New Jersey State Policy Lab

09/03/2026

Beginning this fall, we will be releasing our policy updates on Tuesdays, and either a blog or report on Thursdays. The policy updates provide a weekly opportunity for readers to stay in the know on the latest public policy-related news, rulings, and legislation, while our blogs and reports allow followers to explore research, analysis, and fresh perspectives on policy topics impacting New Jerseyans such as housing, energy, and the economy.

Learn more here:

With the start of the 2026-2027 school year, the New Jersey State Policy Lab is excited to announce a new plan for our publishing schedule to make our research and policy insights even easier to follow. Since our inception more than five years ago, the NJSPL has prided itself on developing a broad b...

09/01/2026

🔋 Gov. Sherrill signed a new law requiring report and water use to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities; 👶 the governor also signed legislation updating chemical restrictions to include diaper products. Read these stories and more here:

Health New Jersey Expands PFAS Prohibitions to Include Diaper Products - On August 27th, Bill S1281, sponsored by Senator Greenstein (D-14) and Senator Turner (D-15), was signed into law by Governor Mikie Sherrill as P.L.2026, c.76. The legislation prohibits the sale, manufacture, and distribution o...

08/31/2026

🏫🎒📚 In the Garden State, accessing childcare and afterschool programs involve navigating a network of resources, from statewide Child Care Resource and Referral Centers to on-the-ground community organizations and 21st Century Community Learning Centers, all crucial for connecting families with essential afterschool program services. Despite the demand, approximately 80% of New Jersey children remain shut out of access to afterschool programs, largely due to cost and logistical hurdles, according to an October 2025 report from the Afterschool Alliance. The report also found that while 48% of sixth to eighth graders and 32% of ninth to twelfth graders would engage in an afterschool program if it were available, the actual participation rates are much lower, 9% and 7%, respectively.

Read more in today's blog from NJSPL summer intern Lanae Ali:

Afterschool programs (ASPs) typically occur during the critical hours of 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. and offer a variety of enrichment activities such as arts, sports, STEM, and other character-building exercises. According to a report by the AfterSchool Alliance from October 2025, approximately 90% of parent...

08/27/2026

🍎🥕🌽 In New Jersey, approximately one million residents, including more than 270,000 children and 200,000 seniors, experience food insecurity, limiting consistent access to nutritious food. With the implementation of further cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from the Big Beautiful Bill, over 41,000 New Jerseyans have lost their monthly SNAP benefits as of April 2026. While discussions surrounding food insecurity often emphasize the absence of supermarkets and food deserts, emerging research suggests that affordability, not simply physical access, is the more significant barrier to healthy eating. Read more about this from NJSPL summer intern Brigette Thompson today:

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With income being the most prominent variable in nutritional health, losing access to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits can only serve to worsen the nutritional health of marginalized communities in NJ and deepen the divide between the nutritional health of low-income, low-ac...

08/25/2026

👩‍⚕️ Gov. Sherrill signed a bill expanding protections for patients seeking reproductive or gender-affirming health care; 💼 four business industry groups have filed a suit to overturn a new law that would fine businesses with more than 50 employees on Medicaid. Read these stories and more here:

Economics New Jersey Loses 25,600 Jobs as Unemployment Falls to 4.4 Percent, Per Latest DOL Report - On August 20th the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development released the July 2026 Employment Report showing New Jersey lost 25,600 jobs last month. Despite the loss in nonfarm jobs,....

08/24/2026

🚴🚲🚴 In January 2026, New Jersey passed a law redefining e-bikes and restricting their use without a license, registration, and, in certain cases, insurance: https://policylab.rutgers.edu/publication/report-release-incentivizing-e-bikes-in-new-jersey-lessons-from-e-bike-rebate-programs-in-north-america/

These new regulations were implemented in part due to the rapid increase of e-bike use, which has outpaced the growth of conventional bikes and other e-motor vehicles. Researchers Hannah Younes and Yingning Xie with the Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center recently surveyed over 1,000 adults to better understand their perspectives and opinions of e-bikes. The report also included a literature review and interviews with stakeholders from incentive programs and advocacy groups to identify the successes and challenges of implementing e-bike rebate programs. Among the findings, researchers recommended that the New Jersey Department of Transportation run demo events with local advocacy groups to get residents to try e-bikes and learn about the new state law.

Read the report here: https://policylab.rutgers.edu/publication/report-release-incentivizing-e-bikes-in-new-jersey-lessons-from-e-bike-rebate-programs-in-north-america/

08/20/2026

🤖📱 Since 2024, New Jersey has provided a secured internal AI Assistant and training so staff can produce plain-language content, analyze resident feedback, and improve service workflows. The state also adopted a language access law that requires vital service documents to be translated into multiple languages and to offer interpretation services.

This new NJSPL report from Vivek Singh and Yonaira Rivera with examines how chatbots are used to deliver public information, where language equity gaps can occur, and how a prototype chatbot can support more equitable access to New Jersey's SNAP services for English- and Spanish-speaking households. Researchers conducted an audit of 56 U.S. state and territory SNAP websites, conducted interviews with a range of key stakeholders, and designed and tested a bilingual, retrieval-grounded chatbot in both English and Spanish.

Read the report here: https://policylab.rutgers.edu/publication/report-release-advancing-language-equity-in-chatbot-design-for-new-jerseys-public-services/

08/18/2026

🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Gov. Sherrill signed three bills to advance research into the effects of social media on childhood development; 🖥️ U.S. Congressman Josh Gottheimer introduced two bills to address the recent rise in cyberattacks on public utilities and water systems in NJ across the country. Read more here:

Women, Children, & Families Gov. Sherrill Signs New Legislation to Protect Children Online - On August 11th, Governor Mikie Sherrill signed three bills that aim to advance research on the effects of social media on childhood development, strengthen online safety measures for minors, and explore warn...

08/17/2026

🏠🏘️🏠 Four New Jersey municipalities—Guttenberg, West New York, Union City, and Hoboken—are denser in population than New York City, and the Garden State has the sixth-highest median home price ($548,000), with ​rents averaging above $2,000 per month. Accessory dwelling units or ADUs can provide an alternative to traditional housing, helping to remediate both the housing shortage and affordability issues while preserving rural land from further development. Several municipalities have passed ADU-related legislation, including Montclair, South Orange, Princeton, and Asbury Park, but a statewide bill on ADUs (Bill A2792) has not yet made it out of the legislature and onto the governor's desk. Read more in today's blog from summer intern Ryan Lawrence:

New Jersey is the most densely populated state in the country, with nearly 1,300 residents per square mile, according to the 2024 Census. Four New Jersey municipalities—Guttenberg, West New York, Union City, and Hoboken—are denser than New York City. Between 1986 and 2015, the percentage of deve...

08/13/2026

💵🏦 A state budget itself can be considered a moral document: a statement, made in dollar amounts, which outlines the financial needs that are prioritized by the government. The process of achieving an annual budget is difficult for many residents to follow and can lead to further resentments over the lack of transparency. Some governments, like in Porto Allegre, Brazil, have chosen to address these concerns by implementing participatory budgeting—a process in which residents directly decide how a portion of the public budget is spent.

Read more from NJSPL summer intern and graduate student Daniel Fairman in today's blog:

Budget Cuts and Who Absorbs Them When budgets are cut, the first programs to go are those without dedicated funding or legal mandate. Many of those programs serve low-income, disabled, and vulnerable populations. New Jersey is in a period of fiscal austerity. The state is facing a structural deficit...