Phil Gregory

Employers, government officials, and some ex-offenders gathered for an Employment Opportunity Summit in Trenton to discuss how to help former convicts rejoin society.

Stefan Oberman is chief of staff at AeroFarms in Newark. He says from a business perspective hiring past offenders makes sense.

Governor Christie says he wants to work with New Jersey lawmakers to help former offenders erase their criminal records.

Christie says he'd like an expungement measure to be approved by the end of June.

"I am open to doing this and doing it in a right and smart way. Now we have to find the right standard by which to institute expungement."

Senator Sandra Cunningham has a proposal she wants to discuss with the governor.

New Jersey lawmakers are considering changing a program that gives a property tax break to eligible senior and disabled residents.

Instead of having to wait to get a rebate, the measure advanced by an Assembly committee would provide what's called the senior freeze benefit in the form of a credit applied directly to property tax bills.

Assemblyman Ron Dancer says one of his constituents experienced such hardship, it inspired him to introduce the legislation.

Governor Christie's decision to change the rules on applying for a handgun carry permit in New Jersey is getting a mixed reaction.

Christie's new regulation allows police officials who approve carry permits to consider evidence of serious threats not directed specifically against an individual.

Scott Bach leads the Association of New Jersey Rifle and Pistol Clubs, and he says it's a good move.

A bill advanced by a New Jersey Assembly committee would require the Department of Children and Families to put easily printable and updated information on its website about the ‘baby box’ program.

After registering online at babyboxuniversity.com, watching a video about safe sleep, and taking a short quiz, expecting and new parents in New Jersey can obtain a free laminated cardboard box with a snug, fitted mattress.

A bill awaiting final legislative approval in New Jersey's Assembly would keep employees of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from enforcing President Trump's order to bar residents of six countries from entering the United States.

The Assembly Transportation Committee voted along party lines to advance the measure.

Assemblywoman Annette Chapparo is among the Democrats supporting it. She  says her son is a marine and she knows it's vital to keep the nation safe.

A bill advancing through the New Jersey legislature would create a tax-free savings account program to help first time homebuyers accumulate the money for a down payment.

Assemblyman Troy Singleton says the money deposited in those accounts would be excluded from gross income.

“We realize that one of the biggest stumbling blocks for folks trying to get their first home is having the resources necessary to make that first payment. So what we’ve tried to do is mimic the highly successful 529 plans that folks have used for college education.” 

There’s a downside to the record warm weather we had in February. The allergy season is getting an early start.

Dr. Catherine Monteleone is an allergist and a professor at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She says buds on trees are appearing sooner than usual, and some people with tree pollen allergies are starting to suffer from sneezing, a stuffy nose, and itchy eyes.

New Jersey could become the first state to prohibit sales of flavored electronic smoking products.

Assembly Health Committee chairman Herb Conaway is a doctor and he's concerned that flavored products might make smoking more attractive to young people.

"This business of U.S. teens increasing their first use, increasing their experimentation, is what I am trying to deter with this legislation."

Kristy Hartman owns a vape shop in Middlesex. She says most of her customers start vaping to quit smoking and a ban on flavored products could force her to close.

It didn't seem much like winter in New Jersey last month.

State climatologist Dave Robinson says it was New Jersey's warmest February since record-keeping began in 1895.

"The average temperature In February was only about a degree lower than an average March temperature. So, we had March in February this year."

Robinson says a persistent weather patterns caused the record warmth.

In his final budget speech to New Jersey's Legislature Governor Chris Christie offered a $35.5 billion plan that does not include his so-called school fairness formula for spending the same amount on every student.

Christie says the 2008 school funding formula hasn't worked. He's willing to work with lawmakers on a new one, but says he wants it done within a hundred days.

New Jersey lawmakers are considering legislation that would require operators of publicly accessible payment and withdrawal machines to inspect them every day to make sure a skimming device hasn’t been installed on them.

Assemblyman Dan Benson is one of the sponsors of the measure. He says consumers might not be able to tell if an ATM had a skimmer that could be used to steal their personal information and empty their bank account.

New Jersey lawmakers are focusing on hunger among college students.

Carey Wilson directs off-campus living at Rutgers University New Brunswick. She says a food pantry opened there in September to support students who don't have enough money for food.

"We have students who are disconnected from families and therefore lacking the support they need when times are tough.  We have returning adult students who are coming back to school after a layoff and have to support their family. We have students who are choosing between paying for textbooks and paying for food."

New Jersey lawmakers are examining the impact of President Trump's executive orders to toughen enforcement of immigration laws.

23-year-old Glassboro resident Daniela Velez is an unauthorized immigrant. She came to New Jersey with her family from Venezuela 14 years ago.  She told an Assembly committee the President's executive orders have put her life in turmoil.

New Jersey's Department of Transportation says filling potholes is a priority for highway maintenance workers.

You don't have to travel far to find one. New Jersey Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Schapior says constant fluctuations above and below the freezing point this winter have caused multitudes of potholes to erupt on New Jersey roadways.

Governor Christie will deliver his final budget address to the New Jersey legislature next week. Education and civil rights advocates hope it won't include his so-called 'fairness formula'.

Betsy Ginsburg with the Garden State Coalition of Schools hopes Christie abandons his proposal to provide the same amount of per pupil funding to all school districts.

"We believe that it is a misconceived band-aid solution for high suburban property taxes that will trigger a fatal educational hemorrhage in the state's poorest districts."

A Rutgers-Eagleton poll finds that most New Jersey residents are treated by private physicians, but they're open to other options.

3 percent say they go to an urgent care facility for treatment all of the time, while 46 percent do some of the time.

Linda Schwimmer is the President and CEO of the New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute. She says urgent care centers are a better alternative than an E-R when your doctor's unavailable.

Patients with illnesses not eligible for New Jersey's medical marijuana program are urging the list of qualifying conditions be expanded.

41-year-old Keesha Sanchez from Spotswood has RSD, a condition that causes severe burning pain in her arms and legs. She'd like to try medical marijuana in hopes of some relief.

"There's days that I wake up and the swelling that are in my feet that I can't walk. My husband has carried me to the bathroom, carried me to bed. I have two children. I've lost the last three years from this progression."

A few dozen environmental activists rallied in front of New Jersey's Statehouse to oppose construction of a natural gas pipeline though the Pinelands.

The proposed 21-mile pipeline is part of a South Jersey Gas project to convert the B.L. England generating plant from coal and oil to natural gas.

Dave Pringle with New Jersey Clean Water Action says a vote by the Pinelands Commission to approve the project would violate its comprehensive management plan to protect the heavily forested area that's an important natural resource.

Those in New Jersey striving to preserve the Affordable Care Act say it's the political fight of a generation.

Maura Collinsgru leads the New Jersey for Health Care coalition. She says repealing Obamacare without an adequate replacement would threaten every community.

"The loss of federal funds, jobs, and coverage losses will harm not only already struggling families. It will strain the resources of state, county and local governments."

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie is moving ahead with a $300 million dollar renovation of the New Jersey Statehouse.

Christie says the building constructed in 1792 is falling apart and workers have covered some of the windows with plywood.

"Those windows are boarded up now because those windows were judged when they were inspected to be ready to fall out of the building. So, we're boarding them up and the fact is that this is an unsafe building for all of us to be operating in it every day."

A New Jersey judge has ruled a criminal case against Governor Christie involving the 2013 lane closures on the George Washington Bridge can go forward.

Municipal court judge Roy McGeady determined there’s probable cause to believe Christie knew the lane restrictions were more than just a routine traffic study.

The complaint filed by former firefighter William Brennan accuses Christie of failing to stop subordinates from purposely creating traffic jams to punish the Democratic mayor of Fort Lee for not endorsing the governor’s reelection campaign.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has signed legislation intended to curb the opioid addiction epidemic.

The law limits initial opioid prescriptions to a five-day supply and mandates that state-regulated health insurers cover six-months of inpatient and outpatient addiction treatment.

Christie says he's not sure how much that will cost.

"Because you don't know how many people are going to take advantage of this and utilization is going to drive a lot regarding the costs. But the fact is whatever the cost is of this it's certainly less than 1600 lives a year."

The New Jersey Assembly has unanimously approved legislation that calls for life imprisonment without parole for the murder of anyone under the age of 18 during commission of a sex crime.

The measure expands what's known as Joan's Law, named for a 7-year-old Hillsdale girl who was sexually assaulted and killed by a neighbor in 1973.

Her mother, Rosemarie D'Alessandro, says the denial of parole eligibility now applies to such crimes involving victims under 14.

A bill advancing in the New Jersey legislature would require water companies to determine how much water is lost because of leaks and breaks in aging pipes every year.

Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Larry Levin told an Assembly committee such audits can guide efforts to control water loss.

"There are 130 million gallons of treated drinking water we estimate lost each day across the state. And of that about 50 million gallons per day valued at $10 million a year are likely to be cost effective for utilities to reduce to solve that loss."

The Council on Local Mandates hears oral arguments tomorrow on a motion by the state of New Jersey to dismiss a challenge of the bail reform law that took effect in January.

The New Jersey Association of Counties claims the law is an unconstitutional unfunded state mandate because counties have had to spend more than $35 million on personnel and improvements to implement it.

In December the council denied the counties' request for a preliminary injunction to stop the law from taking effect.

A New Jersey Assembly committee wants to end a requirement that high school students pass the standardized PARCC test to graduate.

Assemblywoman Mila Jasey says she introduced the measure because she believes regulations adopted by the state Board of Education last year are inconsistent with legislative intent.

"The PARCC exams to my understanding were always meant to assess and inform instruction, not to make decisions about graduation."

A package of bills advanced by a New Jersey Assembly committee would give transgender residents some protections against discrimination.

The measures help establish a transgender equality task force, provide access to business assistance programs, and prohibit health insurers from denying coverage based on gender identity.

Vernon resident Jamie Bruesehoff has a 10 year-old transgender daughter.

An Assembly committee will consider legislation on Monday that would require candidates for President to disclose their federal income tax returns to get on New Jersey's ballot.

Donald Trump refused to release his tax returns during the Presidential campaign.

Assemblyman John McKeon says his bill is intended to make sure that doesn't happen in the future.

"I think it's very important from a transparency perspective for the voters to have that information and if our society norms aren't going to force the issue, then we need to do so as a matter of law."

Governor Christie has signed legislation to prevent mortgage foreclosures on homes damaged more than four years ago by Superstorm Sandy.

Amanda Devecka-Rinear directs the New Jersey Organizing Project founded by those affected by Sandy. She's relieved the governor approved the measure.

"I am so incredibly glad that we're going to see some relief for families. I am only sad that this didn't pass even two years ago because I know as many people as it will help there are a number of families for whom this is too late."