Archive for Author: jpeacock

Resolution honoring military children advances

TRENTON, N.J. – A resolution designating April 14 as Military Child Appreciation Day was released from the Assembly Military and Veterans’ Affairs Committee Thursday. Assembly members Gerry Scharfenberger and Vicky Flynn sponsored the resolution (SJR106/AJR198). “It’s not just our enlisted or commissioned men and women who endure frequent moves...

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Senate Democrats have no backbone on school funding, say Eulner and Piperno

TRENTON, N.J. – Democrats in the Senate stuck to their deal (S3732/A5238) today with Gov. Phil Murphy that school districts losing funding should settle for a partial return of their state aid. Assemblywomen Kim Eulner and Marilyn Piperno criticized Democrats unwillingness to join Republicans in protecting schools from funding cuts....

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School funding needs structural change to help districts, say Eulner and Piperno

TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblywomen Kim Eulner and Marilyn Piperno are advocating for structural changes to school funding to increase state aid for schools and lower property taxes at the same time. The Asbury Park TapInto reported Thursday that Democrat Sen. Vin Gopal is looking for a temporary Band-Aid to...

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Governor signs Thomson bill that extends Right to Farm protections to aquaculture activities

TRENTON, N.J. – Farming in water environments, referred to as aquaculture, now has the same protections as farms on land in the Garden State. Assemblyman Ned Thomson’s bill (S428/A3039) extending those protections under the Right to Farm Act was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy Monday. The Act protects...

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Rooney bill that brings clarity to E-ZPass pricing discounts now law

TRENTON, N.J. – The governor on Monday signed Assemblyman Kevin J. Rooney’s bill that brings clarity to E-ZPass toll discounts. The new law (S743/A189) directs the state’s Turnpike Authority to notify existing and potential customers on its website that toll discounts advertised by operators outside its jurisdiction may not...

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Sauickie applauds court decision that requires state to consider transportation costs when calculating state aid

TRENTON, N.J. – Assemblyman Alex Sauickie is applauding a recent court ruling that says the state must consider the strain of state-mandated transportation costs on school budgets when determining if a district receives constitutionally adequate state funding. The nearly decade-long lawsuit, filed by a Lakewood Township School District educator and attorney, argued that the state...

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Cape May Assembly members call on Murphy to adequately fund schools

TRENTON, N.J. – Schools in Cape May County will lose another $5.6 million in state aid under the controversial school funding formula that purports to bring financial equity to New Jersey’s nearly 600 public school districts. Those cuts were announced at the same time last week that Gov. Phil...

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School funding and property tax cuts can go hand in hand, but not under Murphy’s spending plan, say GOP assemblymen

TRENTON, N.J. – Republican members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee rejected Gov. Phil Murphy’s claim that increased school funding in his $53.1 billion budget equates to property tax relief, and endorsed a GOP plan (A5253) to tap into income tax revenue to fully fund schools and ease the burden...

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Sauickie calls on governor to fully fund all NJ public schools

TRENTON, N.J. – Schools in Assemblyman Alex Sauickie’s legislative district have been ravaged by state aid cuts under the state’s school funding formula, popularly known as S2. They have been forced to slash staff and programs while other districts saw their state aid balloon. If taxpayers in his district thought...

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Murphy’s school funding announcement falls short again, says DiMaio

TRENTON, N.J. – Gov. Phil Murphy’s sign in front of the podium at his press conference today said “fully funding our public schools.” However, despite the optics, schools are still underfunded. Nearly 150 schools are under their formula-defined adequacy level of funding, and almost all that are above their...

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