News Flash

CARES Act Information Update

Posted on our Town Crier blog is a Federal CARES Act Update. It provides information on the $150 billion State and Local Stabilization Aid component of the massive $2.2 Trillion CARES Act. These funds can only be used to fund extraordinary costs, caused b...

CARES Bill Follow-up

The $2 Trillion aid package passed last week in Washington will do a lot of good. But for the State of New Jersey and for New Jersey municipalities preparing their budget, at a time when all face almost certain revenue losses, more will need to be done. P...

Federal CARES Act Analysis Continues

On Wednesday, we posted a preliminary analysis of S.3548, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) on our Towne Crier blog. The bill passed the Senate, late Wednesday night. The House just passed the bill as well. As our analysis...

NJ Received Major Disaster Declaration

President Donald J. Trump has issued a Major Disaster Declaration for the State of New Jersey. The declaration will provide federal assistance to supplement statewide recovery efforts affected by the COVID-19 pandemic beginning on January 20, 2020. Govern...

Contact Your Washington Representatives: COVID-19 Emergency Bill

Late last night, we received word that a final deal has been reached on the 3rd emergency supplemental measure in response to COVID-19. If late night reports are accurate, the deal completely eliminates direct stabilization aid to municipal governments, w...

White House COVID-19 Briefing Scheduled

On Wednesday, March 25, at 1:00 PM ET, U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams and Senior Administration Officials will conduct a briefing call on COVID-19 (coronavirus). The purpose of this call is to provide State and local elected officials with up-to-date i...

NJLM Advocates for Public Employers Representation in Families First Coronavirus Response Act

We have contacted our Congressional delegation to seek, for public employers, the same consideration that has been extended to private employers, concerning paid family and sick leave requirements.The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (HR 6201) crea...

Federal Update on COVID-19 Response by the National League of Cities

From our colleagues at the National League of Cities we are providing the following brief update on Federal legislative action in response to COVID-19.The White House released new guidelines aimed at reducing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The changing...

Delays on Gateway Continue

On Wednesday in Washington, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Elaine Chao said that three hurdles remain to be cleared before a Gateway Tunnel start. 

A decision on the project’s eligibility for Capital Investment Grant...

Congress Sends Coronavirus Response Funding Bill to White House

Congress has sent President Trump an $8.3 billion emergency funding bill to combat the coronavirus.

The bill, H.R. 6074 (116) includes almost $6.5 billion to the Department of Health and Human Services, nearly $1.3 billion to the State Department, and $20 ...

EPA Proposing Revisions to Federal Lead & Copper Rule

As you may be aware, late last year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) released proposed revisions to the Lead and Copper Rule to reduce lead exposure in drinking water. This action represents the first major ove...

U.S. House Advances Infrastructure Framework

The National League of Cities (NLC) reports that, on Wednesday, leadership in the House of Representatives, led by the Chairmen of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Rep. Peter DeFazio (OR), Energy and Commerce Committee Rep. Frank Pallone (N...

NLC Spotlights Local Needs for Federal Office Seekers

Our partners at the National League of Cities (NLC), the umbrella association which represents all of the states’ municipal leagues in Washington, has launched its effort to bring municipal concerns to the attention of candidates seeking electio...

Federal Budget Increases Delaware River Basin Funding

Among other items included in the Federal FY 2020 Budget, adopted just before Christmas, Congress appropriated $9.7 million for the Delaware River Basin Restoration Program. This funding will be available to nonprofits and other groups, to support project...

Federal Food Stamps Rule Change Raises Pressure on Recipients and Providers

Some 12,000 New Jersey residents stand to lose federal food assistance next year due to a Trump administration program change. Saying he is returning the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to its intended purpose as temporary help in tough t...

Representative Sherrill Urges Congress to Act on SALT Cap Relief

In an effort to educate her colleagues in Congress on the unfairness of the $10,000 cap on federal income tax deductions for amounts paid in State and Local Taxes (SALT), New Jersey Representative Mikie Sherrill is taking the House Floor on twelve consecu...

FCC Seeks Local Elected Officials for Advisory Committee

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is soliciting nominations for membership on the Intergovernmental  Advisory Committee (IAC) and has announced that it is extending the deadline to submit nominations until January 13, 2020.

The mission o...

NJ Senators Booker & Menendez Seek Reasons for Gateway Delays

In a Wednesday letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, Senators Booker and Menendez reiterated the need for timely federal action to advance the vital Gateway Project, and, again, offered their assistance. The letter highlights the crucial na...

FEMA to Delay New Flood Insurance Rates

On Thursday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced that it would delay the implementation of new National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) rates, which had been scheduled to become effective October 1, 2020 - just before next year&rsq...

New Law Will Help Fund Drinking Water Remediation

On Friday, October 4, the President signed into law S.1689, a bill co-sponsored by New Jersey Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez. The new law provides New Jersey, and other States, with the funding flexibility needed to respond to lead from antiquated ...

NJ Transit Submits New Portal Bridge Proposal to Feds

In another effort to end Federal inertia on the Portal Bridge project, New Jersey Transit (NJT) has forwarded a new funding plan to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). The plan to finance the construction of a new crossing was approved by the NJT Bo...

Congress Returns to Work as Fiscal Year Nears End

The Federal Government’s Fiscal Year ends at the end of this month. Both Houses of Congress will reconvene for legislative action this week. We expect to see timely action on appropriations, which will prevent, or at least postpone, yet another ...

Urging Federal Action on Gateway Portal Bridge

Yesterday Governor Murphy was joined by New Jersey Legislative Leaders and members of New Jersey Congressional Delegation in calling upon federal officials to join the State in funding the replacement of the 108-year-old moveable Portal Bridge. In his&...

Federal Cybersecurity Agency Releases Strategic Intent Document

On Thursday, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security released a Strategic Intent document. Agency Director Christopher Krebs notes, in the document, “In no arena is this framing of the CISA m...

NJ Sues Federal Administration over IRS’ SALT Workaround Regulations

This week, Governor Murphy and State Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced that New Jersey has joined with New York and Connecticut to sue the federal government, challenging IRS rules related to certain workarounds to the $10,000 cap on state and loca...

U.S. Senate Introduce Companion Bill to Overturn FCC Small Cell Preemption Order

Recently, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California introduced S.2012 also known as the Restoring Local Control of Public Infrastructure Act of 2019. S.2012 is a companion bill to H.R. 530 or the Accelerating Broadband Development by Empowering Local Communi...

IRS Final Regulations Effectively End NJ’s SALT Cap Workaround

On Tuesday, the IRS issued final regulations regarding the deductibility of charitable contributions when the contributor receives in exchange a state or local tax credit. These final regulations come about after New Jersey and many other states took effo...

HUD and White House release Opportunity Zone Plan

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council (WHORC) have released an implementation plan outlining how local leaders can maximize benefits when participating in the Opportunity Zone...

Experts See Local, State, Federal Cooperation Key to Election Security

On Oct. 3, 2018, in Washington, federal election watchdogs conducted an election security briefing with state officials and members of Congress. William Evanina, director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and Christopher Krebs, the ...