Public AdministrationMurphy Announces Draft Budget for Upcoming Fiscal Year - On Feb. 27, Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled a draft of a $55.9 billion budget for the 2025 fiscal year. The proposal now faces review by the full state legislature, which must approve a budget by the start date of the fiscal year, July 1, 2024. Here [...]
EconomicsNetflix Wins Approval to Move Forward with Monmouth County Studio Development - The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority board voted unanimously on Feb. 21 to approve a zoning amendment to allow Netflix to develop a $903 million production complex in northern NJ. Now, the Authority’s staff must review the site plans before the Eatontown and Oceanport [...]
Education Bill Advances to Raise Property Tax Hikes to Address School Underfunding - On Feb. 15, the Senate Education Committee passed S2434, which would allow school districts experiencing cuts in state aid to increase property taxes by greater than the state’s cap of 2%. Aid cuts result from legislation passed in 2018, codified as P.L.2018, c.67 [...]
Health Senate Law and Public Safety Committee Advances Legislation - On Feb. 8, the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee advanced legislation to track untested rape kits and curb gun trafficking. S715 would create an online system for victims, law enforcement, and health facilities to track rape kits from collection to results. The legislation follows a March [...]
Education Proposed Legislation Would Establish Task Force to Reexamine Teacher Evaluations - An effort to shift the process to evaluate public school teachers and principals failed to pass in the lame duck session. While some – including the largest teachers’ union in the state, the NJ Education Association – supported an effort to increase the time [...]
Housing New Session Sees Movement on Affordable Housing Policy - After an unsuccessful attempt to push through affordable housing reform in the 2022-2023 lame duck session, legislators have introduced an eight-bill package to meet the need for over 200,000 additional units of affordable housing in the state. All eight bills were approved by the Senate [...]
Public Administration Murphy Signs Bill on Liquor Licensing and Brewery Activity - On Jan. 16, Gov. Murphy signed S4265, a liquor license reform bill which also repeals restrictions on brewery activity strongly opposed by the industry. NJ’s liquor licensing laws cap the number of licenses issued in a municipality at 1 for every 3,000 residents, making [...]
Public Administration Lame Duck Session Ends Without Action on Key Issues - The 2022-2023 legislative session concluded with a flurry of activity in the legislature and Gov. Murphy’s office, but several key issues remain on the docket for the next session, including a ban on smoking in casinos, expansion of affordable housing, liquor license reform, expanded [...]
Public Administration Lawmakers Fast-Track Pay Raises for Public Officials and Employees - Democrat lawmakers are fast-tracking a bill which would raise salaries for public officials and employees in all three branches of government. Legislators introduced S4266 and A5910 on Jan. 3, and the bills passed committees in both houses on Jan. 4 with Democrat support. The [...]
Public Administration New State Laws Go into Effect Jan. 1, 2024 - Various new laws signed by Gov. Murphy take effect Jan. 1: The temporary corporate business tax surcharge will expire, which will result in the loss of $300 million in revenue this fiscal year and up to $1 billion the following. Twenty-six thousand more [...]
