(TRENTON) – Senator Vitale, Speaker Coughlin and Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez (all D-Middlesex) released the following joint statement urging the President and Congress to pass COVID-19 relief legislation:
“The COVID-19 pandemic is not over. As millions of Americans await relief from the President and Congress, we encourage them to come to an agreement on the $2.2 trillion stimulus plan passed yesterday before they recess.
“New Jersey unemployment figures continue to climb as over 1.63 million workers have filed claims with the Department of Labor. In the 19th district alone, over 45,000 individuals have filed claims for unemployment.
“We have been hard at work trying to ensure every single resident in our district that is eligible for unemployment receives their pay since the start of the pandemic. We still have constituents that have received no benefits since March and it has been an uphill battle, but a battle we will not give up until each and every one of them is finally processed. If the President and Congress fail to act on supplemental unemployment payments and stimulus checks people will suffer. Our constituents are already suffering and in many cases are on the brink of total financial ruin. The stress they live day in and day out is real and unlike anything we have ever seen.
“The idea that our President and Congressional leaders cannot put politics aside to assist the hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans and millions across the country is abhorrent. We call upon the President and Congress to end the dysfunction and pass critical relief; a recess cannot begin until the single most important issue facing this nation is resolved. We are grateful to New Jersey’s Congressional delegation for continuing to fight for our residents. Please do not give up.”