“It is quite disappointing that Governor Murphy opted to veto legislation that would save money for our county colleges, while also reducing the premiums for college employees.
“In his veto message, Governor Murphy indicated that some of the recent agreed upon savings was enough to warrant exercising his veto. As families struggle with the high cost of healthcare, I am not satisfied with achieving enough savings, we should strive to maximize every dollar saved that we can for rank and file workers.
“Lastly, Governor Murphy cited collective bargaining as the place to resolve this situation, and I normally would agree, except the employees benefits are a result of 2008 legislation, not a collective bargaining process, and they are asking our help to fix this by statute. It is very disappointing as the taxpayers and college employees paying higher costs are the victims of the veto pen today.”