Rebuilding New Jersey after COVID-19: Advancing a Healthy, Resilient, Sustainable and Fair Garden State

This virtual convening brought together leaders from across a breadth of sectors to discuss opportunities for restarting New Jersey’s economy, post COVID-19, in ways that intersect health equity and social well-being with addressing climate change, building inclusive and vibrant communities, and expanding opportunities for civic engagement. These discussions will inform efforts of the Governor’s Restart and Recovery Commission by focusing on ways that COVID recovery efforts can advance other shared public policy goals by:

• Promoting health equity and social well-being, and ensuring adequate resources to support the state’s public health infrastructure, enabling it to prevent, protect against, quickly respond to, and recover from health emergencies;

• Building a state budget that provides direct support to households and businesses hit hardest by COVID-19 in ways that create living wage jobs and that support a sustainable future for New Jersey;

• Ensuring that rebuilding and COVID-19 recovery investments address changing climate conditions;

• Supporting investments in community assets that enhance cultural, historic, and natural resources, as well as those that promote social cohesion; and

• Honoring democratic principles.