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WHEREAS, wealth is inextricably intertwined with health and access to health care, but the percentage of white New Jerseyans with health insurance outpaces the percentage of Black and Hispanic New Jerseyans with health insurance, and the lack of health insurance contributes directly to an increased likelihood of incurring medical debt and insurmountable expenses related to health care, creating another barrier to building wealth; and
WHEREAS, the Coronavirus disease 2019 (“COVID-19”) pandemic exposed and exacerbated both the wealth and health gaps based on race and ethnicity, and for that reason earlier this year I signed Assembly Bill No. 4004 (Fifth Reprint), creating the COVID-19 Pandemic Task Force on Racial and Health Disparities, which will, among other things, study how and why the COVID-19 pandemic “has disproportionately affected the State’s minority and vulnerable communities, and the short-term and long-term consequences of the pandemic on these communities,” as well as make recommendations for reducing and eliminating disparities “among the various racial and ethnic populations within the State’s minority and vulnerable communities with respect to health status, access to high-quality health care, and utilization of health care services”; and
WHEREAS, despite the State’s complex history and the many causes of wealth gaps in New Jersey, there have always been activists, advocates, community leaders, faith leaders, scholars, students, and professionals, as well as elected officials at the State and local level, who have worked tirelessly to lay bare and counteract all of the contributors to the wealth gaps that have been in place for far too long; and
WHEREAS, our State will only be stronger when we work toward ensuring equity and justice in our economy; and
