As Murphy Lauds Legacy, NJGOP Points to Affordability Crisis

By Jim Pytell, Managing Editor On Jan 14, 2026

Gov. Phil Murphy delivered his eighth and final State of the State address yesterday, highlighting the major accomplishments and milestones that his administration was able to achieve since he took office in 2018. Republican leaders, however, felt the speech lacked a sense of reality given the affordability struggles the state is currently dealing with.

“[The governor] actually did say the word affordability once. He made a cursory reference to a crisis in affordability, but no solutions whatsoever,” said Assembly Republican Conference Leader Christopher DePhillips. “Stronger and fairer was mentioned six times – but nothing about cutting taxes or cutting costs.”

Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio also pushed back on Murphy’s characterization of his own legacy.

The minority leader pointed to record spending under the administration, including a 70% increase ($24.1 billion) over eight years, as well as a 45% increase ($32,000) in the cost of living over that same period. He called Murphy’s Energy Master Plan, which prioritized wind energy, a failure, citing that the state only produces 57% of its energy needs, coupled with surging electric bills for residents. Other areas of failure, according to DiMaio, included Murphy’s handling of the pandemic, the current state of NJ TRANSIT, and inequitable school funding.

“His legacy is not as rosy as he put it. I think people are going to remember him a lot differently than he sees it,” DiMaio said.

 “We are living in an alternate universe compared to the governor,” DePhillips added.

With the Murphy administration days away from coming to an end, incoming Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill – who will be sworn in as the state’s 57th governor on Jan. 20 – will be left to pick up the pieces and find solutions to make New Jersey more affordable.

Senate Republican Leader Anthony M. Bucco said that one of the biggest hurdles for Sherrill is going to be the first budget.

“That is where the rubber is going to meet the road. Make no mistake, all of us here want her to succeed, because if she succeeds, New Jersey succeeds, but there is a lot of work to be done.”

“We have a $4 billion structural deficit. I don’t envy Gov.-elect Sherrill at all,” said Senate Republican Whip Michael Testa. “Eventually, we have to stop kicking the can down the road. Someone is going to have to tighten the belt.”

He added that homing in on the state’s structural deficit, and eliminating “unnecessary pork projects” should be addressed on day one of the Sherrill administration.

“It’s just an unsustainable course of action to go from a $34 billion budget (before Murphy took office) to an almost $59 billion budget,” Testa said. 

Additionally, Sherrill campaigned on increased government transparency, and Bucco said Republican leaders are hopeful that they can play a bigger part in the governing process – namely on suggestions to lower taxes, increasing overall affordability and helping in education funding – compared to the last several years under the Murphy administration.

“Quite frankly there hasn’t been a lot of transparency in [the Murphy] administration. Not only with us, but for the press as well,” Bucco said. “Budgets were hammered out in the final hours in the dark of night, when the budget wasn’t even on paper, but yet had to be voted on. You didn’t find out where the spending was until weeks or months later. That is no way to run a state.”

“The theme of every one of [Murphy’s] State of the State addresses has been a ‘stronger and fairer New Jersey.’ Is New Jersey really stronger and fairer than it was eight years ago? The answer is, ‘Absolutely not,’” said Testa. “Go have a talk with your average person, whether they feel that they are doing better today than they were eight years ago in New Jersey. The overwhelming majority of people would say, ‘Absolutely not.’” 

“I’ve only seen New Jersey get weaker and poorer,” he said. 

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