The controversy over sex education standards for New Jersey public schools seeped into Thursday’s budget hearing, where a Republican state senator pressed the Department of Education to more thoroughly scrub its website for links to potentially age-inappropriate lessons.
Officials announced Thursday they will spend more than $15M in state and federal funds to address rising gun violence, including $8.2M for community groups and the rest for high-tech police technology.
Sen. Michael Testa said that in addition to the federal aid, the state has to decide how to spend $4.3B from COVID emergency borrowing that wasn’t truly necessary and can’t be repaid early because of the way the debt was structured.
A Republican state lawmaker who voted against an early release process for prisoners during the pandemic has said that the governor has “blood on his hands again,” after one of the inmates released in the fall was charged with murder.
"I just think this entire pandemic, especially in New Jersey, we have felt the heavy weight of an oppressive government. We have been ruled by executive order for over a year at this point in time," State Senator Mike Testa said.
Resolution passes that strongly condemns president for events on Jan. 6, calls for him to be removed or impeached if he won't resign from office early.
As many as 50 inmates and 20 correctional officers and staff in Cumberland County tested positive. Administrators say protocol enforcement is a "challenge" outside the jail.