New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is coming under fire for his 2020 proposed budget which diverts $33 million from a fund which helps fallen firefighters to the state’s general fund to use for anything he deems suitable.
Critics of the governor’s plan are calling it “horrendous” that he would divert the millions from the fund which pays for burials and also offers financial help to firefighters killed, NJ Advance Media reports.
Murphy’s 2020 state budget calls for transferring the money from the NJ State Fireman’s Association into the state’s general fund where it can be used for any purpose.
Ed Donnelly, president of the NJ Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association, the firefighter’s union, told the Washington Free Beacon it was “disheartening to have a reporter approach me instead of my friends in Trenton.”
“That fund is for the indigent and needy firefighters. We will do everything in our power to stop this,” Donnelly said. “We’re working through it to stop it. Since the late 1800s, we’ve been good stewards of this money and we shouldn’t be penalized.” – read more