Legislature

Two New Jersey lawmakers want to allow college athletes to earn money from sports, as more states look to lift a longstanding ban on students profiting from university athletics.

“Universities are making immense profits from their athletic departments, and while students receive scholarships, one serious injury can leave them with no scholarship, no way to pay for the remainder of their degree, and no real path on how to move forward with their life or their career,” said State Sen. Sandra Cunningham, D-Hudson, who sponsored the New Jersey Fair Play Act.

New Jersey lawmakers want the state’s nearly 300 water utilities to provide more information about water quality and be held accountable for the data they publish.

State legislators conducted a hearing Tuesday amid an ongoing public-health crisis in Newark, where recent tests showed elevated lead levels in the drinking water of two homes.

Sen. Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, said it was crucial that the public has access to information about local water quality.

People seeking jobs in New Jersey will no longer be required to divulge their salary history during the application process.

A new state law signed Thursday also blocks employers from disqualifying applicants based on their past pay.

“Often the question comes before the interview is over: What did you make at your last job?” said Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who signed the bill while Gov. Phil Murphy was on vacation. “The asking of that question is discriminatory in nature.”

A group of academics and analysts have recommended changes to how New Jersey draws its legislative maps.

The report comes about seven months after top lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled legislature abandoned a plan to rewrite the rules around legislative mapmaking in response to overwhelming opposition.

In the latest attempt to battle the state’s ongoing foreclosure crisis, New Jersey will set up a statewide database of all homes under foreclosure.

Gov. Phil Murphy signed a law last week ordering the Department of Community Affairs to create the tracking system so state officials can observe larger trends and target services to those in need.

Flanked by state and federal labor leaders, Gov. Phil Murphy held an event in Trenton on Tuesday to call on lawmakers to include the so-called millionaire’s tax in this year’s budget.

Budget bills passed by state Senate and Assembly committees on Monday did not include the tax hike on earners making more than $1 million.

New Jersey lawmakers voted Thursday to extend the lives of two controversial tax credit programs that have roiled Trenton in recent months.

The programs, started under former Gov. Chris Christie, have awarded billions of dollars in incentives to companies that agreed to move to or expand in New Jersey, and business insiders testified that allowing the programs to expire on July 1 would risk missing out on future opportunities.

New Jersey lawmakers are moving ahead with legislation to make it easier for people with marijuana convictions to expunge their criminal records.

The bill, which was approved by both houses of the state Legislature on Tuesday, now awaits the signature of Gov. Phil Murphy.

What is not on Murphy’s desk is the companion legislation to legalize recreational marijuana, which failed to win enough support among lawmakers and was eventually abandoned by top Democrats in favor of putting the question before voters on the November 2020 election ballot.

A bill that would require more nonprofit groups in New Jersey to publicize their donors is on its way to becoming law, after Gov. Phil Murphy avoided what would have been an embarrassing veto override.

Murphy at first conditionally vetoed the so-called dark money bill, saying he believed it had legal issues. But after top Democrats in the state Legislature threatened to override his veto, Murphy agreed to sign the original bill.

A blistering report by a bipartisan committee of the New Jersey Legislature says the administration of Gov. Phil Murphy “mishandled” an employee’s rape claim and suggested that top officials should be “embarrassed” by their testimony.

The report caps off a legislative investigation that has dogged Murphy’s tenure in office and raised questions about the state’s hiring practices as well as policies for investigating claims of sexual harassment and assault.

Nearly 300 candidates are competing for a chance to run for the New Jersey legislature in the June Primary.

The 192 Assembly candidates are the most since 2001. The 88 seeking a Senate seat is the highest since 2003.

Seton Hall political science professor Matthew Hale says five Senators are retiring or seeking higher office.

"So you're seeing a lot of people want to take that shot because they're not sure when it's going to come around again."

Despite some setbacks this week, political analysts say don't count out Governor Christie when it comes to getting some priorities enacted in the final year of his term.

Christie couldn't get lawmakers to pass a bill allowing towns to put legal notices on their websites instead of paying to publish them in newspapers. And a measure that would have allowed him to profit from a book deal was declared dead.

Fairleigh Dickinson political science professor Peter Woolley says Christie's lame duck status and his low 18 percent voter approval rating erode his political leverage.