Posted on: May 26, 2023
On Thursday, League staff worked the Statehouse and spoke with Assembly representatives before they went into caucus, urging them to support the full restoration of Energy Tax Receipts. Our thanks to East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov, who joined us and sp...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: May 19, 2023
Last week, over the League’s objection, A-5175 was favorably reported from the Assembly State and Local Government Committee and second referenced to the Assembly Appropriations Committee where it was held on Thursday.
While the League supports t...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: May 19, 2023
On Monday, the Senate Environment and Energy Committee advanced S-861, legislation that would allow municipalities to conduct an annual event for the open burning of Christmas trees.
Municipalities throughout the state have hosted community even...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: May 19, 2023
On Thursday, the Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism and Historic Preservation Committee approved S-2603. The bill seeks to clarify the ability of a public body to hold electronic meetings, and if doing so the appropriate notice requirements.&n...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: May 15, 2023
Governor Murphy conditionally vetoed legislation (S-3090/A-4498) that would permit police and fire employees to retire after 20 years of service, regardless of age, with a retirement benefit of 50% of final compensation. The League joined the New Jersey A...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: May 12, 2023
As part of his conditional veto of S-3110/A-4783, Governor Murphy has suggested the bill be amended to provide that a tenant whose landlord fails to provide the required notifications may terminate the lease without penalty any time afte...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: May 12, 2023
Governor Phil Murphy signed A-4836 and A-4184, cybersecurity bills into law this week.
A-4836 requires the State Office of Emergency Management to develop a plan to address internet outages resulting from cyber-attacks...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: May 5, 2023
Signed last month, P.L. 2023, c.33, requires any municipal water and wastewater utility or authority to enter into a vendor contract with the DCA to participate in the LIHWAP. LIHWAP is a federal program being administered by the DCA that provide...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: April 12, 2023
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has released two draft model ordinances related to the new conditions as part of the updated MS4 Tier A permit and will be accepting informal comments until May 12.
The firs...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: April 6, 2023
Governor Murphy has signed S-3333, which protects low-income households from having their water services disconnected due to unpaid bills. Water utility providers, including local authorities that have not signed up to participate in New Jerseys Low Incom...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: April 5, 2023
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy recently signed S-2866, establishing the Elections Transparency Act, into law. This new law aims to increase transparency in political campaign finance and imposes several new requirements on political candidates and commit...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 31, 2023
On Thursday, the full Assembly unanimously approved A-4498/S-3090, which provides police and fire a retirement allowance after 20 years of service, regardless of age. The bill is now before the Governor for his consideration.
The League joins the...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 31, 2023
Earlier this week, League President and Millstone Borough Mayor Raymond Heck; Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver; Lori Buckelew, NJLM Deputy Executive Director and Director of Government Affairs; and Paul Penna, NJLM Senior Legislative Analyst ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 24, 2023
Legislation (A-4998/S-3090) which provides police and fire personnel a retirement allowance after 20 years of service, regardless of age unanimously passed the Senate earlier this week and is before the full Assembly on March 30. The League joins the New ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 17, 2023
The Senate Budget committee was scheduled to consider a bill expanding prevailing wage requirements to PILOT projects, however, after outreach by the League and other stakeholders, sponsor Senator Gopal held S-2798 for additional review and possible amend...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 17, 2023
On Monday Assembly State and Local Government Committee will be considering A-4498, which provides police and fire personnel a retirement allowance after 20 years of service, regardless of age. The League joins the New Jersey Association of Counties in ou...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 16, 2023
This week, Governor Phil Murphy signed S-428 into law, amending the Right to Farm Act to specify that shellfish aquaculture activities are eligible for Right to Farm Act protections.
To be eligible for Right to Farm protections a shellfish commer...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 16, 2023
This week, Governor Murphy signed A-4524/S-2709, now P.L.2023, c.22, which permits the appointment of additional alternate deputy registrars. The League supports this legislation because is especially necessary in municipalities that host hospita...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 10, 2023
On March 9 Governor Murphy signed into law S-3595/A-5177, which changes certain primary election deadlines. The new law took effect immediately.
The deadlines changed include the following:
- Submission by the Municipal Clerk to ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 10, 2023
A bill meant to increase participation in the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP) was advanced through Senate committee this week. While the League initially opposed S-3333, amendments were made allowing us to now support the bill.
This ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 10, 2023
The League is asking our members to answer a short survey aimed at gathering information related to individual municipalities efforts to comply with the NJDEP’s new MS4 permit program requirements.
The New Jersey Department o...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 10, 2023
In February, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) announced it would be making available of $19 million in grants to help municipalities with the transition to new municipal stormwater permitting requirements. Additional details o...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 3, 2023
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has issued a Request for Comments, seeking input from interested parties regarding the conversion of existing streetlights to LED streetlights. Specifically, seeking information related to streetlight and p...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: March 3, 2023
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) will be hosting an executive information session for mayors to review the recently announced grant program to assist municipalities with the new stormwater permitting requirements.&...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: February 17, 2023
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has announced the availability of $19 million in grants to help municipalities with the transition to new municipal stormwater permitting requirements. Details on the grant program have not bee...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: February 10, 2023
Governor Phil Murphy has signed legislation authorizing commercial farms located on preserved farmland to hold special occasion events.
The new law expands authorization of special occasion events at commercial farms and wineries on preserved farmland. The...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: February 6, 2023
This week, League staff participated in a stakeholder meeting hosted by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) regarding the New Jersey Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permit fees. The meeting was to introduce the NJ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: February 6, 2023
The League continues to work with legislators and the administration to better understand the scope of municipal utility and local authority participation in the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), and to develop an agreeable solution ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: February 3, 2023
There continues to be no progress in efforts to mitigate the impact of the unprecedented health care contribution increase for State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) participants and employers. As reported last week, employers are beginning to leave the sys...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: February 3, 2023
The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Preservation Committee favorably reported S-3519, which makes various changes to primary election, vacancy, municipal referendum, and mail-in ballot mailing deadlines.
On Thursday, the ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: January 31, 2023
On Thursday, the Assembly voted to approve the recommendations of Governor Murphy’s conditional veto of S-757, after suspending their normal rules to include the bill onto the voting session board list.
The legislation looks to expand au...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: January 31, 2023
This week, the Senate Economic Growth Committee reviewed S-3333 for discussion only. While the League agrees that additional efforts are needed to ensure the success of the Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program (LIHWAP), we do not agree t...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: January 9, 2023
The New Year has come and the 379 municipalities participating in the State Health Benefits system, along with their employees, and ultimately their taxpayers, will still have to fund a 22% increase in health benefits costs, unless an immediate solution i...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: December 19, 2022
The League of Municipalities, the New Jersey Conference of Mayors, the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association, and New Jersey Association of Counties have been working with other interested stakeholders, including the major public sector union representative...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: December 19, 2022
On Thursday, the Assembly unanimously approved ACS A-573, with the Senate is scheduled to vote on the legislation on Monday. The bill would expand the use of third-party private construction inspections, allowing muni...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: December 19, 2022
On December 5, the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee heard testimony from New Jersey State Police Major Larry Williams, Deputy Attorney General Joseph Giordano, and Alexander Shalom, Senior Supervising Attorney and Director of Supreme Court Advocac...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: December 19, 2022
On Monday the Senate will be considering S-3380, which would exempt gasoline and diesel fuel costs; solid waste and recycling collection and disposal costs, as well as disposal of yard waste; cyber insurance costs; liability insurance costs; work...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: December 19, 2022
S-861 would permit municipalities to conduct an annual event for the open burning of holiday trees. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) would be tasked with establishing rules, regulations, and standards for the open burning of C...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: November 11, 2022
On Monday, along with Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Governor Murphy announced his support for proposed legislation to combat auto theft in New Jersey. Among the proposals highlighted:
- Establishing a persistent auto thef...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: October 31, 2022
On Thursday, the Assembly favorably reported S-2912 which permits police officers to be present at senior residential centers or schools that are used as polling places. The legislation also requires school districts to establish election day sec...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: September 27, 2022
The comment period for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s (NJDEP) Draft Tier A Permit renewal closed on September 20. The League in partnership with the New Jersey Conference of Mayors submitted comments focusing on...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: September 27, 2022
On Thursday, Governor Murphy issued a conditional veto of S-757. The legislation sought to expand authorization of special occasion events at commercial farms and wineries on preserved farmland. The League opposed S-757 as passed by the legislatu...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: September 27, 2022
On September 22 Governor Murphy signed into law S-1027/A2208, which makes duct cleaning as public work subject to the prevailing wage law. P.L. 2022, c. 113 took effect immediately. Contact: Lori Buckelew, Deputy Executive Dire...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: September 27, 2022
Senators Ruiz and Sarlo have introduced legislation that would expand the State Health Benefits Commission from five members to nine members and add local representation to Commission. S-3033 would add two local government management members, a m...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: August 12, 2022
Last Friday, Governor Murphy signed into law S-1368 requiring all business owners and owners of multifamily rental units to maintain certain levels of liability insurance. In addition, the new law requires that all business owners and owners of m...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: August 12, 2022
On August 5, Governor Murphy signed into law legislation that authorizes a county that acquires, establishes, and operates an airport to maintain, operate, and manage the airport as a public utility. In addition, the new law clarifies that counties and mu...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: August 8, 2022
Friday afternoon, Governor Murphy signed into law S-1368 requiring all business owners and owners of multifamily rental units to maintain certain levels of liability insurance. In addition, the new law requires that all business owners and owners...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: August 8, 2022
On Wednesday, Governor Murphy signed S-2364 into law. The new law expands the time period during which certain restaurants, bars, distilleries, and breweries are allowed to utilize tents, canopies, umbrellas, tables, chairs, and other fixture on ...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: June 29, 2022
On Thursday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee favorably reported A-4127, which mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for firefighters who are not enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP). This provides for the approxim...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: June 13, 2022
The weekend of June 4 while Governor Murphy and Lieutenant Governor Oliver were out of the state on personal business, acting Governor Scutari signed P.L 2022, c.16 allowing for the consumption of alcoholic beverages in pedicabs under the following circum...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: June 13, 2022
A-3804/S-330, which would restore distributions to municipalities from the Energy Tax Receipts Property Tax Municipal Distribution Program (ETR) over two years and require additional funding to be subtracted from the municipal property tax levy, is the fi...
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Legislative Advocacy
Posted on: February 24, 2022
Last week, a State appellate panel affirmed Governor Murphy’s authority under the Disaster Control Act and the Emergency Health Act to impose through Executive Order 283, a COVID-19 vaccination mandate on State corrections officers. The NJ Supre...
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Legislative Advocacy