Our movement is Jersey Strong
Welcome to the stage, the New Jersey Cash Alliance
Earlier this month, advocates in New Jersey announced the launch of the New Jersey Cash Alliance, a new coalition focused on fighting for cash-based policies.
The coalition includes some of the main players in economic policy and guaranteed income advocacy in New Jersey. Among them is Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, which counts Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh as members, each of whom led guaranteed income pilots in their cities to high profile success.
Also joining the party is the Bridge Project which is currently serving 250 mothers across six New Jersey counties with direct, flexible financial assistance.
New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP), the local affiliate of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that has been the principal number cruncher for advocates for tax credits and progressive policies, also called for NJ Children Guaranteed, a direct cash program for kids in NJ to eliminate childhood poverty in the state.
While these organizations have frequently collaborated in the past, the founding of a formal coalition demonstrates the growing momentum for cash programs in the Garden State. In 2022, the state established a state Child Tax Credit which distributes $1,000 annually to families for each child 5 or younger.
This year several guaranteed income policies have been introduced in the state capitol, including bills introduced by three Legislators for Guaranteed Income members: State Senator Angela McKnight, Assemblywoman Katie Brennan and Assemblyman Ravi Bhalla, who, as Mayor of Hoboken before being elected to the Assembly in 2025, established the Hoboken Guaranteed Basic Income Task Force.
Even at the federal level, Jersey elected have been at the forefront of advocating for cash policies. New Jersey Congressional Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman and LaMonica McIver introduced the Guaranteed Income Pilot Program Act two years in a row, proposing the creation of a nationwide pilot program. And Senator Cory Booker added his voice to the It’s Basic documentary, which premiered at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.
The establishment of the New Jersey Cash Alliance signals that advocates see the most immediate advocacy opportunities at the state level. While the federal government remains focused on pursuing a war, growing a violent domestic deportation apparatus, and building a ballroom, state leaders have to create balanced budgets and respond to the affordability crisis.
This, of course, is expensive. New Jersey governor Mikie Sherrill and state lawmakers are going back and forth on how to close a $3 billion structural deficit this year, in part caused by some of the cuts made from HR 1, the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”.
But in times of crisis, advocates see an opportunity. The coalition recently submitted an open letter to Governor Sherrill’s office, calling for the expansion of the Child Tax Credit and the Earned Income Tax Credits in the midst of a growing affordability crisis.
“New Jersey is one of the wealthiest states in the country, but it is also one of the most unequal. Cash policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit are essential steps toward dismantling this economic inequality and providing the stability that every family deserves,” said Laura Sullivan of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice.
“As the number of Asset Limited Income Constrained and Employed (ALICE) families continues to rise, policymakers must look to proven, simple solutions that provide immediate relief. Cash-based support gives New Jersey families the freedom to afford their most pressing needs, whether it be food, housing, or child care,” said Catherine Wilson of United Way of Greater Newark.
“Cash works, and New Jersey has the data to prove it,” said Nicole Rodriguez, President of New Jersey Policy Perspective. “Expanding the Child Tax Credit and exploring new cash programs are among the most direct ways the state can reduce poverty and close the wealth gap.”
With any luck, these efforts will make robust cash policies as New Jersey as eating a pork roll on the Shore while listening to Thunder Road.