First year for senator meant jobless claims, fighting administration
By DAVID NAHAN
Sentinel staff
CAPE MAY COURT HOUSE – State Sen. Michael L. Testa Jr. did not expect to be dealing with thousands of unemployment claims in his first year in office, but part of representing Legislative District 1 is looking after the needs of all of his constituents.
He and Assemblymen Erik Simonsen and Antwan McClellan are Republicans who work as a team, he said, but they “represent everyone in Legislative District 1, whether they have the same letter next to our name or not, they are our constituents. We answer to them and we are public servants to those wonderful individuals of Legislative District 1 and we will always be mindful of that regardless of political affiliation.”
To that end, that meant dealing jointly with a problem that affected a big swath of their constituents – getting their unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We really didn’t have a whole lot of time to hit the ground running before COVID-19 reared its ugly head in the United States of America,” he said. “I would say the most difficult aspect that I’ve dealt with as a senator is … the unemployment needs of our constituents. Dealing with unemployment has been well documented. It has been a nightmare throughout the state. They have a computer system that is completely out of date.”
Testa credited the team’s “amazing staff” with helping more than 4,000 constituents with their jobless claims. “My hat goes off to members of my staff because they have been carrying the heavy load on that. Believe me, there are many constituents that I get to speak with and they are desperate. People were crying on the telephone, telling us they were suicidal, that they couldn’t pay their bills, their businesses were going to be shut down forever.
“It was really heartbreaking to hear those stories about the ravages that were happening due to COVID-19 and what I think are the overreaching shutdowns of the Murphy Administration,” he added.
That overreach, he said, included Gov. Phil Murphy not treating the state Senate and Assembly as separate but equal branches of government.
“Essentially what happened is that Gov. Murphy cut out the Legislature and has been ruling by executive fiat since March 16 of this year,” Testa said. Not only did he cut the Legislature out, but he ignored regional plans, like the one created by the Cape May County Board of Commissioners (formerly Freeholders) which would have allowed the county to ramp up its economy based on changing conditions. Testa noted Atlantic County adopted the plan and that the casino industry and South Jersey Chamber of Commerce submitted plans as well because of the tourism-based economy in the region.
“We know full well that Cape May County relies on its tourist industry and Cape May County needed to be open – not 100 percent and not without social distancing and doing the right things (and having) the right things in place. It was a scientifically based reopening plan,” he said.
“And all of these plans were sent to the Murphy Administration and languished on Gov. Murphy’s desk. Yet we were continuously told that the data would be driving the dates for reopening. But lo and behold, neither the citizens of New Jersey nor the Legislature were ever provided with this data. That was just really disheartening. I think there should have been a lot more transparency from the Murphy Administration concerning the data.
“I don’t believe there should have been a blanket approach to the state of New Jersey. Legislative District 1 accounted for less than 2 percent of all cases in the summertime of COVID-19 cases in the state of New Jersey but we were shut down. That doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
South Jersey
connections
Testa said his best accomplishment during his freshman year is making friends across the aisle, mainly Senate President Steve Sweeney, a Democrat based in Camden County.
“I have been able to propose legislation with Senate President Sweeney that is going to pass, in my humble estimation, and we’ve been able to work together for south Jersey. I can say this: He has certainly reached out to me and let me know we are both from south Jersey and we have to think of south Jersey first and I agree with him wholeheartedly.”
That doesn’t mean his politics will align with the Democratic administration.
“I’ve kept my promises to the people of Legislative District 1 that I was going to fight the radical leftist policies of the Murphy Administration and I’ve done that at every single turn, whether it was being President Trump’s attorney for vote-by-mail or whether it was suing Gov. Murphy over the delineations between essential and non-essential businesses. That is a case that is still pending. I sued over what I thought was an absolute onerous budget. The original proposal was (borrowing) $9.9 billion and as a direct result of that lawsuit the Murphy Administration only wanted to borrow $4.3 billion, still an astronomical number but less than half of what they originally intended.”
Taxpayer justice,
small business focus
The senator said he wants to make New Jersey more fair for taxpayers.
“I keep on hearing the term justice attached to so many other terms, educational justice, environmental justice, social justice, all very good goals. However, I want to one day hear taxpayer justice as a platform in the state of New Jersey because I have to tell you, the overwhelming majority of people that I run into, not only in Legislative District 1, are beginning to realize how unwelcome the state of New Jersey is for the New Jersey taxpayer and for the New Jersey small business,” Testa said.
“I’d really like to see New Jersey become a more welcome place for the New Jersey taxpayer as a place to live, play and possibly retire, and a much better environment for the backbone of our nation’s economy, not just New Jersey’s economy, the small business.”
Part of that is pushing, with Sen. Declan O’Scanlon (R-13th), to get $300 million in CARES Act funding designated for small businesses that are “desperately in need of that aid.”
“That startling statistic came out (in early December) that approximately 31 percent of all small businesses will be closed permanently as a result of the restrictions placed by the Murphy Administration,” he said. “That’s horrific, it’s unacceptable, and I think that New Jersey needs to wake up and realize that we need to make sure that those small businesses survive so that we have a life to return to once the COVID-19 crisis is over.
Teamwork
Helping him improve the state’s tax and business environment takes a team effort and Testa said he has a strong bond with his fellow District 1 legislators.
“We’re like three brothers. That’s the truth of the matter. It’s completely advantageous. We didn’t know each other very well before we ran together, but I can tell you during the campaign in 2019 we became more than running mates. We became more than friends. We really became a band of brothers. We don’t always necessarily agree on every issue but I’ve got to tell you it’s always been extremely respectful between us and it has become a relationship that I can tell you is 100 percent team and that of brotherhood,” he said.
Looking ahead
Testa said he hopes the governor starts moving away from “ruling by executive order” and getting the Legislature involved in the decision-making about the future of New Jersey.
“I’m hopeful that Gov. Murphy keeps his promises that he is going to take a much more surgical approach to the state of New Jersey because Cape May County cannot survive another season with being ruled by executive fiat and lose its tourism season.”