In The News
Wide Achievement Gap Persists Despite New PARCC Exams
For all the changes that the state’s new PARCC testing has wrought for New Jersey’s public schools, one constant has prevailed: a wide and deep achievement gap.
New Jersey Tops Illinois as State With Worst-Off Pension System
New Jersey became the state with the worst-funded public pension system in the U.S. in 2015, followed closely by Kentucky and Illinois.
The Garden State had $135.7 billion less than it needs to cover all the benefits that have been promised, a $22.6 billion increase over the prior year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Illinois’s unfunded pension liabilities rose to $119.1 billion from $111.5 billion.
Health coverage eats up 9% of NJ household budgets
New Jersey workers paid an average of $4,900 for family health coverage last year, up from about $3,000 in 2006, a new report from the Commonwealth Fund said on Tuesday.
That increase came even though the growth of health premiums slowed in the years after the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare — was enacted in 2010.
Free legal services for county residents Friday in Burlington City
BURLINGTON CITY — Getting legal assistance can be costly and intimidating. Figuring out to whom to ask questions and where to go is difficult for the ordinary citizen.
ADVOCATES WANT LEGISLATIVE LEADERS TO CURB SURPRISE MEDICAL BILLS
The goal: protect patients from unexpected fees charged by out-of-network doctors and hospitals, while also saving the state money
Legislative leaders are facing growing pressure to advance a proposal designed to cut costly medical bills issued to patients treated by healthcare providers who are not part of their insurance network, a practice that opponents said adds up to $1 billion each year to costs in New Jersey.
Lawmakers Want Fish And Game Council To Ban Foothold Traps — Again
The Legislature is trying to ban the use of foothold animal traps once again — more than 30 years after lawmakers thought they had done so.
The latest twist in the three-decade-old fight is a resolution to declare a new regulation by the state Division of Fish & Game Council allowing certain foothold traps inconsistent with the legislative intent of a 1984 law that prohibited steel jaw leg-hold traps.
Paid Media in Political Campaigns – Down but Not Out
Political advertising on network T.V. is down from 2012, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The Journal stated that Kantar Media, CMAG, a top ad tracking agency, reported that the outlook for 2016 is that $2.8 billion will be spent on broadcast political advertising.
Lisa's Law advances in Assembly, would monitor domestic violence offenders
TRENTON — Victims of domestic violence could be electronically notified that their assailants are close by if a bill advanced by the New Jersey Assembly Appropriations Committee on Thursday becomes law.
EDITORIAL: Voters’ turn on gas tax
Once Gov. Chris Christie makes it all official, New Jersey will be stuck with a bad deal to raise the gas tax in exchange for some ill-advised tax cuts.