Newsroom

NJSPL Research Affiliate Will Irving was interviewed in an NJ Spotlight News segment discussing the current state of the job market and the economy at large in New Jersey.

Public Administration NJ Lawmakers Propose Tax Relief and Small Business Preservation for Local Diners – Earlier this month New Jersey lawmakers introduced bill S4954/A6283, which would extend new tax breaks to diners in the Garden State with the hopes of countering post-pandemic slowdowns and inflation. The legislation would allow qualifying diners that have been operating […]

Digital/Technology NJ Department of Labor Receives 2025 SEED Award for AI Solutions to Improve Benefits Programs – On December 2nd, the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) received the 2025 SEED Award from U.S. Digital Response. The NJDOL is one of 10 recipients as part of the “2025 Digital Service Champions Awards.” […]

Health NJ Assembly Committee Advances Psilocybin Therapy Bill – On Nov. 24, 2025, the Assembly Health Committee advanced a bill that would create a tightly controlled system for supervised psilocybin therapy in New Jersey. Adults 21+ could access psilocybin (the psychedelic compound in some mushrooms) only with a medical referral and only at licensed service […]

Public Administration Gov. Murphy Announces $150 Million in Municipal Aid Grants for Fiscal Year 2026 – On November 17, Governor Phil Murphy announced that the state is allocating $150 million in Municipal Aid grants for FY 2026 to support local infrastructure improvements (including roads, bridges, safety, quality-of-life) across 537 municipalities. There were 591 applications from […]

Rutgers Today published an article featuring the Rutgers Alumni event held at the New Jersey League of Municipalities, of which the New Jersey State Policy Lab was a co-sponsor.

The New Jersey State Policy Lab (NJSPL) recently hosted the event, “Navigating Policy-focused Career Pathways,” on October 21st at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. The gathering brought together current students and recent alumni who had previously been affiliated with the NJSPL and are now pursuing careers in public policy. Alumni served on […]

Public Administration High Voter Turnout Sets Record in New Jersey – Nearly 3.6 million New Jerseyans cast ballots in last week’s Nov. 4 election—representing approximately 54% of registered voters—the highest turnout for a non-presidential election in the state since at least 1998. Of the total, around 114,766 mail-in ballots and 58,998 provisional ballots remain uncounted. Some […]

The New Jersey State Policy Lab is supporting another round of innovative research projects addressing policy challenges impacting New Jersey. In response to our recent call, we received more than three dozen proposals from a strong pool of applicants. We are delighted to share that we have selected the following principal investigators to receive seed […]

Public Administration New Jerseyans Head to the Polls for 2025 Gubernatorial Election – Today, November 4, is Election Day, which means New Jerseyans up and down the coast will have the opportunity to cast their ballots for the next Garden State Governor, Mikie Sherrill (D) or Jack Ciattarelli (R). Approximately 1.36 million voters have already […]

Public Administration Governor Murphy Signs and Conditionally Vetoes Key Legislation – On October 20, Phil Murphy signed four bills into law and issued conditional vetoes on seven others. Among the laws signed: revisions to the Athletic Training Licensure Act; new requirements for public-body contractors to submit payroll records; the enactment of a Travel Insurance Act; […]

Professor Emeritus Drew Gitomer (Rutgers Graduate School of Education) and Associate Professor Rachel Garver (Montclair State University) spoke at the New Jersey State House on Friday, October 24th discussing their recent report which examined how teacher preparation programs have adapted after the state removed the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA) as a requirement for teacher […]