From enacting a utility bill freeze to nominating Cabinet positions to navigating a structural budget deficit, Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill has her hands full and she doesn’t take office until January.
Sherrill, a Democrat who handily won the gubernatorial election earlier this month, outlined her priorities and policy positions in a wide-ranging interview at the New Jersey State League of Municipalities convention in Atlantic City.
Here are some highlights from Sherrill’s interview with NJ Spotlight News anchor Briana Vannozzi.
Government accountability:
“I have run on accountability. I have run on making sure that people know that their government is serving them. That we are ensuring that in a state that is, sadly, known for corruption, that we are not enabling more corruption.”
What she’s looking for in an attorney general:
“We need somebody who’s willing to take on the Trump administration.”
“This is my second Trump administration when I’ve been in office, and I think there’s this false assumption — and you’ve certainly seen it with my colleagues across the aisle — that if you just duck your head and if you just go along, that you can kind of get through this.”
“And that’s not the case. The hits are going to be coming. The attacks on our economy are coming. The attacks on our rights and freedoms are here.”
New Jersey budget’s structural gap and looming cuts from the federal government:
“So that’s why I ran for governor, because we are staring down these hits from the federal government. But we’re also facing a state government that has to run more efficiently if we are going to help families navigate the future.”
Potential for tax increases:
“I’m working to lower costs for people. If there was one mandate I have it was to lower costs for families.”
“And it’s not simply that old line that I’m going to find efficiencies in the budget and we’re going to cut 30%. It’s a structural change that we are facing if we are actually going to run this state in a way that makes economic sense for people.”
Cabinet members:
“Within the next couple weeks, we’ll be rolling out various members of the cabinet, weekly, so that we can start to build the government and people can see what that’s going to look like.”
Freezing New Jersey’s rising utility bills:
“That was a commitment I made, to both drive down costs, but also to show people the sense of urgency that I understand is going on in this crisis.”
“We have charted out a pathway forward that is totally within the governor’s authority to do. We’ve already also been talking all of the stakeholders to come to the table.”
