steve oroho

It's not a long term fix but there is a temporary solution nonetheless now in play which can businesses fill hours this summer.

New Jersey's bonded debt is approaching $50 billion, including the $3.7 billion the state borrowed in November when it thought COVID would wreck its revenues.

The state already plans to pay rebates of up to $500 to families this summer. Republicans suggest some of the $10 billion surplus should be used similarly.

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.

Lakes in the Highlands and Pinelands would get priority. One skeptic says it's "a drop in the bucket" and that future aid should be tied to local action.

Fulfill, formerly the Foodbank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, is one of the food banks across New Jersey who will be benefitting from legislation Governor Murphy signed into law on Wednesday.

Though the state approaches its new budget with a huge surplus, analysts are cautioning a fiscal cliff could await a year later. Federal funds might delay it.

While the fight continues for districts losing millions in state aid to get that money back from the state, a trio of New Jersey Legislators have come up with a plan to prevent any cuts, at least for the 2021-22 school year.

With changes to emphasis innovation, a plan to create the Government Efficiency and Regulatory Review Commission is one vote from legislative approval.

Vote-by-mail will remain an option, as it was before the pandemic, but in-person voting, including early machine voting, is preferred for 2021.

The state plans to borrow $4.5 billion to balance its budget and boost its surplus to $2.5 billion. Spending is higher than Gov. Phil Murphy had pitched.

Senators question state labor commissioner on the pandemic response by the unemployment system but are sympathetic to the surge swamping an old system.