NJ Joins 14 States To Protect Public Health As Governors Reject Federal Misinformation

By Rebecca Wechter

NJ State House News Service 

No longer confident in federal health policy, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and 14 of his Democratic peers have joined to elevate science-backed data and guidance for almost one-third of the U.S. population. 

In addition to New Jersey, the nonpartisan Governors Public Health Alliance includes California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island and Washington, plus the territory of Guam. 

The governors are aggrieved by what they call Republican President Donald Trump’s ill-informed and even dangerous positions that threaten to set back decades of public health advances. 

In September, the administration made unfounded claims about Tylenol and autism. Trump’s allies also have suggested an unproven link between violence and SSRIs, a drug class prescribed to more than one in 10 American adults to treat depression and anxiety.

“New Jersey’s approach to public health will always be grounded in collaboration and science,” Murphy said in a joint announcement with his colleagues. “I am proud to formalize these partnerships as we navigate uncertain times and build trust in evidence-based practices.” 

‘Science-based, transparent’

On Nov. 25, the alliance urged the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s immunization practices advisory committee “to maintain science-based, transparent, and consistent childhood immunization recommendations that protect families and support states’ ability to implement effective vaccination programs,” it said in a news release. In public comment released ahead of the committee’s December meeting, the governors listed concerns about changes to the hepatitis B immunization schedule, which “could have significant downstream effects” for childhood vaccination programs.

Though the 15 group’s governors are Democrats, the organization is nonpartisan. Their health initiative is supported by the nonprofit Governors Action Alliance, which furthers states’ interests on reproductive choice, the judiciary, voting and other matters that it says are crucial to democracy. Advising the 15 governors on health issues are experts including Mandy Cohen, a physician and former director of the CDC, a frequent Trump target during the pandemic and beyond. 

“Historically, states have relied on the CDC for this type of information,” said Linda Schwimmer, of the nonprofit New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. “With recent challenges and changes at the CDC and in federal public health guidance, governors and state health commissioners recognized the need for science-based recommendations that extend beyond individual state boundaries.”

In June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. replaced the nation’s 17 independent vaccine advisers with eight new appointees, some of whom are anti-vaccine activists.  That followed the administration’s doubt, rooted in Trump’s first term, on the efficacy of vaccination against the coronavirus that killed 1.2 million Americans. That skepticism runs counter to scientific research and has led to confusion for millions of people who strictly followed CDC recommendations to protect themselves and others.

“The COVID-19 pandemic revealed how fragmented data systems and uneven resources left states, including New Jersey, struggling to respond quickly and equitably,” said Kelli Parker, of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a nonpartisan think tank. “Multistate collaborations have real potential to improve data sharing, strengthen preparedness and ensure public health decisions are guided by science rather than politics.”

Letter to Kennedy

In a letter to Kennedy, the nonprofit National Health Council, which lobbies for 160 million people with chronic disease and disabilities, said the vaccine advisers’ dismissal was “undermining public confidence and destabilizing a process that patients and caregivers … rely on for protection against infectious diseases.” 

Kennedy, who has no medical training, is the most divisive health chief in the nation’s history.

In March, Peter Marks, a physician who was the Food and Drug Administration’s top vaccine expert, left the job over Kennedy’s meddling.  “It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies,” Marks wrote in his resignation letter.

Following Marks’ resignation, the FDA announced it would no longer approve COVID-19 vaccines except for those who are over 65 or at high risk. 

In July, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups sued Kennedy after  a social media post on X.com in which he said he “couldn’t be more pleased to announce that, as of today, the COVID vaccine for healthy children and healthy pregnant women has been removed from the CDC recommended immunization schedule.”  

Kennedy’s actions “undermine trust in vaccines and reduce the rate of vaccinations in this country,” according to the complaint, via a “clear pattern of hostility toward established scientific processes, a disregard for expert guidance, an affinity for placing persons who align with his anti-vaccination views in positions of authority at HHS and a reliance on bias and pretext to further his apparent agenda.”

‘You’re on your own’

Governors in the alliance say the need to collaborate is urgent. 

• “At a time when the federal government is telling the states, ‘You’re on your own,’ governors are banding together,” Maryland Governor Wes Moore said.

• “I am proud to be a part of this effort, giving governors and our public health teams new tools to coordinate and deliver clear, consistent, science-based guidance to the public at a time when we are facing unprecedented public health challenges,” said Hawaii Governor Josh Green, who is also a physician.

• “While Donald Trump and RFK Jr. turn their backs on public health, governors are stepping up to make sure our residents have the health care they need and deserve,” Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey said.

• “From undermining vaccine access and abortion rights to slashing billions in Medicaid funding from those in need, the federal government is wreaking havoc on public health and the institutions we rely on,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul said. 

Connecticut Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani, a physician, said the alliance is working quickly to strengthen public health protections, like preserving access to COVID-19 vaccines, and to fill the scientific research void.

“If the federal government is not going to be investing in the same way in spaces that we’ve traditionally leaned on the federal government to give us information – and have eyes and ears on things that can protect the public at large –  then it’s incumbent on the states to try to find ways to do that,” Juthani said. 

The Governors Action Alliance, the umbrella organization supporting the Governors Public Health Alliance, is intentionally bipartisan, with an advisory board that includes an even number of Republican and Democratic former governors and senior federal officials. Although the health alliance member governors are all Democrats, the group says it welcomes any colleagues interested in ensuring fact-based health care. 

Parker, of New Jersey Policy Perspective, said the elevation of facts is a goal, but more is at stake.

“The real test will be whether these partnerships result in lasting improvements in access, transparency and equity — especially for residents who have historically faced barriers to care and information,” Parker said.