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Governor Christie: The people in this state are being driven from this state because of high property taxes. We know that. We also know that children across the state, especially in those 31 districts, are being driven from a productive, happy, successful future by a failed education system. Neither one of those things are acceptable to me. So now you know the governor has put forward what is now called a ‘radical’ school funding plan.

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06) announced more than $5 million in grants to the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority (BRSA) from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to assist in the recovery from Hurricane Sandy. The grants will help repair BRSA’s main pumping station and Dewatering/Incineration building

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez today unveiled federal legislation that takes aim at zombie homes that plague New Jersey communities and drive down property values. New Jersey had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation in 2015 with over 35,000 filings and a recent report found the state has the most vacant zombie foreclosures in the nation with over 4,000.

The issue that in every poll that you see for my lifetime has been named by the people of New Jersey as the most important issue: reducing property taxes. The 2% cap has restrained property taxes and if we pass this school funding formula, you will see why the 2% cap is so important because if you give them all this money, believe me they’ll want to spend it. But with a 2% cap they’ll only be able to spend 2% of the new money they get.

Enjoy some live and intimate performances in the picturesque and serene Cottage Garden at the Morris County Park Commission’s Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morris Township on Friday nights this June and July, featuring a wide mix of music and some tasty deserts

As part of its ongoing commitment to help families impacted by Superstorm Sandy by linking them to available resources, the Christie Administration announced that its six Sandy Housing Counseling Agencies are holding free outreach activities this month in counties most impacted by Sandy.

According to the annual, national report released today, New Jersey is the fifth most expensive state to rent a home; only Hawaii, California, New York, and Maryland are less affordable as well as Washington, DC which is counted separately. In order to afford a modest two-bedroom home in the Garden State, a family must earn an hourly wage of $26.52, far more than the state’s average hourly wage of $16.98 or the $8.38 minimum wage.

Deputy Assembly Minority Leader Anthony M. Bucco Thursday joined guest host Steve Lonegan on The Voice of Liberty, a radio program on WNJE-AM. Bucco shared the results of a report he received from the Office of Legislative Services on outmigration.

New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (HMFA) Executive Director Anthony L. Marchetta recently joined elected state and local officials and community leaders to celebrate the groundbreaking of Keansburg Mixed Income, a project that features an eight-story high-rise complex of 186 rental apartments. The new residences will be affordable and market-rate. The developer is RPM Development LLC located in Montclair.

The spring rain deluge has ended – for now. So it’s time to take a good look outside your house, apartment, condo or wherever you live and drain sources of standing water where mosquitoes breed if you’d like to help avoid a nasty plague of those pesky biting and disease carrying critters this spring and summer.

In its continued effort to meet and assist Sandy-impacted families right in their home communities, the Christie Administration today announced that the 34th Information Session will be held Wednesday, May 11th, 2016, at Metropolitan Mobile Home Park in Moonachie, to provide personal assistance for storm-affected homeowners participating in the Reconstruction, Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation (RREM) Program and LMI Homeowners Rebuilding Program.

The Brick Township Council passed an amendment Tuesday which removes as many unnecessary barriers as possible for people elevating their homes. The amendment to Chapter 245 – Permitted Yard Encroachments, allows for access to staircases with an entry stoop or platform not to exceed a total 100 square feet in area and no further than 5 feet into a required rear yard setback area.

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing, and Cory Booker applauded the announcement today by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that the Housing Trust Fund is providing more than $3.7 million to New Jersey to help increase the supply of safe, affordable housing available for the state’s lowest income families. This is the first new source of federal funding in more than four decades dedicated to expanding affordable rental housing opportunities for extremely low income households.

Advocates, service providers, and impacted individuals are united in their frustration in response to Governor Christie’s May 2 conditional veto of legislation that would have modified the state’s Emergency Assistance (EA) program. “The Christie administration has made homelessness in New Jersey far worse – not better,” stated Jeff Wild, executive director of the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness. “Tragically, about a year ago, this administration launched a campaign to cut back on EA: the last resort for our most vulnerable adults and children, which serves many thousands of homeless statewide

A critical report on New Jersey’s online municipal tax lien auctions issued Tuesday by the State Commission of Investigation recommended a series of remedies contained in legislation (A2887) introduced by Assemblyman Ron Dancer in February.

The transitional government set up in South Sudan as part of last year’s peace accord has missed a major internationally-set deadline thereby jeopardizing the establishment of a lasting democratic government in the new country according to experts testifying at a Capitol Hill hearing today.

Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. (NJ-06), senior Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, visited the Rutgers Solar Farm in Piscataway on the 46th Earth Day to address the need for investments in clean energy in New Jersey and throughout the country. Middlesex Freeholder Charlie Kenny, Piscataway Mayor Brian Wahler and representatives from the League of Conservation Voters and Clean Water Action also attended the event

U.S. Senators Bob Menendez and Cory Booker today announced the awarding of an additional $45,354,517 in Phase 2 funding from the U.S. Treasury’s Hardest Hit Fund (HHF) to assist financially-stressed New Jersey homeowners with mortgage modifications and refinancing to avert foreclosure and stay in their homes. New Jersey, which had the nation’s highest foreclosure rate in 2015, was awarded $69,231,301 in Phase 1 funding in February, for a total of $114,585,818 during this fifth and final round of allocations.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez, Ranking Member of the Senate Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation, and Community Development, today joined several Senate colleagues at a Capitol Hill news conference to unveil comprehensive legislation that addresses the problem of lead-contaminated water and lead-based paint in New Jersey and across the country, and prioritizes upgrades to our nation’s crumbling water infrastructure, while creating thousands of good paying jobs.

Senate Democrats introduced a broad-based new plan today that strengthens the federal government’s role in water infrastructure investment, lead remediation and drinking water protection, and a provision co-sponsored by U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) to help school districts across the country test their drinking water for potential lead contamination is a key component