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Tag: Mikie Sherrill

  • EMR will reopen Camden facility after recent fire, following judge’s ruling

    EMR will reopen Camden facility after recent fire, following judge’s ruling

    The EMR scrap metal recycling plant will reopen after Camden suspended its operations following a late May fire, the latest in a string of fires in recent years.

    The decision fell to Camden Superior Court Judge Stephen J. Polansky on Wednesday after the Camden City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday against a settlement that would have allowed EMR to reopen under certain safety precautions. EMR had sued Camden for suspending its junkyard license last month for the facility, where Camden officials say there have been more than a dozen fires in the last six years.

    Shortly after the hearing, New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s office announced that she signed a bill into law aimed at increasing safety in the scrap metal industry led by Assembly member Bill Moen, a Camden County Democrat. He introduced the bill after a four-alarm fire in February 2025 at EMR.

    The court fight to open EMR

    The judge said EMR can open its doors only if it follows a list of safety precautions. The company’s legal team told The Inquirer that it had already fulfilled those requirements and is ready to open as soon as the judge submits his order.

    “We intend to open and operate in accordance with the judge’s order, which directly incorporates the recommendations of EMR’s third-party fire expert,” Joe Balzano, CEO of EMR USA, told The Inquirer after the hearing Wednesday. “EMR is the only scrap metal recycling facility in the state of New Jersey that has a facility-wide fire suppression system installed and operating.”

    Among the required precautions are a 24-7 fire watch, fire suppression system testing, and procedures for scanning material coming into the facility and responding to fires.

    In court, EMR’s legal team argued that the city did not have the authority to suspend its license without proper hearing or notice, and that the company has undergone irreparable harm as a result. It has lost millions of dollars, endured tainted industry relationships, and, as of Wednesday morning, sent more than 300 layoff notices, said Kathleen Campbell, a lawyer for EMR.

    The fire took place on May 29, at which point EMR voluntarily shut down its operations. The city issued an immediate suspension notice days later, on June 4. A big question in the courtroom was whether there was enough of an emergency at that point that the city could circumvent its normal due process.

    “The city can regulate,” Campbell said in court. “What it can’t do is continue an emergency shutdown when there is no basis for it. The fire is over. The testing that this court authorized is complete.”

    She argued that the city is more worried about a “desire to keep EMR closed” than an actual immediate danger.

    William Tambussi, the city’s lawyer, argued that the possibility of another fire was enough to present an emergency.

    Camden Fire Chief Jesse Flax talks with people during a community meeting for residents, affected by a 2025 fire at EMR, at MJD Fieldhouse Gym on Broadway in Camden on Sunday, February 23, 2025.

    “The city is required and has the right to protect its citizens from the harms that come,” he said in court.

    Tambussi said after the hearing that the judge’s decision is still a win for the city because the safety precautions EMR has to follow overlap with what the city wants from the company.

    “The judge found that the city rushed the process, which the city doesn’t apologize for,” he said in an interview.

    Camden and EMR will meet again in court in August, where they will assess whether EMR has complied. The city can also attempt to shut down EMR through a full hearing process if it finds that the company has violated its terms of opening. The city cannot, however, just shut the company down.

    A new law stemming from a Camden County legislator’s fight against EMR

    The law Sherrill signed on Wednesday, which goes into effect in a year, will require heat detection equipment, publicly accessible fire safety plans developed with local fire officials, and compliance with certain fire prevention standards. It also requires fire suppression systems that can be remotely operated and limits the height allowed for piles of material.

    The legislation is part of a four-bill package Moen has been pushing for in Trenton, but is the only one to make it to the governor’s desk before the summer recess.

    “We were met at every step of the way with opposition from a well-funded industry,” Moen said in an interview Wednesday.

    Balzano, the CEO of EMR USA, said in an interview Wednesday that he believes his Camden site is mostly in line with what the new law requires. But he said the height limit would be “very detrimental to the industry and probably to the environment,” arguing that it is too broad and applies to scrap metal that is not prone to fires. He said that could have “unintended consequences” by having scrap metal spread out across more space.

    “I fully support the premise of it,” said Balzano, who has pointed to lithium-ion batteries as a source of scrap metal fires.

    Moen emphasized that while the issue of scrap metal fires has become particularly important in Camden, it is not restricted to the city’s borders. Scrap metal sites in Vineland and Newark, for example, have also seen fires in recent years.

    “This will be the first step in hopefully many of the state bringing greater transparency, accountability, and an expected level of responsibility for these scrap facilities,” Moen said.

  • Gov. Mikie Sherrill says fighting data centers is part of her response to extreme weather during Camden visit after flooding

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill says fighting data centers is part of her response to extreme weather during Camden visit after flooding

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill climbed onto an emergency water vehicle in Camden on Tuesday with Camden Fire Chief Jesse Flax. That vehicle, called the High Water One, was used by local emergency responders on Monday to rescue 14 people from the flooded streets of Camden, Flax said.

    The vehicle had arrived in the city one week earlier, just in time for what officials said was the worst flooding they had ever seen in the city, including from Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

    “I’ve never seen this in my whole career,” said Flax, who has worked in the city for three decades. “I’ve seen bad fires, I’ve seen a lot of different things. But I’ve never seen it flood in this capacity.”

    The new High Water Rescue vehicle that was used in the recent rainfall and flooding at the Fire Administration Building in Camden on Tuesday.

    No one was reported injured among 1,000 calls to emergency services.

    Sherrill thanked emergency responders and comforted Maria Perez, a Camden resident recovering from surgery who worked with her neighbors to fight the flooding by “telling them what to do and keeping them calm.”

    “I wanted them to keep plastic bags on their feet, too, because you don’t know what’s in that water. … I’m so glad that we had such a great team,” Perez, a member of the Camden schools advisory board, said in an interview.

    The governor’s visit came just a little more than an hour after she signed legislation in Salem County aimed at data centers. She said that very work can help prevent strain on the power grid during future storms and that the electrical grid is “top of mind” for her.

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill, left, speaks with Maria Perez, center, and Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez, right, at the fire house in Camden on Tuesday.

    “We are seeing these extreme weather events more and more and more frequently,” said Sherrill, who was dealt a historic snowstorm just weeks into her term and has recently seen a deadly heat wave. After her stop in Camden, she went to a BJ’s Wholesale Club store in Monmouth County where a roof fell in from Monday’s flooding.

    One of the bills Sherrill signed into law on Tuesday creates a new ratepayer class and rate structure for data centers that is meant to ensure they pay for their own energy. Another creates more oversight for utility companies’ grid upgrades to try to save money.

    “We’ve set them aside in a separate class of utility users, so that if we have storms like this, they will be first impacted, not normal rate payers,” Sherrill said.

    Data centers have caused concern on both sides of the aisle in South Jersey, with towns including Medford taking steps to block their development locally. But according to county spokesperson Dan Keashen, Camden did not have widespread power outages during the storm, just a handful that were rectified the same day.

    Oscar Parra makes his way to his car in the flooded parking lot at the Ferry Avenue PATCO station in Camden on Monday amid a flash flood threat for the region.

    So what about the damage in Camden?

    Sherrill said residents should report damage through the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management so the state can calculate how much federal assistance to request.

    “There are technical things we need to meet,” she said. “I think we probably will, but we’re collecting that now.”

    American Red Cross workers in Camden on Tuesday were providing cleaning supplies like mops, bleach cleaners, gloves, and tarps — as well as snacks and water, said Diane Concannon, the organization’s communications director for the New Jersey region.

    “Flooding is horrible for any family … because everyone wants to be able to save everything,” she said.

    While the rain was intense, it cleared up quickly because the city has maintained its sewers so well, Sherrill said.

    “They have done a really good job here in Camden with some of these resiliency efforts,” she said. “It’s why this wasn’t worse.”

  • Camden is a winner in New Jersey’s $60.7B budget. Who are the losers?

    Camden is a winner in New Jersey’s $60.7B budget. Who are the losers?

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed the New Jersey budget for fiscal year 2027 Tuesday night, shortly before the clock ran out on the constitutionally mandated deadline.

    The budget ranks as the largest in state history, but Sherrill also contends it is the most “fiscally responsible” in decades in part because it fully funds the state pension program and doesn’t come with widespread tax increases for residents.

    Lawmakers approved the budget on Tuesday after adding millions in legislative add-ons Sunday night, a move that countered Sherrill’s earlier vows to change the culture in Trenton. But she softened her stance as the deadline neared and she conceded that lawmakers know their districts best.

    South Jersey Democrats defended the spending, which Republican lawmakers criticized as “pork.”

    “I know sometimes it gets disparaging names, but I think one of our responsibilities as elected officials is to be responsive to the needs of our communities,” said Sen. Troy Singleton, a Burlington County Democrat.

    But the last-minute shuffle didn’t result in the transparency Sherrill originally promised, with some legislators saying they weren’t sure of the details they were voting on. The budget passed mostly along party lines in the Democratic-dominated legislature. Sherrill and legislative leaders touted record funding for schools and property tax relief programs.

    “I know the process needs work,” Sherrill said at a Tuesday night news conference. “It takes too long. It could be much more transparent, but we took steps in the right direction this year.”

    Here are some of the winners and losers in the budget.

    Camden County Commissioner Director Louis Cappelli, Jr., left, with Gov. Mikie Sherrill and Camden Mayor Victor Carstarphen, right, at SoccerFest26, the World Cup fan fest at Wiggins Waterfront Park in Camden on Friday.

    Winner: Camden City and County

    South Jersey obtained funding for projects across the region with Camden scoring one especially big-ticket item: $9 million for property acquisition and demolition. The funding is for a county-run program focused on removing vacant, unusable, or otherwise deemed dangerous properties in the city.

    Louis Cappelli Jr., the director of the Camden County Commissioners, said in an interview that the county has demolished more than 1,200 residential and commercial buildings over the past decade as part of this effort, mostly with state money. He said the program’s mission is to encourage the city’s redevelopment.

    “The city is in desperate need of new housing, especially market-rate housing, and by creating opportunities for development on these properties, we believe we will draw the interest of residential developers to build in Camden City,” he said.

    The city of Camden was also allocated $250,000 for a statue of Martin Luther King Jr., which Sherrill promised the city ahead of her inauguration. This project was a priority for the governor, who systematically struck a pen through legislative projects but dedicated funding to the statue in her proposal earlier this year.

    Several organizations that serve Camden city and county received hundreds of thousands of dollars in the budget.

    The Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers received $500,000 for a program that connects emergency department patients to outpatient behavioral care and $750,000 for a program that helps people experiencing homelessness obtain housing. Joseph’s House, a homeless shelter in the city of Camden, received $600,000, and a separate spending bill also sends $650,000 to a new construction homeownership project.

    The budget also allocates $300,000 for job training for youth and young adults, $75,000 for a program dedicated to improving school attendance in the city of Camden, and $25,000 for a new county program that supports formerly incarcerated people reentering their community.

    It also includes $3.2 million for structural improvements for a bridge at Route 30 and Somerdale Road and $12.1 million for the Camden County LINK Trail, a planned 34-mile multiuse trail.

    Loser: High-income seniors

    Senior homeowners who earn between $200,000 and $500,000 a year will no longer qualify for the nascent Stay NJ property tax credit program under the new income cap. They just began receiving checks for the program this year.

    Sherrill proposed scaling back the expensive program in her budget proposal earlier this year, which caused some tension because the new program was championed by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, a Middlesex County Democrat and a key budget negotiator.

    But Sherrill and legislative leaders found a compromise by giving higher payments than she proposed for those who make less money, and an even lower income limit than she proposed for the program.

    Qualifying taxpayers will get refunded up to half their property tax bill up with maximum refunds ranging from $4,000 to $6,500, depending on their income, with those earning more getting less.

    Rowan University’s Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine Tuesday, April 14, 2026.

    You win some, you lose some: Rowan University

    Rowan University is receiving less money than it did this year, but significantly more money than Sherrill initially proposed. At the end of the day it’s a win for the university, which saw significant cuts reversed.

    Sherrill’s initial proposal included about $125 million, but legislators brought the total up to nearly $135 million — a drop from the $155 million the state gave the school this year.

    Sherrill zeroed out funding for Rowan’s new veterinary school but legislators successfully got $6.2 million for the program — still less than the $8 million it received this year and a far cry from the $20 million the school requested.

    State Sen. John Burzichelli, a Gloucester County Democrat, said the money is enough for the school to at least “keep the lights on,” for the veterinary school and the medical school funding is “sound.”

    Sherrill also proposed cutting all state funding for Virtua Health College of Medicine and Life Sciences. Legislators restored $2 million to the program — half of what it received this year and much less than the requested $12 million.

    The Rowan-Virtua Child Abuse Research Education and Service Institute (CARES) program, which provides medical and mental healthcare to children who have experienced abuse, had all its $1.85 million funding restored after Sherrill initially zeroed it out.

    In anticipation of the governor’s proposed cuts, Rowan sent employees layoff notices and announced the closure of its Vineland office. A union representing CARES employees has called on Rowan to reverse these changes.

    But Rowan spokesperson Jose Cardona said the university “will evaluate next steps and very soon determine the most responsible path for operations, staffing, and long‑term sustainability.”

    The bill that passed alongside the budget with funding from this fiscal year sent nearly $15 million going to Cooper Medical School of Rowan University and support to Cooper University Hospital. That bill also sends $5 million to Cooper University Healthcare’s South Jersey cancer program, which got an additional $27.4 million in the new budget.

    Winner: Parents

    Legislative leaders secured a 25% increase in the state’s child tax credit program, which is claimed by 217,000 tax filers with children, according to the governor’s office.

    The expansion, which will be in place over the next three tax years, bumps each tax credit tier by 25%. So, for example, a household that previously got the highest tier of $1,000 will receive $1,250 and households that got $800 will get $1,000.

    Sherrill, a former member of Congress and mother of four, said she saw positive impacts of the national tax credit, “giving parents more money for childcare and summer camps, so their kids can thrive while they’re at work.”

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill talks with state Sen. Troy Singleton (D., Burlington) as she arrives to meet with the South Jersey business community for a fireside chat event hosted by the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey in Mt. Laurel Monday, March 16, 2026.

    Loser: Businesses

    What Sherrill touted Tuesday night as closing “corporate loopholes” and asking employers “to pay their fair share in healthcare,” the business community saw as an attack.

    The budget includes Sherrill’s proposals to introduce new fees for businesses with at least 50 employees on Medicaid, an effort that was led in part by Assembly member Carol Murphy, a Burlington County Democrat, in the legislature. It also imposes limits on two methods businesses use to deduct losses from their taxes.

    Hilary Chebra, the director of governmental affairs for Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, criticized these policies, as well as a bill passed by the legislature that bans food surveillance pricing as it’s written.

    “Employers aren’t reacting to a single tax increase or one new regulation,” she said. “They’re responding to all of it at once.”

    She said these measures will have more severe consequences in South Jersey for small and family-owned businesses that compete with businesses in Pennsylvania and Delaware.

    Tom Bracken, the president & CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce, said businesses were given “minimal support” and that the budget did not focus on supporting economic growth. He said the policies Sherrill championed in the budget “send the wrong message” to employers that New Jersey should be working to attract.

    “The negative financial and reputational consequences of these policies will make it more difficult for New Jersey to be competitive — and competitiveness is essential if the state economy is going to grow,” he said.

  • Rowan’s vet school can ‘keep the lights on’ under tentative state budget deal, and other South Jersey program updates

    Rowan’s vet school can ‘keep the lights on’ under tentative state budget deal, and other South Jersey program updates

    Rowan University’s nascent veterinary school will get enough funding to “keep the lights on” under the tentative New Jersey budget deal, according to one South Jersey lawmaker.

    It’s among several South Jersey programs with a fate tied to the negotiations ahead of the state’s June 30 budget deadline.

    New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill proposed completely slashing state funding for the state’s only vet school in her budget proposal rolled out in March.

    The Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine was created with state support and its first class just finished its first year. On top of training the next generation of vets and conducting research, the South Jersey institution provides veterinary services to the region and helps address a large animal vet shortage.

    Since the four-year school only has had only one 75-student class paying tuition so far, the prospect of losing all state funding was potentially devastating.

    The state legislature will vote Tuesday on a budget that allocates $6.2 million to the school, a lower number compared to the $8 million it got this year (and much lower than the $20 million it had requested). But the amount will be sufficient enough for the vet school to survive, said Sen. John Burzichelli, a Gloucester County Democrat.

    “Will they keep the lights on? Will they continue to grow? I’m confident they can,” he said in a Monday interview.

    Veterinary students at Rowan University’s Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine interact with a group of less than-a-week-old kids (baby goats) brought in by classmate Cana Patterson (back to camera, second from right).

    Burzichelli said he and other supporters of the school were trying to allocate $12 million to the school to provide “more resources as they grow out.”

    Rowan spokesperson Jose Cardona declined to comment because the deal has not been signed into law.

    Vet school under attack

    The legislature is expected to approve the budget Tuesday, the final day before the new fiscal year begins on July 1. Sherrill has the power to veto items in the budget before signing it into law.

    As part of her March proposal, Sherrill warned that legislators must provide cuts to equal out any spending they want to add to the budget, a stance she softened more recently.

    On Friday, she said in Camden that because of cuts she identified with legislative leaders, there’s money for lawmakers to “really push into their local projects.” The state’s revenue forecasts have also gone up.

    Sherrill announced last week that she came to a budget agreement with legislative leaders with a price tag of $60.7 billion, the same rounded figure she proposed earlier this year.

    Then, on Sunday, legislators advanced a budget with $15 million more than Sherrill’s proposed total earlier this year.

    Sherrill has repeatedly touted her budget proposal as” the most fiscally responsible budget New Jersey has seen in years,” though it’s the largest in the state’s history.

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill delivers her budget address Tuesday, Mar. 10, 2026, in the Assembly Chamber at the New Jersey State House. Assembly Speaker Craig J. Coughlin (left) and Senate President Nicholas P. Scutari (right) are behind her.

    Funding restored for child trauma care in South Jersey

    Sherrill’s original proposal also zeroed out funding for a program that provides medical and mental health care to South Jersey children who have experienced abuse in her budget proposal earlier this year. But the legislature restored funding to the same level as the current fiscal year at $1.85 million.

    Rowan is closing a health center for abused children because of Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s proposed budget

    The Rowan-Virtua Child Abuse Research Education and Service Institute (CARES) has locations in Stratford in Camden County and Vineland in Cumberland County. Rowan informed employees of layoffs across both locations and said the university would be closing down the more rural Vineland location as a result of the cuts.

    Cardona, the Rowan spokesperson, declined to say Monday whether the Vineland center will remain open and if the layoffs will be reversed. He said it’s “premature to comment on a budget that has not been approved.”

    Dio Tsitouras, the executive director of the American Association of University Professors Biomedical and Health Sciences union — which represents CARES employees — said the union is awaiting “an announcement from Rowan that rescinds all layoffs and indicates that the Vineland office will remain open.”

    “We are pleased that the budget the Legislature passed restores critical funding to the CARES program so that our members can continue serving the most vulnerable children of South Jersey,” Tsitouras said.

    State Rep. Anthony Angelozzi, a Burlington County Democrat, said his office advocated for CARES, one of dozens of groups at risk of funding cuts that met with his office. He called the program’s work “imperative.”

    “There were certain priorities we had to fight for because we are sorta on the ground in our districts in a way sometimes the governor is not,” he said. “There are some programs that legislators realize how profound they are at helping people that the governor may underestimate.”

    Staff members observe from back of the room during a workshop at the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center in Camden Thursday, June 11, 2026.

    Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers still at risk

    New Jersey has one of the largest wage gaps for Hispanic women in the country. Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers were established by the legislature in the early 1990s to help that disparity, providing employment training and other support to Latinas. Sherrill proposed cutting 80% of state funding for these programs, down to just $535,000 statewide.

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill proposed an 80% cut to a program that provides job training and support to Hispanic women

    Legislators restored most of that funding in their tentative budget to nearly $1.8 million but program leaders say it’s still not enough, at almost 30% less than this year’s allocation of $2.5 million.

    The Latino Action Network Foundation runs these centers in partnership with six nonprofits across 14 sites, including five in South Jersey in Camden, Vineland, Hammonton, Pennsville, and Rio Grande.

    Latino Action Network president Javier Robles said that decrease will still cause the closure of centers and reduce job training, mental health services, and English language classes to thousands of families statewide.

    “At a time when Latino families across our state are being targeted by the right-wing Trump anti-immigrant agenda, these cuts will only put additional strain on our community,” Robles added.

  • N.J. hospitals could lose an estimated $3.6 billion from Medicaid changes through 2032

    N.J. hospitals could lose an estimated $3.6 billion from Medicaid changes through 2032

    New Jersey hospitals could lose an estimated $3.6 billion from Medicaid changes through 2032, forcing them to bring their expenses in line, Inspira Health Network CEO Amy Mansue said Friday during a panel discussion in Cherry Hill.

    “That will only happen with dramatic changes in how we look at our business,” she said during the Southern New Jersey Development Council’s Annual Health Care Leadership Forum at the Legacy Club of Woodcrest.

    Mansue predicted that health systems will close little-used programs. “There is no way to cut that much money out of the hospitals without doing some of that,” she said.

    The $3.6 billion estimate from the New Jersey Hospital Association does not include hospitals’ losses from the growing population of uninsured people who show up at emergency departments because they can’t afford to pay cash for a doctor visit.

    Already nearly 69,000 people have allowed their individual coverage from New Jersey’s Affordable Care Act marketplace to lapse after temporarily enhance tax subsidies expired at the end of last year. Thousands more are expected to lose Medicaid coverage next year when new requirements to stay enrolled take affect.

    New Jersey’s regulatory burden

    The hospital executives pleaded for state officials to reduce the red tape that makes it hard to implement programs needed to meet community needs.

    “We need to be more nimble, we need to be more adaptable, we need to be more flexible,” said Aaron Chang, president of Jefferson Health NJ, which includes hospitals in Cherry Hill, Stratford, and Washington Township.

    Jennifer Khelil (left), Virtua Health’s chief clinical Officer; Aaron Chang (center), president of Jefferson Health New Jersey; and Amy Mansue, CEO of Inspira Health spoke Friday at the Southern New Jersey Development Council’s Health Care Leadership Forum.

    Inspira is adding a $220 million patient tower at Inspira Mullica Hill in Harrison Township, near the intersection of Routes 55 and 322. Construction is expected to be completed Oct. 1, Mansue said. “The reality is we’re not going to open until March” because it will take that long to get all the regulatory approvals, she said.

    Inspira operates three other hospitals in Cumberland and Salem Counties.

    Raynard E. Washington, who heads the N.J. Department of Health, spoke after the panel and said Gov. Mikie Sherrill is serious about making it easier to do business in the state. She told state agencies “to limit additional regulations and to look for opportunities to streamline,” he said.

    Workforce development is a top priority

    Six years ago, Virtua and Rowan University started working together to create the Virtua Health College of Medicine & Life Sciences out of Rowan’s School of Osteopathic Medicine, Rowan’s School of Nursing & Health Professions, and Virtua’s Our Lady of Lourdes Nursing School, plus a new school of translational biomedical engineering and sciences.

    The institution officially launched in 2022 with $85 million in support from Virtua and $125 million from Rowan and has seen its class sizes grow steadily.

    “We are now training about 360 nurse graduates every year, 300 medical students,” said Jennifer Khelil, Virtua’s chief clinical officer. Virtua operates five hospitals in South Jersey.

    Workforce efforts also reach into high schools, Chang said. Jefferson Cherry Hill Hospital has a relationship with Cherry Hill West High School that brings 12 to 15 interns to the hospital.

    “Because of the internship, their exposure to the hospital environment, whether it’s the ancillary departments and or the clinical areas, over 95% of those individuals get a healthcare job as a first foray into the workforce,” Chang said.

    Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct the time period for the Medicaid cuts.

  • How this property tax relief program for New Jersey seniors could change under the state’s budget deal

    How this property tax relief program for New Jersey seniors could change under the state’s budget deal

    A nascent property tax relief program for New Jersey seniors has been at the center of budget negotiations between Gov. Mikie Sherrill and lawmakers as the state’s budget deadline quickly approaches.

    That program, called Stay NJ, is expected to undergo changes that would slice the income eligibility by more than half, kicking off seniors that made hundreds of thousands of dollars and started reaping the benefit this year.

    The benefit is currently available to seniors making less than $500,000, but that cap would be lowered to $200,000 under an agreement between the governor and legislative leaders, according to reports of closed-door budget talks. Those making less money would be eligible for a larger refund under the arrangement.

    The proposal is a compromise between Sherrill, who pushed for cuts to the program, and House Speaker Craig Coughlin (D., Middlesex), a key player in budget negotiations who has championed Stay NJ.

    As the name suggests, Stay NJ was created in 2023 to incentivize New Jerseyans to remain in the Garden State by providing refunds to eligible senior homeowners. The program was designed to start payments in 2026, so the very first checks had just begun going out when the first term governor presented her early March budget proposal.

    She argued that the state could face a dire financial situation if there aren’t serious cuts.

    Here’s what to know about the status of the Stay NJ program.

    Is there a budget deal?

    Sherrill, Coughlin, and State Sen. President Nicholas Scutari (D., Union) announced Tuesday that they came to a budget “agreement.” The closed-door deal wasn’t made public, and legislators continue to iron out the details ahead of the deadline this coming Tuesday.

    They said the budget agreement totals $60.7 billion, the same total Sherrill proposed in March. The governor has touted her proposal as “fiscally responsible,” though it’s still the highest price tag in the state’s history.

    The joint statement mentioned few details but cited a handful of measures, including Stay NJ.

    The state leaders said their agreement ensures the program “is a sustainable benefit retirees can count on.”

    The fate of other programs impacting South Jerseyans is less clear, including Rowan’s veterinary school, a program that provides healthcare to children that have experienced abuse, and resource centers that help Hispanic women get employment.

    What is Stay NJ?

    The property tax relief program issues refund payments to eligible seniors in quarterly installments. The first Stay NJ payments were issued in February with an average of $600 each, according to the state treasurer’s office.

    Under the current policy, eligible homeowners over 65 years old who make under $500,000 a year are eligible to get refunds for as much as half their property tax bills. The refunds are capped at $6,500 in a year.

    What did Gov. Sherrill want to change about Stay NJ?

    Sherrill wanted to slice the eligibility cap in half so only seniors with an annual household income below $250,000 would qualify.

    She also wanted to lower the maximum benefit to $4,000.

    “That’s a fairer, more efficient use of taxpayer money,” she said in her budget address in early March.

    Stephen Sigmund, a spokesperson for Sherrill, said at the time of her proposal that 90% of Stay NJ recipients would keep their benefits.

    The AARP expressed outrage at her proposal as New Jersey seniors struggle with the cost of living. But critics of the program who believe it directs too much state money to higher earners praised her for wanting to rein it in.

    So what’s actually changing?

    According to reports of the budget agreement, Sherrill and legislators agreed on a compromise.

    Sherrill agreed to steer an additional $100 million funding to the program, NJ.com reported.

    Meanwhile, legislative leaders agreed to lower the income threshold to qualify for the program to $200,000, even lower than what Sherrill initially suggested.

    And as part of the new plan, those earning the least would get bigger deductions, according to the report.

    Seniors making $100,000 or less would qualify for up to $6,500; those making between $100,000 and $150,000 would be eligible for up to $5,000, and those making $150,000 to $200,000 would qualify for up to $4,000, according to the report.

    Coughlin said at an AARP town hall that Sherrill’s proposed cap across the board of $4,000 was “too low,” and that he would “stand up for Stay NJ,” New Jersey Monitor reported earlier this month.

    Spokespeople for the governor did not respond to a request asking for confirmation of the plan.

  • Gov. Mikie Sherrill proposed an 80% cut to a program that provides job training and support to Hispanic women. The budget is due in days.

    Gov. Mikie Sherrill proposed an 80% cut to a program that provides job training and support to Hispanic women. The budget is due in days.

    Consensa Francisca Silva Silva moved to Camden from Costa Rica more than two years ago knowing nobody. She lived on the street for two months, she said, and then was bouncing from house to house when a young man in the neighborhood told her to check out the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center in Camden, one of several such centers in the state.

    She went. With help from the program, Silva received food, obtained a work permit, made a down payment for a studio apartment, and started a job at McDonald’s.

    That statewide initiative is now facing detrimental cuts under Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s budget proposal. The governor has proposed cutting nearly 80% of its funding, and Silva worries that other immigrant women looking to improve their circumstances will not get the help she received.

    “It was very hard to come here without knowing anyone, and it was really hard because at first I couldn’t find any work,” Silva, who is Nicaraguan, said in Spanish, translated by Jesselly De La Cruz, the executive director of the Latino Action Network Foundation, which funds the centers.

    The initiative is one of numerous South Jersey programs at risk under Sherrill’s proposal, including the Rowan University veterinary school and a program that provides mental healthcare to abused children. But the cuts are not a done deal.

    Sherrill and legislative leaders announced Tuesday they had come to an “agreement” on a budget totaling $60.7 billion, the same price tag Sherrill proposed in March. But it has not been made public and it is unclear how far into the details they have gotten. They have until Tuesday to figure it out.

    And the process is still underway. State Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez, a Camden Democrat who sits on the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, has been a supporter of the centers. She was unable to speak Wednesday afternoon because she was in a committee budget hearing.

    Client Consensa Francisca Silva Silva (right) participates in a workshop at the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center in Camden Thursday, June 11, 2026.

    On a recent Thursday, Silva participated in a healthy life skills workshop in Spanish at the Camden center, where she learned about taking care of herself as summer temperatures get hotter in the city. About 20 adults clapped for one another with big smiles on their faces, and they received goody bags with sunscreen, lip balm, a towel to keep cool, and a little fan. A young girl played with magnetic tiles and a baby was kept calm, passed between women.

    The governor proposed cutting funding for the center’s programs to $535,000, down from more than $2.5 million this year and more than $3 million in 2025. Murphy had proposed a similar cut last year, but the funding was restored during budget negotiations.

    Hispanic Women’s Resource Centers were established through 1991 legislation to address the wage gap for Latinas. New Jersey is one of the states with the biggest wage gap for Latina workers, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

    Staff members observe from back of the room during a workshop at the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center in Camden Thursday, June 11, 2026.

    The Latino Action Network Foundation funds these resource centers in partnership with six nonprofits across 14 sites, including five in South Jersey. The Camden center is located at the nonprofit Healthy Families and Communities, and there are centers in Vineland in Cumberland County, Hammonton in Atlantic County, Pennsville in Salem County, and Rio Grande in Cape May County.

    Sherrill’s proposal would “drastically cut” the number of resource centers, and sites in Hammonton and in Lakewood, in Ocean County, would likely be on the chopping block, De La Cruz said, adding that services would need to be cut in eight of 11 counties.

    Martha Infante, 38, who lives in Pennsauken, said she was disoriented when she moved to South Jersey from the Dominican Republic. But through the Camden center, she found out how to apply for work online and learned basic English. She obtained coats for her daughters’ first U.S. winter, and a staffer accompanied her to a New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles center to get her driver’s license.

    “I came here and my mind was all over the place, I didn’t know where things were,” she said in Spanish.

    She now works as a home health aide, thanks to training she got through the center, and even participated in a program where she learned about advocating for her community in Trenton.

    “Don’t cut these funds, Gov. Sherrill,” she pleaded. “Don’t cut the funds! This is like a family. It’s like a home for the community.”

    Client Martha Infante (left) talks with staff member Chailienisse Vega (right) after participating in a workshop at the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center in Camden Thursday, June 11, 2026.

    Some of the women in the program are fleeing domestic violence and seeking financial independence. Others are struggling to get a work permit, or may have lost a family member who helped pay the bills to deportation. A lot of former “Dreamers” — undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. as children — utilize the center as well, De La Cruz said.

    The need for the centers has only escalated under President Donald Trump’s second administration, she said.

    The social worker-turned-executive said she was surprised by the severity of Sherrill’s proposed cut, especially because of the governor’s efforts to push back against Trump’s immigration policies.

    A 2023 Rutgers study funded by the Latino Action Network Foundation found that the most popular services at these resource centers were English-language classes and employment services, such as job referrals, assistance filling out applications, resume writing, and interview preparation.

    Staff member Andreina Pardo pauses to stretch with participants as she leads a workshop at the Hispanic Women’s Resource Center in Camden Thursday, June 11, 2026.

    “Aside from helping them with the technical aspects of job hunting, the assistance from the Centers seemed to provide a boost of confidence for many of the women, giving them an additional push to apply for positions even if they felt hesitant to do so at first,” the study said.

    Gladys, 48, who declined to give her last name due to concerns over her safety, said in Spanish that the free English courses made her feel like she could “come up for air and breathe” after not being able to communicate.

    The Camden resident had been an ecologist in Nicaragua and has gotten involved in the center’s community garden. She said she would love to pursue a career teaching children about the environment, but her plans are on hold because her work visa was canceled.

    In the meantime, Gladys said, activities at the center like art classes have made her feel less alone. She has been able to connect with women in the same situation as her, and those who migrated to the U.S. earlier who can give her advice from their experiences.

    “Maybe my circumstances don’t change, but my emotional well-being changes because I’m able to connect with others,” she said in Spanish.

  • Medford bans data centers within town limits amid public debate about AI

    Medford bans data centers within town limits amid public debate about AI

    Large-scale data centers will not be moving into Medford any time soon thanks to a new ordinance adopted unanimously by the Medford Township Council this week.

    While the township has not yet received any formal applications for data centers, officials are taking steps like the ordinance passed Tuesday that specifically prohibits the land use within town limits as a chance to be proactive.

    “These are extra precautions to ensure that we don’t move forward in a direction that we can’t come back from until we know full well what the impacts of data centers will be,” Medford Mayor Michael Czyzyk said at Tuesday’s public hearing.

    The ordinance received support from Medford-area residents at the hearing but some questioned whether the township might be making its bed too early considering how quickly technology evolves, especially if there’s a chance to reap the rewards of a data center project without negatively impacting the surrounding community.

    “If there’s no impacts to the residents and there’s only a financial benefit, I believe I would consider looking at that at that time, but we’re not there yet,” Czyzyk said.

    While the ordinance constraints may seem all-limiting as it exists today, Czyzyk said, council maintains the authority to at any point amend the ordinance to permit data centers in the township’s redevelopment district.

    “I definitely understand that things will evolve and there may be a time in the future that the term data center is something that is more amenable to the residents and the body that governs them,” Czyzyk said.

    “I will feel comfortable with the vote I cast on this ordinance tonight knowing full well that today I feel that way and that there’s mechanisms in the future if things do change, a process will be undertaken to remedy that,” he said.

    Nearby in Cherry Hill, Mayor David Fleisher has explicitly vowed to block the construction of any large AI or commercial data facilities in the township citing concerns of high energy usage, water consumption, and proximity to residents.

    There are dozens of data centers currently operating throughout the state with major hubs located primarily in North Jersey urban centers like Secaucus and Newark. But more recently, developers have been eyeing spots in rural South Jersey as the industry expands to meet growing demands for generative AI.

    For months, South Jersey residents have been protesting a major AI data center that is currently under construction in Vineland.

    Developers and other data-center proponents say the facilities bring in tax revenue, create jobs, make use of old industrial sites, and put towns on the cutting edge of a hot industry, all without straining school districts or emergency services.

    Opponents, meanwhile, cite concerns about pollution, noise, power and water use, and the impact on their electric bills. Some also say they worry the AI boom is a bubble that could soon burst.

    As concerns continue to grow among towns across the Garden State, representatives from more than 60 environmental, labor, and community groups sent a letter to New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill last month calling for a statewide moratorium on the approval and construction of new facilities that use 20 megawatts or more of power.

    So far in response to the public pressure, Sherrill has proposed a plan that would require new data centers to cover grid upgrades, utilize their own power generators, and publicly report resource usage.

    While some municipalities like Medford have issued moratoriums on new data centers, no state governments have successfully done so, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.