NEWS: Members of Congress are worried about Tom Kean. He is not replying to texts or calls and has not voted in the House since early March. "We just haven’t heard a word." www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/04/radi... @njspotlightnews.org @genesisobando.bsky.social @maddiference.bsky.social

--Trump's approval rating on the economy dropped to 30% in April from 38% in a March AP-NORC poll.--

NEW: ICE and CBP have tens of billions of dollars in reserve. Republicans in Congress want to give them more money -- enough at least to "carry us through the Trump presidency." www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/04/immi... @njspotlightnews.org #ICE #CBP

Crowd at @analiliafornj.bsky.social HQ hearing from Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, longtime union leader Hetty Rosenstein and others as they wait for the main attraction after a very early call by AP. Results: www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/04/11th...

NJ Transit . . . World Cup crowds . . .summer temperatures What could go wrong? Another great @njspotlightnews.org Hey, NJ podcast episode👇👇👇

NJ's bonded debt has dropped below $39B. This reduction, measured at the end of FY2025, comes after lawmakers and former Gov. Murphy created a dedicated reserve for debt defeasance and prevention. However, the state’s latest ACFR shows OPEB obligations remain on the rise. @njspotlightnews.org

U.S. wholesale prices surged last month as the Iran war drove up the cost of energy. https://to.pbs.org/4cxvZSG

Some Americans say they would rather illegally withhold their taxes than unwillingly fund immigrant detention centers or military aid. The objections are modern, but this form of protest dates back to the country’s founding.

Hey, NJ! This week, we’re talking about the war in Iran. Over a month into an expansive war in the Middle East, where is Congress? @bhulac.bsky.social discusses secret briefings, upcoming budget hearings, war power votes and more. Listen: www.njspotlightnews.org/podcast/what...

Inflation is straining the personal finances of many government retirees living in New Jersey. Gov. Sherrill wants the state to make another full pension contribution in FY2027. But COLAs for retirees would stay frozen for at least another year. @njspotlightnews.org

Gov. Sherrill's proposed budget includes $2B in cuts. But NJ Transit is getting a $215M increase. NJT's CEO told lawmakers: “The governor intuitively understands that in order for us to have a successful economy, you have to have a mass transit system that actually functions." @njspotlightnews.org

"The gas price shock stemming from the Iran war has shifted inflation's trajectory, from a slow, gradual decline to a sharp increase further away from the Fed's 2% target."

What if the state could use tax information it already collects from employers to fill out your NJ tax return? The idea behind a legislative ReadyReturn proposal is to simplify state taxes, especially for low income taxpayers with limited access to technology and tax pros. @njspotlightnews.org

The potential for a prolonged military conflict overseas is triggering a rise in gas prices across NJ. But also increased economic uncertainty, posing a new challenge for revenue forecasters in Trenton who have started looking ahead to the new fiscal year that begins July 1. @njspotlightnews.org

NEWS: This tax year is going to be more complicated than usual. The IRS is doing it with about 75% the staff it had before Trump. www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/04/mark... @njspotlightnews.org

Total spending can go up, even when there are cuts. And NJ lawmakers just got an earful during public hearings on Gov. Sherrill's budget plan from the many groups that use state dollars to provide services throughout NJ that are now facing cuts. Follow @njspotlightnews.org for more NJ budget news

"Public media exists to serve the public interest — that of Americans — not that of any political agenda or elected official."

A new report says the significant electricity rate hikes that hit consumers hard in NJ last year were mostly due to increased data center power usage and a lack of new energy sources. Reporting by @colleenodea.bsky.social @njspotlightnews.org.

Gov. Sherrill’s budget plan would maintain more than $4 billion in annual spending on direct property tax relief programs. But a proposal to redirect some funding from Stay NJ to Anchor is now a subject of debate. @johnreitmeyer.bsky.social breaks it down: www.njspotlightnews.org/2026/03/sher...

"That’s a fairer, more efficient use of taxpayer money.” This is how Gov. Mikie Sherrill has described her plan to preserve full Anchor benefits for senior tenants, while lowering the income cap and max benefit provided to senior homeowners via Stay NJ. Will lawmakers agree? @njspotlightnews.org

What remains to be seen is whether a February news conference can lead to a sea change in fiscal policymaking in late June, when Democratic legislative leaders like to insert hundreds of millions in new spending into the state budget, without offsetting cuts or revenue raisers. @njspotlightnews.org

In an interview with @njspotlightnews.org, U.S. Rep. Rob Menendez says NJ's pension fund should divest its stake in a technology firm doing business with ICE that I wrote about last month.

The legislation moving this year's gubernatorial budget message to March 10 has now been approved by both full houses of the NJ Legislature. @njspotlightnews.org

As President Trump prepares to deliver the first State of the Union address of his second term, six in ten Americans say the country is in a worse place than a year ago. https://to.pbs.org/3OYgo69

‘People don’t know s—. A bunch of idiots out there’: Quinn Hughes defends brother jack after Olympic golden goal

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday struck down President Donald Trump's global tariffs, a key part of his economic agenda during his second term. Read more: https://to.pbs.org/4kIlmjo

Six Republicans voted to terminate President Trump's Canada tariffs. NJ Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-2nd), Chris Smith (R-4th) and Tom Kean Jr. (R-7th) were not among them. They each voted to maintain the tariffs. @bhulac.bsky.social @njspotlightnews.org

Work on the tunnel project is expected to resume next week, according to the Gateway Development Commission. The commission said it now has more than $205 million in hand, reports @bhulac.bsky.social @njspotlightnews.org

The Gateway Development Commission, the project’s overseer, reported “an initial disbursement of $30 million” and expected to receive $205 million in total, according to a statement it issued late Friday afternoon. @njspotlightnews.org

The Trump administration fails in its attempt to block last week's order freeing up federal funding for the Gateway tunnel project. @njspotlightnews.org

. . . the federal government is now expected to run a $23.1 trillion shortfall over the next nine years . . .

Getting a hearing in the Senate on Monday was legislation that would return diverted money to the state Opioid Recovery and Remediation Fund. An earlier attempt to do that stalled in NJ's majority Democratic Legislature at the end of last year. @bobby-brier.bsky.social @njspotlightnews.org

More than $250M for NJ earmarks is coming after Congress passes a series of new spending bills, reports @bhulac.bsky.social @njspotlightnews.org

“As the court correctly recognized, the Trump Administration’s attempts to freeze funding for the Gateway Tunnel project are plainly illegal, and they would cause grave harm to New Jersey and New York,” said Jennifer Davenport, New Jersey’s acting attorney general. @njspotlightnews.org

Just updated my super high-tech NJ property tax bill tracker with the 2025 data.

-New Jersey’s average property tax bill increased once again last year, rising to $10,570, setting another record high. -$36.1 billion was raised from New Jersey property owners last year to support spending by local school districts and municipal and county governments. @njspotlightnews.org

Dems DHS ask -clear identification for immigration agents -body cameras -requirement of warrants signed by a judge -language barring agents from entering sensitive locations, like schools, houses of worship and polling places -legal bar against racially profiling people to detain @bhulac.bsky.social

NJ acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport and Gov. Mikie Sherrill discuss the lawsuit NJ has filed against the Trump administration over Gateway funding during a news conference at Newark Penn Station. @njspotlightnews.org

The funding worries come as prolonged record-breaking cold grips parts of the United States . . . In Toms River, an elderly homeless woman last month was found dead in her snow-covered car. Reporting by @bobby-brier.bsky.social @njspotlightnews.org

“Time is not on our side and any delay is going to dramatically add to the cost of doing this project and, by the way, everybody knows we need to build this new tunnel.” said Tom Wright, president and CEO of the Regional Plan Association. @njspotlightnews.org

“Any of the laws and the rights of the people in our state, if they’re violated by law enforcement, regardless of if it’s state, federal or county, you name it, [that] is something that we would want to make sure that we’re taking seriously,” acting NJ AG Jennifer Davenport said @njspotlightnews.org

"One of the most important things that our state government can do, and any level of government, is to be thinking about the long-term, trying to improve peoples lives now, but also working to make decisions that protect our future generation,” Assemblyman Andrew Macurdy (D-Union) said.

As mounting economic pressures push more people into homelessness, volunteers and outreach workers traversed NJ this week for the state’s annual count of the homeless. NJ homelessness is on a five-year upswing, according to Monarch Housing Associates, and advocates expect another increase in 2026.

"I think what I was calling for and I still call for and will call for is the recognition of the dignity of human beings, no matter what their legal status may be." @pbsnews.org @njspotlightnews.org

NJ public-worker pension officials are being urged to divest a more than $130 million stake in a technology firm playing a key role in President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration enforcement. @njspotlightnews.org

“Will you contact your congressional representatives . . . Will you ask them, for the love of God and the love of human beings, which can’t be separated, to vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization?” -- Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark @bhulac.bsky.social @njspotlightnews.org

As the Trump administration refuses to disburse funding for an economically vital rail tunnel under the Hudson River between New Jersey with Manhattan, construction will come to a halt, putting up to 1,000 jobs at-risk in the near-term. @njspotlightnews.org

Food prices in December were up 2.4% for the year — and if you go back five years, they’re up about 25%.

Measures on climate polluters, antisemitism definitions, opioid funding, voting rights, property tax appeals, budget stress testing and parole reform must be reintroduced in the new legislative session that started Tuesday.