New Jersey
As New Jersey lawmakers kick off 2024, advocates are looking for some economic relief
From Camden and Cherry Hill to Trenton and the Jersey Shore, what about life in New Jersey do you want WHYY News to cover? Let us know.
With the onset of the new year, New Jersey leaders are figuring out their legislative focus for the coming months. Citizen groups and experts are also weighing in on what lawmakers ought to prioritize. But how much will the legislature accomplish in a Presidential election year? Will advocacy groups have their wish lists fulfilled?
For Dena Mottola-Jaborska, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, a healthcare expansion plan for lower-income New Jerseyans is a top priority so that residents can access programs such as Medicaid. She said the state’s Family Leave program also needs expansion so people can care for sick family members or welcome a newborn without added stress.
“We’re working on some changes to the program that will make it more accessible for low-income and moderate-income people,” she said
New Jersey Citizen Action is also advocating raising the state’s minimum wage, which just increased to $15.13 an hour on January 1. Mottola-Jaborska said the initiative would help low- and moderate-income families build wealth and disposable income.
Affordability has always been a top issue for the state. New Jersey has been singled out for having the highest property taxes in the nation, and several studies have found that the Garden State also has one of the highest costs of living.
Kelly Dittmar, an associate professor of political science at Rutgers University in Camden and director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers, said there will be continued efforts to provide residents economic relief, stability, and security.
Benjamin Dworkin, director of the Rowan University Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship, said lawmakers launched a series of programs to support residents last year, including a senior citizen property tax reduction plan. He said the legislature will be trying to find money for many big-ticket programs and services.
“Funding for New Jersey Transit, school funding, and school regionalization might take on a new importance, we’re looking at potentially the re-funding of the Transportation Trust Fund,” he said.
But the biggest challenge for the legislature in 2024 will be managing what is widely considered a slowing period of economic growth, Dworkin said.
Mottola-Jaborska said her organization is trying to get the state’s Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program improved so that very low-income families can get higher benefits.
“We’d like to see it increased because we see it as a program. I think most people hope it’s a program that helps people get out of poverty,” she said. “But if the benefit is so tiny, people just continue to struggle.”
The Temporary Assistance to Needy Families program used to be known as welfare.
New Jersey
Husband of slain New Jersey mom begs for help in newly released 911 call | Fox News Video
Former homicide detective Brian Foley joins ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to provide analysis on Conor Hanlon’s 911 call after finding his wife, Brooke, stabbed to death.
Former homicide detective Brian Foley provides expert insights into the newly released 911 call from Conor Hanlon, whose wife, New Jersey therapist Brooke Hanlon, was found stabbed to death. Foley analyzes the husband’s emotional state and the police’s approach, noting the case’s ‘suspicious’ designation 13 minutes into the call.
New Jersey
NJ firefighter dies after crash responding to fire call
A young firefighter died two weeks after being badly hurt in a crash while responding to a fire call, according to the Malaga Fire Company.
Robert (Bobby) Reider, 23, was driving north along Delsea Drive while trying to get to the scene of fire on Saturday, June 27 when his car went off the road, officials said.
When first responders got to the scene of the crash, they found Reider trapped in his car and worked to remove him.
Reider was then taken by helicopter to a nearby hospital where he was treated for severe and traumatic injuries.
Weeks later, on July 10 around 4:30 a.m., Reider died from his injuries while still in the hospital.
The Malaga Fire Company says that Reider joined their team in 2018 when he was just 16 as a junior firefighter.
He then went on to earn a certificate at Fire 1 at the Salem County Fire Academy in 2022.
New Jersey
NJ Legislators Are Considering a Bill That Could Ban Tesla Robotaxis Due to Their Tech Choice
New Jersey lawmakers are deliberating on a law that would create a three-year autonomous vehicle pilot program in the state, but Tesla might be banned from participating altogether over a technical choice made by the Texas-based carmaker for its self-driving vehicles.
The bill, officially known as S1677, would establish autonomous vehicle testing requirements with the New Jersey Department of Transportation (DOT) and the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission. One of these proposed requirements is that autonomous vehicle operators use camera-based technology and two additional forms of sensor tech, such as lidar or radar. Of course, Tesla’s autonomous vehicle technology is purely camera-based, meaning the brand could be banned from testing in New Jersey.
The text of the bill is fairly straightforward, requiring prospective autonomous operators to submit a “law enforcement interaction plan” and detail redundant safety systems, crash-avoidance technology, and data recording capabilities. The specific language that would ban Tesla’s system requires autonomous operators to “be equipped with crash-avoidance systems, including a camera system and two distinct sensing modalities that are capable of detecting and tracking obstacles in the event of failure of the camera system.” The bill also favors keeping traditional steering wheel and pedal controls available. While initial testing would be completed with human safety operators, the bill would allow fully autonomous operation once certain metrics, such as 50,000 crash-free miles, are met.
The decision to require both camera- and sensor-based technology is not a coincidence, according to The Verge. “This is not anti-Tesla. I’m pro-New Jersey safety,” Democratic state senator Andrew Zwicker, the bill’s primary sponsor and a physicist by trade, said to The Verge. “At this point, I don’t think the evidence is sufficient that a single sensor with software can handle situations that humans can.”
Tesla is, unsurprisingly, upset about this development, and the company is fighting back. The automaker’s public policy platform, Engage Tesla, features a call to action for Tesla owners to contact members of the New Jersey Legislature to oppose the bill, with the plea claiming the autonomous vehicle testing program is the opposite of progress, and saying that Tesla would be legally barred from testing in the Garden State. Statistics about roadway death rates in New Jersey and denying freedom of movement for elderly populations are also included.
“Rather than prioritizing real safety outcomes and performance, the bill specifically bans Tesla from the New Jersey market,” the site reads. “Every arbitrary roadblock is a delay for the people who need this life-changing technology most. Legislation that bans Tesla’s proven AV technology from the market is not caution — it’s anti-competitive favoritism that will cause New Jersey to fall behind while other states move forward.”
The bill, introduced on January 16, is currently under consideration by the New Jersey Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. The bill’s language closely mirrors talking points from the nonprofit SAVE-US, which is lobbying for stronger oversight of autonomous vehicle testing. New Jersey is not the only state pondering additional autonomous testing regulation; New York legislators are working on similar legislation. Just yesterday, federal safety regulators called out autonomous vehicle operators like Waymo for interfering with first responders.
A New York transplant hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Emmet White has a passion for anything that goes: cars, bicycles, planes, and motorcycles. After learning to ride at 17, Emmet worked in the motorcycle industry before joining Autoweek in 2022 and Road & Track in 2024. The woes of alternate side parking have kept his fleet moderate, with a 2014 Volkswagen Jetta GLI and a BMW 318i E30 street parked in his Queens community.
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