News
NJSPL: Ryan Lawrence (MCRP ’27) Examines NJ Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Laws
ccessory dwelling units or ADUs can provide an alternative to traditional housing, helping to remediate both the housing shortage and affordability issues while preserving rural land from further development. Several municipalities have passed ADU-related legislation, including Montclair, South Orange, Princeton, and Asbury Park, but a statewide bill on ADUs (Bill A2792) has not yet made it out of the legislature and onto the governor’s desk.
Casino operator liquidated as Chapter 11 bankruptcy ends
“The addition of new casinos in Atlantic City will yield diminishing returns to gross gaming revenues within the city, particularly as new competitors come online in neighboring states. Gross gaming revenue of new casinos in Atlantic City would come largely at the expense of existing venues,” the authors wrote.
Senate Passes Stopgap Funding Bill Blocking OMB Grantmaking Rule
Whether there are hundreds of thousands of comments or tens of thousands of comments for the OMB to review, office staff are facing a daunting challenge, said Stuart Shapiro, dean of the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, in an interview. “OMB’s never had a rule that had this volume of comments before,” Shapiro said, noting that OMB’s staff are already “very, very busy people.”
Heldrich Center Publishes Legislative Report on New Jersey’s Teacher Workforce
This report provides a high-level overview of New Jersey’s teacher workforce at the state and district levels. While research in this area is progressing, questions remain about the overall supply and demand of the teaching workforce and about the factors that influence teachers’ decisions to enter or remain in teaching positions.
Financial audit of Jersey City’s 2025 finances identifies $94M in deferred charges
“This audit is a serious document, and it deserves a serious response, not just from the administration, but from the entire governing body. The Chief Financial Officer will submit a corrective action plan to the council and the state Division of Local Government Services, as required. That’s a necessary first step, but it can’t be the last one,” Rutgers’ Center for Urban Policy Research Associate Director Marc Pfeiffer said in a statement.
NJ flooding to get worse, says new study. See areas to be hit hardest
A new research brief by Jonathan Delura, Senior Research Specialist, Center for Urban Policy Research for the New Jersey Climate Change Research Center details a novel approach for estimating the extent and depth of roadway inundation using light detection and ranging (LiDAR) derived roadway surface elevations. A desktop analysis was conducted utilizing this approach to provide a first order assessment of coastal flooding impacts under current and future flood scenarios for New Jersey.
NJSPL: The Potential of Participatory Budgeting Within New Jersey
A state budget itself can be considered a moral document: a statement, made in dollar amounts, which outlines the financial needs that are prioritized by the government. The process of achieving an annual budget is difficult for many residents to follow and can lead to further resentments over the lack of transparency.
Super-rich complain but experts welcome Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax
“In the context of the city doing everything it can to get housing construction happening, the idea that we would be having empty units is hard to justify,” said James DeFilippis, a professor of planning and public policy at Rutgers University.
They tore down New Brunswick’s Memorial Homes. The community survived.
“The building may have imploded, but the community didn’t,” said Sean Connaughton, a rising Bloustein School junior who participated in the project. “This was more than the buildings. This was a very deeply knit, tight-knit community.”
Prof. Andrews and PhD Candidate Lina Moe: Make Room for Robots
Robot-human interactions are becoming more commonplace in urban spaces. Lina Moe and Clinton Andrews have developed a diagnostic that policymakers can use to find the best existing tools for governance and determine when new ones are needed.
New Jersey State Policy Lab Holds 5th Annual Internship Presentations
On Wednesday, August 5th, the New Jersey State Policy Lab hosted the end-of-summer presentations for the 2026 intern cohort at the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy.
Soumitra Bhuyan Receives Excellence in Teaching Award from Academy of Management
“Receiving this national recognition is especially meaningful to me,” Bhuyan said. “I view it not only as an individual honor, but also as a reflection of the growing visibility, quality, and impact of our Health Administration programs and our collective commitment to educating, mentoring, and supporting our students.”