The New Jersey Legislature has approved legislation to reform the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS) by transferring management to a Board of Trustees. The PFRS bill now awaits consideration by Governor Phil Murphy. As more fully detailed in a prior post, Senate Bill 5/Assembly Bill 3671 (S-5/A-3671) transfers management
In Evening Journal Ass’n v. City of Bayonne & Robert F. Sloan, a New Jersey judge held that sealed settlements involving public entities may be subject to disclosure under the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA). Facts of the Case The OPRA case sprung from a civil lawsuit filed against
The two percent cap on interest arbitration awards expired at the end of the year 2017. In response, lawmakers in both the New Jersey Senate and Assembly recently introduced legislation to permanently extend the 2% Interest Arbitration cap, which limits how much compensation arbitrators can award police and firefighters who have
Given the stark differences in policy, the leadership change from Gov. Chris Christies election of Gov. Phil Murphy is certain to result in changes for local governments and state agencies. Since taking office, Gov. Murphy has issued ten executive orders, which tackle issues such as wind energy, equal pay, and
The New Jersey Senate is currently considering legislation that aims to encourage and facilitate the provision of local and regional services through shared service agreements and joint contracts. Notably, Senate Bill 1 provides that a municipality would be subject to a reduction in State aid if it fails to approve a recommendation
Governor Phil Murphy’s first Executive Order aims to bolster equal pay and gender equity at state agencies. Under Executive Order 1 (EO1), state agencies and offices are expressly banned from asking a job applicant for their past wage history or investigating the prior salaries of their applicants, unless required by
In Libertarians For Transparent Government v. Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the Appellate Division held that the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) does not require a covered entity to provide a detailed disclosure of the reasons for an employee’s resignation. OPRA Personnel Record Exemption OPRA contains an exemption for personnel records.
In the wake of reports that the Edison Board of Education was defrauded out of $75,000, school districts and other municipal agencies are reminded to conduct due diligence in researching all vendors. Once the contract is signed, it is also imperative to periodically review that the vendor is performing the
