ICYMI: Four Bipartisan New Jersey Mayors Pen Op-Ed Highlighting the Need for President Joe Biden's American Rescue Plan

Yesterday, a group of four bipartisan mayors from New Jersey penned an op-ed for the Star-Ledger, highlighting the overwhelming need for President Biden's American Rescue Plan and the relief their communities feel now that help is finally on the way.

President Biden's Rescue Plan will not only dramatically bolster vaccination efforts to defeat the virus and provide $1,400 direct relief checks to struggling Americans, but it also sets aside $350 billion in direct assistance to state and local governments to keep essential services up and running, and local municipalities above water.

The mayors also explained that this bill's passage should not have been a partisan fight between Democrats and Republicans in Washington – Congress members should have worked together, regardless of party affiliation, to deliver the badly-needed support to struggling communities so they can keep first responders on the job, keep local businesses open, and help struggling families put food on their tables.

The op-ed written by Mayor Michael Soriano (D) of Parsippany-Troy Hills, Mayor Michael Francis (R) of Hopatcong, Mayor Janice Kovach (D) of Clinton, and Mayor Michael Puzio (R) of Rockaway Township highlights the broad, bipartisan support for the American Rescue Plan. Polling from Morning Consult shows that 77% of voters support the package, including nearly 60 percent of Republican voters.

Read the full op-ed below:

Star-Ledger – OPINION: 4 N.J. mayors - Dems and Republicans - say we need Biden's stimulus plan now | Opinion
[By Janice Kovach and Michael Puzio, 3/8/21]

Over the past year, as the COVID-19 pandemic enveloped our state and nation, we as mayors have stood and watched as this virus has ravaged the communities and families we know and love.

While cable news focused on nationwide coronavirus infection and death numbers, we knew the names and faces of those impacted. While others debated broadly about getting our kids back to school, we are the ones who knew the educators and parents at both ends of the reopening debates. While some discussed globally the impact on our small businesses, we are the ones who had to face the reality of shuttered storefronts on Main Street.

And, at the end of the day, it was on us to work with Gov. Phil Murphy and county partners to keep our EMTs, police officers, firefighters and first responders on the job and our health departments staffed. These efforts were essential to lead both the local fight to save lives and our own vaccination efforts and to make sure that local governments' vital services would remain viable and responsive to the needs of the people we serve, and who looked to us more than ever before.

This is why the final passage of the American Rescue Plan by Congress, and its expected swift enactment by President Joe Biden, is such a big and important deal.

We know that for the families we see and talk with every day, an additional $1,400 check will mean a world of difference in paying the bills and staying above water. We know that for hardworking Americans trying to make ends meet while collecting unemployment benefits, the six-month extension of the $300 special federal benefit will keep them going.

But, for us who sit at the head of local government, the nearly $3 billion in federal aid coming straight to New Jersey's municipalities and counties is the rescue plan that will help us, as well.

Throughout the past year, we have had to take extraordinary steps, and incur extraordinary costs, to keep our communities safe and our front lines funded. The last thing we want to do is to force these costs onto the shoulders of property taxpayers, many of whom are fighting for their own financial survival. Now, we, and our taxpayers, can both breathe a little easier.

Here's the lesson we hope both parties in Washington D.C. learn: At the ground level, where we work, few people care about whether there is a "R" or a "D" after our name. All they want to know is how we're going to fight for what's right to help their families.

As with everything else in Washington, the debate over the past month turned into the usual battle of Republican talking points versus Democratic talking points, and of "red" states versus "blue" states.

But perhaps more of them should have spoken to the people we serve, the people who just wanted Washington to set aside the partisan gamesmanship and to listen to their concerns. All they wanted, as it has been for the past year, was simply for our national leaders to step up as one to help them and their families and our communities.

And they know that, at this moment, the next round of help is finally on the way. And for that, we couldn't be more relieved.

This op-ed was also written by:

Michael Soriano, who serves as the Democratic mayor of Parsippany-Troy Hills and Michael Francis, the Republican mayor of Hopatcong.

Janice Kovach is the Democratic mayor of Clinton and president of the New Jersey State League of Municipalities and Michael Puzio is the Republican mayor of Rockaway Township.