BLOOMFIELD, N.J. (Aug. 24, 2017) -- Troy Knight-Napper, Green Party candidate for State Senate in Legislative District 28 – which encompasses Bloomfield, Glen Ridge, Irvington, Nutley, and portions of Newark – issued the following statement today regarding health care reform:

Last week, the incumbent Legislative District 28 Senator issued a statement rightly congratulating Merck CEO Kenneth C. Frazier for the laudable decision to resign from one of President Donald J. Trump’s advisory councils as an act of protest against the President’s reprehensible failure to properly condemn racism and white supremacy.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2017

Green Party of New Jersey
www.gpnj.org

Contact:
Aaron Hyndman
[email protected]
908-627-2306

The Senator, in his statement, commented that Mr. Frazier’s actions demonstrate how “he is still in touch with where he came from.” This, unfortunately, is where the opinions of the Senator and myself begin to diverge. Mr. Frazier is a CEO responsible for oversight of a pharmaceutical corporation with a well-documented history of price gouging and other assorted violations against the public good and the healthcare marketplace. The notion that these actions are in any way “in touch” with the struggles of everyday New Jerseyans demonstrates a remarkable lack of perspective on the part of the Senator.

The sad reality of our healthcare system is that the working class people of the 28th Legislative District, and New Jersey as a whole, are suffering at the hands of corporations in the healthcare industry. Companies such as Merck have exploited the system for profit, to the detriment of the health and financial well-being of New Jerseyans, for far too long.

As a newly-elected Senator, I pledge to pursue a legislative agenda of progressive health care reform for which the incumbent Senator has failed to advance any meaningful action during his many years in the legislature. I will initiate legislation toward a health care system which would create a new state-funded public option that would ensure both universal coverage and improved health outcomes for all New Jerseyans.

The time has come for new voices and new choices for the people of the 28th Legislative District. I look forward to unveiling the details of my agenda for health care reform over the next few weeks, and I will bring the message of change, along with a legislative vision that the residents of this district and the entire state are ready to embrace.

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