Nationally, and in New Jersey, healthcare spending accounts for 1 in 5 dollars of gross domestic product, with hospital care representing the largest category of healthcare spending. In order to address this ongoing affordability crisis, researchers recommend that the incoming gubernatorial administration continue to build on the work of the New Jersey Health Care Afforability, Responsibility, and Transparency (HART) Program.
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New Jersey State Policy Lab
NJSPL Report: Equity Initiatives in the United States
In New Jersey, the state government proactively advances equity through the Office of Equity within the Office of the Governor, as well as through various programs and budget initiatives intended to support New Jerseyans. To enhance these efforts, researchers recommend incorporating equity measures into department/agency performance assessments to ensure equity is engrained within the ongoing routines of the government.
NJSPL Report: Health Insurance Literacy Initiatives
Researchers with Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, in collaboration with the New Jersey State Policy Lab, have developed a report which is intended to serve as the first comprehensive state-by-state guide of health insurance literacy educational resources and/or interventions available across the U.S.
NJSPL: Surveying Sentencing Reform in New Jersey
The New Jersey Sentencing Commission proposed a program to allow eligible incarcerated individuals to seek resentencing by demonstrating that they have been successfully rehabilitated. Researchers recently surveyed 1,529 New Jerseyans to better understand their support for or against four areas of prison sentencing reform, including examples of this rehabilitative sentencing program.
How would Ciattarelli, Sherrill handle NJ’s big economic hurdles as governor?
Some of those issues — like Trump’s tariffs and the rise of AI displacing portions of the labor market — “certainly pose challenges that would be hard to combat via state policy alone,” said Will Irving, a professor at the New Jersey State Policy Lab at Rutgers University.
NJSPL: Increasing Enrollment of Paid Family Leave
Over the last decade, many states have implemented some form of mandatory paid family leave policies to help address the lack of coverage at the national level. Researchers have been examining data related to paid family leave enrollment, and found that overall enrollment for paid leave increased for both mothers and fathers between 2000 and 2024 in the U.S., from 29% to 58% for fathers and 47% to 54% for mothers.
NJSPL Report: The Role of Quality Ratings in Long-Term Care
Researchers evaluated the quality of nursing homes in NJ relative to national trends and analyzed data from the CMS’ Nursing Home Compare five-star public reporting system to track changes in nursing home quality and performance. The report found that while state nursing homes generally outperform the national average, their overall ratings have declined significantly since 2020.
NJSPL Report: Crash Data Availability and Best Practices
Researchers interviewed an array of subject matter experts, including state DOT staff, transportation advocates, and public health professionals to identify their best practices and show how crash data is made available across the nation.
NJ job market ‘stalled’ by layoffs, weak hiring
The job market so far this year in New Jersey has been “a mixed bag — overall, relatively weak,” said Will Irving with the Rutgers University New Jersey State Policy Lab. “We are through July down about 7,800 jobs, net, and that reflects losses in both a number of private-sector industries and public sector, state government in particular.”
Evaluating Policies that Serve New Jersey
Working with more than 180 faculty members and staff, 100 students, and experts from more than 20 centers, schools, and universities across New Jersey, the New Jersey State Policy Lab has launched more than 60 research projects and published over 350 research blogs and 50 reports since 2021.
One of its key objectives has been to establish a network of scholars and research centers within New Jersey institutions of higher education to coordinate state policy research and facilitate collaboration. The NJSPL has forged connections with dozens of universities, schools, and centers within the Garden State and beyond. Its guiding mission is to identify and respond to state government and community needs for effective policy solutions through firsthand research and coordination with relevant experts across the state.