Extended federal unemployment benefits are set to expire for thousands of New Jersey residents this week, according to Gov. Phil Murphy. And it does not look like Congress or the Biden administration are planning on another extension.

The governor said that the state cannot afford to extend the benefits on its own, which could cost billions of dollars every month.

“We’re talking about more than $1 billion per month to maintain this benefit at its current level,” Murphy said Monday at his COVID-19 briefing.

The benefits will end on Sept. 4.

“The federal benefit has helped families and kept a stalled economy from falling into an economic collapse. And today we have, at long last, thank God, have a strong recovery underway,” Murphy said.

The governor said that he won’t use stimulus money to keep the payments flowing. He cited costs that could quickly burn through the money that he believes is better used on other priorities like small businesses.

“That’s over a billion dollars a month. We don’t want to crowd out investments that we know will also have long-term impact on infrastructure, education, health care, etc.,” Murphy said.

The Department of Labor will work to transition those no longer eligible for unemployment to programs that will help with a host of household and family expenses.

“We recognize the impact this will have on some families facing unemployment issues. To support New Jerseyans living through the economic effects of the pandemic, we have invested in rent assistance, food assistance, child care assistance, health care affordability assistance and other support programs,” the governor said.

Murphy insists that he makes pandemic decisions like mask and vaccine mandates without thinking of the political considerations.

“I beg folks to see inside my heart and mind. Politics just doesn’t play a role in the decisions we make. It just does not,” he said.

State Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli says that the state has a back-to-school PPE stockpile of 6 million KN95 masks, along with 500,000 child-size masks.