The $335 million spending increase for schools that was originally proposed during the Gov. Murphy's budget address in February has been scrapped, the governor said Tuesday during his budget address at SHI Stadium at Rutgers University in Piscataway. The formula funding is part of Murphy’s $32.4 billion budget for the nine months beginning October 1st and will cause Merchantville to lose 11.5% of the 2020-21 funds originally promised. It includes $4 billion in borrowing and $1 billion in new taxes. The proposed budget cuts $89 million from 31 districts with budgets below the adequacy level. 

On Thursday Gov. Murphy announced additional steps to take pressure off the overburdened Motor Vehicle Commission, once again extending deadlines and expiration dates. Since MVC offices reopened Tuesday, the locations have become more crowded and chaotic, with fights breaking out and people camping overnight on line. Criticism of the MVC and the governor has been building from lawmakers and public. All standard driver’s licenses, permits, IDs, vehicle registrations, inspections and temporary tags that expired between March 13th and May 31st have now been extended until September 30th. Drivers with licenses, permits, registrations, inspection stickers and temporary tags expiring between June 1st and August 31st have been extended until December 31st.

Governor Phil Murphy today announced the nomination of Merchantville resident, Kevin D. Walsh, Esq., to serve as the fourth New Jersey State Comptroller. Walsh’s nomination is subject to advice and consent by the Senate and is for a six-year term. He will begin serving as Acting Comptroller on Monday, January 27. “As a dedicated public interest attorney, Kevin’s independent and thorough judgement make him an ideal fit to stand up for New Jersey taxpayers as our next State Comptroller,” said Governor Murphy. Walsh has spent the past two decades as a civil rights attorney and as the Executive Director of the Fair Share Housing Center, where he has led the enforcement of the Mount Laurel doctrine to promote racial and economic integration in New Jersey through the expansion of affordable housing. Walsh holds a Juris Doctorate from the Rutgers School of Law–Camden and has volunteered with Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Camden, and with Build Jake’s Place, which helps construct inclusive playgrounds accessible to children and adults of all abilities. 

Learn more about the history of Lenape peoples in this region in a conversation with Nanticoke-Lenape tribal historians, including Cara Blume, whose research was the foundation for federal recognition claims by Delaware and New Jersey Lenape tribes, and the Reverend John Norwood, first principal justice of the Tribal Supreme Court. Along with local tribal history, the Historical Society of Philadelphia will also join to discuss its Native American collections and important archival questions about erasure and self-representation. This event, inspired by Tommy Orange’s novel There There, is part of the Free Library’s One Book, One Philadelphia program. This event will take place on Thursday, February 27th from 6:30 - 8:00 p.m. and is free with registration.

Starting Sunday, December 1st, anyone convicted of DWI in the Garden State, even for a first offense of .05%, which is below the legal limit of .08., will have to install a so-called “ignition interlock device” in their car to prevent them from driving with alcohol on their breath.The law also eliminates license suspensions for first-timers whose blood-alcohol level was only slightly above the legal limit, or between .08 and .10 percent. Up to now, only those convicted of a second DWI offense or more, or first-timers convicted of having a blood-alcohol level above .15 were subject to installation of the locking devices, including the cost of their installation and monthly monitoring charges that could amount to several hundred dollars. The law, signed by Gov. Murphy in August has been hailed by Mothers Against Drunk Drivers and other supporters as a common-sense alternative to mandatory suspensions without ignition lock requirements.