NJBallot NJBallot

Analysis | Power & Influence

New Jersey's Fiscal Fault Lines: Six Cities, Six Models of Distress, and the State's Uneven Hand

New Jersey's Fiscal Fault Lines: Six Cities, Six Models of Distress, and the State's Uneven Hand

TRENTON—New Jersey's most financially fragile cities are not failing for the same reasons, nor is the state rescuing them with...

Continue Reading
The Handover: Paterson Schools After Five Years of Local Control

The Handover: Paterson Schools After Five Years of Local Control

Five years after Trenton let go, Paterson's board faces a $71 million reckoningPATERSON—The vote to close School 3 happened at...

Continue Reading
Sherrill Signs Limits on ICE Cooperation as Federal Lawsuit Challenges State Order

Sherrill Signs Limits on ICE Cooperation as Federal Lawsuit Challenges State Order

PRINCETON—Governor Mikie Sherrill signed a bill last month that limits how state and local cops can work with ICE. The...

Continue Reading
Sherrill to Occupy Drumthwacket, First Governor There Full-Time Since 2004

Sherrill to Occupy Drumthwacket, First Governor There Full-Time Since 2004

PRINCETON—Governor Mikie Sherrill and First Gentleman Jason Hedberg will relocate to Drumthwacket this summer, finally occupying a mansion that has...

Continue Reading
The Capital-Labor Tradeoff: How Newark's Bond Covenants Fired 30 Teachers

The Capital-Labor Tradeoff: How Newark's Bond Covenants Fired 30 Teachers

NEWARK—On March 28, Newark Public Schools approved a $1.677 billion budget that includes a $3.5 million capital reserve for a...

Continue Reading
NJ Rep. LaMonica McIver Files Appeal in ICE Case, Citing Constitutional Immunity

NJ Rep. LaMonica McIver Files Appeal in ICE Case, Citing Constitutional Immunity

PHILADELPHIA—U.S. Congresswoman LaMonica McIver filed her opening appellate brief in the Third Circuit Court on March 30. The Newark Democrat...

Continue Reading
Federal Branches Collide Over New Jersey: Supreme Court Strips Transit Immunity as DOJ Sues Over Sanctuary Laws

Federal Branches Collide Over New Jersey: Supreme Court Strips Transit Immunity as DOJ Sues Over Sanctuary Laws

TRENTON—In the last two months, federal judges have dismantled NJ Transit's legal shields while the White House attacked the state's...

Continue Reading
The Four-Day Amendment That Changed New Jersey's Nurse Practitioner Law

The Four-Day Amendment That Changed New Jersey's Nurse Practitioner Law

TRENTON—Between March 19 and March 23, 2026, the nurse practitioner autonomy bill transformed from a broad scope-of-practice expansion into a...

Continue Reading
Drone Surveillance, Unclear Crowd Totals at "No Kings" Protests Across 65 NJ Locations

Drone Surveillance, Unclear Crowd Totals at "No Kings" Protests Across 65 NJ Locations

NEW JERSEY—At least 5,000 people took part in Saturday's "No Kings" protest in Morristown, but photojournalists on the ground documented...

Continue Reading
NJ Governor Sherrill Joins Three Multistate Alliances on Climate, Health, and Reproductive Care

NJ Governor Sherrill Joins Three Multistate Alliances on Climate, Health, and Reproductive Care

TRENTON—Governor Mikie Sherrill announced on Friday that New Jersey would join three major multi-state alliances: the U.S. Climate Alliance, the...

Continue Reading