The positions of Senate president, Senate majority leader and Senate and Assembly minority leader each change hands for the first time in 10 years or more.
A scheduled vote to extend many of Gov. Phil Murphy's pandemic orders was canceled after he said he'll continue a school mask mandate that's not in the bill.
State Sen. Mike Testa, R-Cumberland, said “clearly, the timing is intended to further tighten gun restrictions on law-abiding residents as quickly as possible, giving opponents little to no time to be heard."
Democratic lawmakers are adjusting to the changes voters imposed on the legislative roster and political mood, acknowledging the importance of focusing on taxes as a policy and message in the upcoming legislative session.
A bill introduced and sponsored by State Senator Steve Oroho (R) that will extend the hours certain groups of teenagers can work in a given week has been signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy.
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.
State revenues are now expected to surge to all-time highs, far exceeding any previous forecasts, staking the state government to an unprecedented surplus topping $10 billion to close out the current fiscal year this month.
Republicans launched an online petition to persuade Gov. Phil Murphy to end his mandate requiring children under 12 to wear masks at school and summer camps.
The Murphy administration forecasts that it will end the current fiscal year with a combined surplus of $6.34 billion, but its 2022 spending plan uses much of that to offset spending.