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 537 municipalities requesting a total of $363 million; every borough/town that applied received some funding. The grant program is run by the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJ DOT) Division of Local Aid & Economic Development. Of the $150, approximately $64.3 million will be allocated to 179 municipalities that have adopted “Complete Streets” policies, $22.4 million will be awarded to 52 communities where the infrastructure project(s) meet equity criteria (benefiting low-income or minority populations, and approximately $10 million will be allocated for municipalities that qualify under “Urban Aid” as defined by state law.\
NJDOL Announces $3 Million Grant Fundings for Benefits and Protections for NJ Workers – On November 12, the New Jersey Department of Labor (NJDOL) announced $3 million in funding for its fifth round of the Cultivating Access, Rights, and Equity (CARE) grant program, first launched in March 2022. The program is intended to increase equitable access to labor rights and benefits for all New Jersey workers, and funds are available for organizations facilitating outreach, education, and technical assistance related to paid family and medical leave, work rights, unemployment insurance, and the Domestic Workers’ Bill of Rights. The CARE grant program accepts applications from public and private nonprofit organizations, faith-based organizations, and state-recognized tribal government partners that provide community-centered, culturally relevant, and in-language programming. The grant award sizes range between $50,000 and $200,000.
News Archive Available for Governor Murphy’s Press Announcements – An archive containing all of the press announcements released on behalf of the Office of the Governor is available on the state of New Jersey’s website. This is intended to strengthen public access to archived communications and help with transparency and tracking administration priorities.
Digital/Technology
State Senators Introduce New Amendments Restricting Lawsuits Under Data Privacy Law – Sen. Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen) has sponsored a bill seeking to amend Daniel’s Law, a state law which protects certain public officials’ personal information from disclosure. The proposed changes are in response to a tide of lawsuits that have arisen since the law was passed in 2023, largely filed by third-party companies on behalf of protected officials alleging data brokers have not complied with requests to scrub personal information from their websites. The legislation would remove public officials’ ability to select an assignee to sue to enforce Daniel’s Law on their behalf and would give judges discretion to award damages in such cases. The bill would also limit damages to cases where data companies accused of disclosing officials’ personal information showed negligence or intention to violate the law and would extend the deadline for data companies to comply with removal requests from 10 business days to 45 business days.
Transportation
NJ Transit Will Take Over Bayonne Bus Route in December – On November 18, CBS News reported that NJ Transit will be replacing the bus route in Bayonne that had been serviced by the Broadway Bus Company, which announced it would be ceasing operations on November 30. The change to NJ Transit will take place on December 1, at which point the No. 12 Broadway Route will service the route, although it will not have all the same stops as the Broadway Bus Company’s route. NJ Transit indicated that the full schedule and route for the Bayonne area will be announced in the near future. This is at least the sixth time since 2023 that NJ Transit has taken over bus routes previously operated by private carriers.
Environment
Rutgers Report Warns of Sea-Level Rise, Coastal Flooding Risk in New Jersey – On November 21, WHYY published an article discussing the findings that came from a recent report published by the New Jersey Climate Change Resource Center at Rutgers University which indicates that the Garden State is likely to see between 2.2 and 3.8 feet of sea-level rise by 2100 if the current level of global carbon emissions continue, but seas could rise by as much as 4.5 feet if ice-sheet melt accelerates. The report, commissioned by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, invited input from 144 scientists and set out to identify, evaluate, and summarize the most recent science and data related to sea-level rise and changing coastal storms.