New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy talks about his plan for the Garden State

New Jersey's new governor, Democrat Phil Murphy, is set on getting back to business in the garden state following 8 years of Republican rule under Chris Christie.

His answer is a 37 billion dollar budget proposal, which he presented to the legislature on Tuesday.

The governor says it's time to start investing in the middle class again.

"So you see a big dose of investment in public education, higher education, infrastructure, a big focus on values and it's sort of resetting the state after 8 years where the middle class was either ignored or ravaged," said Murphy.

Murphy said he wants the big corporations and the wealthiest New Jerseyans to pay their fair share.

By doing so, he believes New Jersey will become the Good Value for the Money State-- something that will become attractive to mega-companies like Amazon.

"They want to know if you are investing in your airport, in your roads, bridges, tunnels, rails and your bus system. Are you investing in higher education and public education so they can get into the workforce?" he said.

Governor Murphy also addressed another hot-button issue in the garden state-- legalizing recreational marijuana.

The main reason to do it is social justice. We have the widest white-non-white gap of persons incarcerated in America. An African American kid in particular is 3 times more likely to get in jail for smoking pot than a white kid, even though usage across races is broadly similar," he said.

Murphy says the decriminalization of marijuana won't automatically solve problems but there are economic benefits once it's regulated.

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