Last minute budget deal impacts Stay NJ benefit—NJ Top News
Here's the stories you'll be talking about on the New Jersey 101.5 Morning Show on Monday:
🔗 New Jersey's $60.7B budget finally appears — just in time to avoid public scrutiny
🏛️ Lawmakers finally unveiled New Jersey's $60.74 billion budget just two days before the June 30 deadline after announcing a "deal" nearly a week earlier.
💰 The spending plan adds hundreds of legislative spending items, increases the surplus and is accompanied by a separate $358.8 million supplemental budget.
⏳ The late release leaves lawmakers and the public with little time to review thousands of pages before final votes are expected.
Budget finally unveiled, but New Jersey lawmakers leave little time for public scrutiny
After nearly a week of saying they had reached a budget agreement, New Jersey lawmakers finally released the details of the state's $60.74 billion spending plan on Sunday — just two days before the constitutional deadline to approve it. New Jersey Globe was the first to publish the actual budget document.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin announced last week that they had reached a budget deal. But the actual legislation wasn't made public until Sunday, leaving lawmakers, advocates and taxpayers with little opportunity to thoroughly review the proposal before final votes are expected.
While legislative budget negotiations are often conducted behind closed doors, this year's process came after Sherrill pledged to bring greater transparency to state government. Instead, lawmakers and the public were left waiting nearly a week after leaders declared a deal before seeing the actual language of the budget.
Senate Republican Budget Officer Declan O'Scanlon called the process "a travesty," arguing legislators were again being asked to vote on one of the state's most important bills with virtually no time for meaningful review.
Click the link above to see what's in the budget.
🔗 Thousands of NJ seniors to lose property tax relief under Stay NJ overhaul
🔹 Seniors earning more than $200,000 will no longer qualify for Stay NJ property tax relief under the new budget proposal.
🏠 Benefits will now be tiered, with the largest tax breaks reserved for lower-income senior homeowners.
💰 State leaders say the changes make Stay NJ more sustainable, while critics warn some seniors will lose promised relief.
After days of closed-door negotiations and just hours before lawmakers were asked to begin voting, New Jersey legislative leaders finally unveiled the details of a $60.7 billion state budget on Sunday.
Among the biggest changes: a significant overhaul of the Stay NJ property tax relief program for seniors.
According to reporting by NJ.com, the budget preserves Stay NJ but sharply narrows who qualifies for the program.
Gov. Mikie Sherrill originally proposed reducing the income eligibility cap from $500,000 to $250,000. The final budget agreement goes even further, lowering the threshold to approximately $200,000.
That means senior homeowners with incomes above that level will no longer qualify for the benefit.
Click the link to discover how the new income limits may effect your benefit.
🔗 AAA: NJ July 4 traffic still brutal despite higher gas prices
🚗 Nearly 2 million New Jerseyans are expected to travel 50+ miles over the Fourth of July holiday, with roads expected to stay jammed despite a slight dip in drivers.
✈️ Cruises, trains and buses are surging as more travelers look for affordable alternatives to flying, while air travel remains mostly flat.
⚠️ AAA warns the worst traffic is still coming and urges drivers to service their vehicles before hitting the road to avoid holiday breakdowns.
Pack your patience, New Jersey.
AAA expects nearly two million residents to travel 50 miles or more from home over the Independence Day holiday travel period, which runs from Saturday, June 27 to Sunday, July 5.
That’s only a slight increase from a year ago, said AAA Club Alliance Spokeswoman Tracy Noble.
“The big surprise for me anyway, is that we’re actually seeing a slight decrease year-over-year in the amount of people that are going to be driving to their destinations,” Noble said.
A little more than 1.6 million New Jerseyans will drive at least 50 miles or more to their destinations over the nine day Fourth of July holiday period. That’s 82% of people traveling by car, down 0.4% from a year ago, she added.
It’s also the first time since 2019 that AAA is seeing a year-over-year decrease in car travel based in part on high gas prices, and people choosing to stick closer to home.
That being said, Noble said do not be fooled. This travel forecast is for travelers driving 50 miles or more.
“Don’t kid yourself if you think this is going to be a less trafficky holiday week or weekend. Our roadways are still going to be packed with a majority of folks heading to the shore,” Noble said.
🔗 Accused killer of 2 Cranford teens will be tried as an adult
✅A Garwood teen accused of killing two Cranford teens will be tried as an adult
✅Prosecutors say Vincent Battiloro intentionally struck the girls at 70 mph
✅The court waiver allows Battiloro to be publicly identified
CRANFORD — A teen charged with murdering two best friends, including a girl he reportedly stalked for months, will face justice as an adult.
Vincent Battiloro, of Garwood, faces two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of 17-year-olds Maria Niotis and Isabella Salas on Burnside Avenue in Cranford on Sept. 29.
Union County Prosecutor William Daniel announced late Friday afternoon that Battiloro's case will be tried publicly in Superior Court with him facing charges as an adult.
Battiloro, who was age 17 at the time, hit the girls on an e-bike from behind with a Jeep Cherokee at a speed of 70 mph in a 25 mph zone, according to Daniel.
For months, many in New Jersey knew the face and voice of the teenager who went on a profanity-laced livestream just days after two Cranford girls were killed. Classmates of the victims and neighbors of the suspect also knew his name.
Now everyone will know after prosecutors successfully moved the case into adult court, publicly identifying the defendant as Battiloro. The waiver ends months of Family Court proceedings that kept his name confidential despite widespread attention surrounding the case.
“The decision to try the defendant as an adult is a welcomed sliver of justice. We are grateful to the Prosecutor’s Office for their efforts as well as the community at large for continuing to keep Maria and Isabella’s memories alive," their parents said in a joint statement released by attorney Brent Bramnick.
🔗 NJ Transit delays Hamilton station escalator replacement
🚆Both escalators at NJ Transit's Hamilton station have been out of service for 5 years
🚆NJ Transit signed a $5.1 million contract in 2025 to replace the aging escalators
🚆The original manufacturer went out of business, forcing a full replacement project
HAMILTON (Mercer) — A longtime NJ Transit project will take a bit longer than planned.
One of the two escalators on the outbound side of the Hamilton station has been broken since September 2021, according to the Asbury Park Press. The other went out of service in July 2024.
Long a source of irritation for commuters, NJ Transit signed a $5.1 million contract in April 2025 with Hall Construction Co to fully replace both escalators by summer 2026. That date has been delayed.
The catch with the project was that all the parts required had to be made, which NJ Transit described as a "complex process" that was expected to take up to 10 months. Work on the new escalator could not begin until all the parts were ready.
Friday, NJ Transit updated its advisory to show that the escalators would remain out of service until "approximately October of 2026."
The agency told the Asbury Park Press that the company that manufactured the escalator went out of business in the early 2000s, which is why the escalators are being replaced.
Questions to ask to see if someone’s REALLY from New Jersey
Gallery Credit: Jeff Deminski
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