Essay on Public Policy: Crafting Decisions to Serve the Common Good

Introduction

Public policy is the step by which societies formulates and enforce decisions about what should be accepted and what should not be accepted. Decisions of the public policy usually bind members of a group or community, whether they agree or disagree on the policy. The public policy decision yields one shared course of a problem even in situations where there are disagreements about the policy. Before a public policy is formulated, an agreement first has to be met by the groups and communities being affected by the policy. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the formulation of public policies due to its immense impact on people. New Jersey State formulated the public policy on Mortgage Payment Relief for people facing harsh economic hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic (Rapisardi and Beiswenger, 2020). The policy was made to lessen the harsh financial impact that had been caused by COVID-19 on New Jersey residents who are struggling in the payment of mortgage and bills.

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This paper outlines the review and analysis of the written foundation for the Mortgage Payment Relief policy by explaining the purpose of the policy and its intended impacts. It also analyses how the policy was implemented, populations affected by the implementation, and people responsible for the implementation of the policy.

Furthermore, it analyses the alternative approaches to the policy that should have or could have been put into consideration. Finally, the paper outlines the known to date effects of the policy, the negative aspects of implementing the policy, and the lessons that have been brought and learned from the policy.

Review and Analysis of the Public Policy

Mortgage Payment Relief, Financial Protection for New Jerseyans Facing Economic Hardship as a result of COVID-19. Governor Murphy formulated this policy to ensure the protection of the New Jerseyans who are affected by the effects of COVID-19. His initiative was aimed at providing financial protection and mortgage forbearance to his people (Wheelan, 2011). The objective of this policy was to make sure that the homes of the vulnerable community of New Jerseyans are not lost as a result of this public health crisis. As a result of this policy, all the financial institutions will not report any late payments to enable borrowers to take advantage of this relief.

Also, financial institutions will ensure that a refund is done to those customers with mortgage-related fees. The most responsible bodies that are aimed at promoting this initiative include the following financial institutions that have already endorsed the initiative and who are also encouraging its members to implement these policies.

Some of the financial institutions that are responsible for implementing this initiative are; Bank of America, Wells Fargo, U.S Bank, JPMorgan, and Citi groups. Other interesting implementors include the credit unions, state, over 40 federal chartered banks. The implementation of these issues will not benefit a few populations, especially the upper class, who are capable of sustaining themselves during this COVID-19 crisis because to will not access these benefits of the policy. Thus a political debate arises overpower and equality of the policy.

Therefore, this policy is essential in ensuring decision that is informed are made, issues are resolved effectively, and these outcomes will enable us to have peaceful, safe, and healthy lives during this COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative was essential because an additional $13 million was availed to the Department of Community Affairs to ensure a renewal of the housing program.

Public policy implementation

After a policy has been formulated, the next step involves the implementation of the policy. Public policy implementation is the exercising of a public policy decision in an area to a given population as directed by the laws, courts, and administrators. The public policy Mortgage Payment Relief in the State of New Jersey was implemented by the governor of the State, Governor Murphy, on 28th March 2020. This was after the emergence of financial impact in the State due to the COVID-19 pandemic-the residents of the State who were struggling in the payment of mortgage and bills.

For the implementation of public policy, two paradigms are used, top-down and bottom-up paradigms. For bottom-up paradigms to be initiated, there is the singling out of a list of people who will be offering services to all the areas affected by the policy by interviewing them on the actions, schemes, and contacts. For the public policy, Mortgage Payment Relief in the State of New Jersey, Governor Murphy US Bank, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and other several federal banks.

For the bottom-up paradigm, the implementation of the public policy is not separated from the formulation of the public administration. Administrators' and politicians' roles in the areas of implementation of the policy are considered to be critical (Wheelan, 2011). This is because the formulation and implementation of public policies highly depend on them. The state administrator, Governor Murphy, implemented the public policy Mortgage Payment Relief in the State of New Jersey. He played a significant role in helping the residents of the whole State who were facing significant financial problems as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Alternative Approaches to the policy

It is essential to formulate alternatives approaches to an initiated policy. For this case, voluntary cooperation and public regulations is also an alternative. These alternatives have consequences ant, that is what influences the final decision. Voluntary participation by the subject or the relevant persons to whom the policy might concern is very crucial. To be able to manage the situation of COVID-19 effectively, the citizens should be willing to engage in activities that will promote and enhance their survival at this crisis.

It is imperative because it will promote unitary cooperation in the community since it will enable effective implementation of guidelines and teamwork in ensuring the pandemic is well dealt with (Stone, 1997). The regulatory rules imposed by the government is significant in ensuring that citizens work under a system of law and order at this crisis. Since the government has authority over incentives, it can formulate new taxation rates during this time of COVID-19 crisis by making the rates more desirable to every population class.

Also, it can increase social security by investing in authorizing property rights over its citizens and lowering the cost of transactions in the economy to help the poor people during the crisis. However, these alternatives have disadvantages that occur because of the society acknowledges this measure; it will either bring more people into following the majority or discourage them. Since more regulations are designed by a single party and employed by others, this transition becomes treacherous.

Effects of public policy

Most of the New Jersey residents are homeowners, and mortgage bills have been one of their biggest financial problems. Forgiving of the mortgage debt has led to the tremendous financial burden which must be accepted by the taxpayers and lenders (Bardach and Patashnik, 2019). Federal CARES act aims to bring a balance between the benefits being obtained from the household mortgage relief and their cost in the allowance of forbearance on government mortgages and federal housing. This measure is valuable because it limits the expensive foreclosures in a critical time and enables the provision of payment relief for some of the households. Borrowers greatly benefit from the Mortgage Payment Relief policy. They can stay in their homes and reduce their monthly expenditures. After the lockdown imposed by the government has ended, they will be able to resume spending because, at that period of time, consumer spending will be increased.

Investors of the mortgages with mortgages bonds that are highly packaged and sold will be negatively affected by the Mortgage Payment Relief policy. This is because the investors invested highly in the mortgage bonds with expectations of high repayments. In such cases, the limitation of the public policy to the agreement part of payments is of great importance.

When mortgages are grouped in patterns, any outcome on the flow of cash will subdivide to interest cash, which will be used in the repayment of principal cash and interest. Principal cash consists of unscheduled and scheduled repayments of principal. For public policy, post payments may result in some wins for investors. The temporary lowering of mortgage payments by the mortgage owners may boost the thin survival of the economy. This is because it is serving the great interest of investors and taxpayers.

Lessons Learned

From the above study, we can be able to appreciate the importance of collective decision making in fighting an any given crisis. It is also noted that in order to ensure good policy formulation, active institutions should be endorsed, and that is should not be government-centered always. There is also a need to develop imperfect alternatives that do not necessarily have accurate information on their assumed results. Also, the lessons learned are the need to understand the rationale of the people by comprehending their behaviors. Efficiency is also a better way to ensure productive and better use of resources for the benefit of society. Finally, carrying out an analysis of the policy is an essential tool in evaluating the effectiveness of the policy over time.

Conclusion

The world is entangled in many events that may undermine the fate and livelihood of the people. Adverse situations of crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic has become a challenge to many countries in the world. To deal with these situations, it is better to analyze the situation and initiate creative and achievable policies like public policy. This policy is actually among the best approach towards securing a better livelihood to the people during hardship. This policy has transformed the politics rules to effective rational analysis to ensuring order and truth in promoting better social welfare at all times. The policymakers are vital in establishing achievable goals through incrementalism and also come up with a few alternatives approaches to the policy.

References

Bardach, E., & Patashnik, E. M. (2019). A practical guide for policy analysis: The eightfold path to more effective problem-solving. CQ Press.

Rapisardi, J. J., & Beiswenger, J. T. The 2020 Economic Crisis.

Stone, D. A. (1997). Policy paradox.

Wheelan, C. J. (2011). Introduction to public policy. WW Norton & Company.