When Gov. Phil Murphy introduced his final state budget earlier this year, he requested a 40-cent monthly fee on phones that would keep people in a mental health crisis out of crowded hospital emergency rooms and without potentially dangerous interactions with police.
Leaders in the state Legislature said no. Facing an election year for a new governor and the 80 members of the state Assembly, they cut it from the budget that Murphy signed into law in June, along with an array of tax increases, at a time when the state’s cost of living is a major concern for voters.