Planned Parenthood will get funding, Murphy promises, after it was denied money for years

Gov. Phil Murphy said he plans to sign a bill Wednesday to restore funding to Planned Parenthood that had been cut by Republican Chris Christie in each of his eight years as governor.

The bill signing will be Murphy's first since taking office last month. It not only will mark his first legislative achievement since taking office, but also will signify the end of years of partisan debate in Trenton over women's and family health funding.

"We have eight years of neglect to reverse," Murphy, a Democrat, said during a conference call with Planned Parenthood supporters Monday morning.

Murphy made restoring the cuts one of his top campaign promises. And with the Democratic-led Legislature, it is among the easiest for him to fulfill.

Democrats had passed the bill every year under Christie, only to see it vetoed each time. Christie had argued that the funding was fiscally irresponsible during difficult budget times, and he also used the veto to bolster his conservative credentials while running for president.

Murphy said Monday that the vetoes were "about politics, not policy." He and other supporters contend that the lack of funding during the Christie years helped lead to clinic closures and rising rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

Under the bill, S-120, the $7.45 million would go to the state Department of Health for family planning services. Neither Murphy nor the bill specifies exactly how that money will be used, but the bill says the money "may not be used for abortion procedures."

Some lawmakers want more answers about how the money will be used. During hearings on the bill earlier this month, Republican Assemblywomen Nancy Munoz and Holly Schepisi pressed Planned Parenthood leadership for details on how the money would be spent and how much the organization pays its executives. The organization declined to say.

Schepisi, of River Vale, said she was a supporter of the organization but that its "lack of transparency" swayed her to change her vote against the appropriation.

Related: State Senate approves $7.45 million for family planning clinics

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“We continue to seek in good faith simple financial information that they refuse to give to us as members of the Legislature,” Schepisi said on the Assembly floor last week.

Murphy said outgoing Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards plans to attend Wednesday's bill signing, to be held at the Trenton War Memorial. He said he will also use the ceremony to announce another plan to “promote smart family planning policy in New Jersey."