Gov. Mikie Sherrill used a school meal bill signing on Thursday to underscore her affordability agenda, while her nominee to the Board of Public Utilities cleared a key legislative hurdle and her administration welcomed a reported setback for plans to build an ICE detention center in Roxbury Township.
Sherrill signed A3882, which requires public schools to post links to subsidized school meal applications, informational videos explaining the application process, and related information in a prominent location on school websites.
“We know that School Meals are one of the best, most direct ways to help kids get the nutrition they need to succeed in school and build healthy lives,” said Sherrill.
Sherrill said school meals are often the only reliable source of food some children receive during the day. She argued that expanding awareness of available programs would help combat food insecurity.
Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark), a sponsor of the Senate version of the new law, contrasted New Jersey’s efforts with actions taken in Washington.
“New Jersey needs to be Reactive and Proactive and lean into those areas where the federal government hasn’t talked about but has demonstrated they will remove every opportunity to take away artificial supports that we have put in place to ensure that our children become New Jersey Taxpayers,” said Ruiz.
The bill signing marked another step in what the administration has framed as a broader effort to make New Jersey more affordable, while addressing food insecurity has also been a longstanding priority of Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin.
“As the fight against food insecurity evolves, so too must our efforts to ensure that the programs created and designed to help people reach those who need them most,” Coughlin stated. “Over the past several years, New Jersey has expanded free school meal eligibility to reach more than 70,000 additional students and made historic investments in our food system because we know that when children have access to nutritious meals, they are better set up to learn and reach their full potential in the classroom.”
Earlier today, Ben Hertz-Shargal, Sherrill’s pick to lead the Board of Public Utilities, advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a unanimous vote, a sign that the administration may be building bipartisan consensus around one of the state’s most pressing issues: rising utility costs.
Electric rates have emerged as a major concern for New Jersey residents since steep increases began taking effect last year. This was an integral part of Sherrill’s platform as a candidate for governor last year.
Separately, Sherrill and Attorney General Jennifer Davenport claimed a major victory today following a New York Times report indicating that the federal government is backing away from plans to establish an ICE detention facility in Roxbury.
The Sherrill administration joined the entirely Republican Roxbury Township Council in court to block the proposal, arguing that the warehouse site was unsuitable for a detention center.
“DHS’s plans were always illegal: the Roxbury warehouse is a logistics center fit for packages, not thousands of people, and did nothing to make New Jersey safer,” Sherrill and Davenport said in a joint statement. “In fact, we told them it would have devastating impacts on the water and sewage systems and compromise an environmentally sensitive area. That’s why we joined the town of Roxbury in court and stopped this detention center from moving forward in the first place.”
Sponsors of A3882: Craig Coughlin, Annette Quijano, and Dan Hutchison (Assembly); Teresa Ruiz and Angela McKnight (Senate). Assembly vote: 73-0; Senate 36-0. Not voting: Rosy Bagolie, Chris DePhillips, Melinda Kane, Carmen Morales, Ellen Park, Brian Rumpf, and Erik Simonsen (Assembly); Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Owen Henry, Declan O’Scanlon, and Andrew Zwicker (Senate).
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