Ida survivors slam Murphy’s ‘cowardly’ veto of relief bill

Ida survivors slam Murphy’s ‘cowardly’ veto of relief bill / NJ Spotlight / September 13, 2024

By Brenda Flanagan

Advocates and struggling survivors of Hurricane Ida’s extreme floods — many falling behind on mortgage payments for homes still damaged by the storm — vented their frustration after Gov. Phil Murphy conditionally vetoed a relief bill that would have offered them some breathing room; a single year of forbearance on mortgages.

Murphy said he’s worried the relief program would be abused.

“We’re basically saying people who are making it month to month on their bills get no assistance because we’re worried someone’s gonna abuse the system,” said Jody Stewart, an advocate with the New Jersey Organizing Project. Stewart claims the governor didn’t hesitate to sign a similar relief bill for Hurricane Sandy victims. Ida stormed through New Jersey three years ago and this forbearance bill unanimously passed the Legislature in June. But Murphy conditionally vetoed it on the last possible day.

“You’re cutting people out, and it’s heartbreaking. This was their lifeline. This is what they’ve been waiting on and to have the rug pulled out? And everyone’s pointing their finger at the governor. And truthfully, so am I,” Stewart said. “I’m so angry!”

The bill as written does require applicants to prove they need mortgage relief, Stewart said. Many Ida survivors are deep under water financially and this was their last hope.

“I am at risk of losing my house. I am at risk. I’m already strapped financially. I’m already struggling financially. This was just a little glimmer and now that feels like it’s gone. It is gone,” says survivor Leanna Jones.

In his conditional veto message, Murphy said the bill “…is not appropriately tailored to ensure that the relief it provides focuses on those who continue to have difficulty paying their mortgage due to Ida-related damage to their homes, and does not contain adequate oversight measures or safeguards to prevent abuse and to ensure compliance with the law.”

Murphy said he wants more oversight, participation by applicants in certain recovery program and creation of a new state vetting process via a new online portal. It would take months to set up.

But Stewart says, most Ida survivors she represents won’t qualify under these new rules. Ida survivor Debby Josephs says, that especially applies to people in Manville’s flood-prone Lost Valley neighborhood.

“I said the governor knows that there’s no one that’s gonna qualify because they’ve already turned us all down,” Josephs explained. She’s got receipts to show she paid out of pocket to partially repair her home in Manville. But people in her ravaged Lost Valley neighborhood got turned down for the relief programs the governor’s conditional veto requires, after the state Department of Environmental Protection suddenly declared it would only consider Blue Acres home buyouts there. Josephs feels misled.

State Sen. Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) sponsored the Ida bill and said he’s “…greatly disappointed and frankly surprised by the new concerns outlined in the conditional veto.”

Assembly sponsor Yvonne Lopez (D-Middlesex) said the conditional veto “…will only serve to diminish the population of eligible recipients and add layers of bureaucracy to the assistance process.”

Republican Sen. Doug Steinhardt (R-Somerset) said, “As written, the bill would have given instant relief to those who have been ignored, overlooked, and unassisted for three long years since Hurricane Ida, without all the bureaucratic red tape that the Governor’s recommendations would require.”

“This was my American dream,” Josephs said. “You’re losing your American dream. Having to start over — completely over — in this economy, most people won’t be able to, most people will not be able to,” Josephs said. She will now fall even further behind on mortgage payments.

Singleton said he would be meeting with advocates and survivors to figure out a way forward and will “consider all options.”