From NJ1015: NJ changes home-buying rules: what this means for you Some big changes to the process of buying or selling a home in New Jersey are now in effect. The aim of the new rules, created through legislation that ..read more

From CNN: Harris seeks to rally Democrats after Biden drops out of race Harris begins 2024 bid: Vice President Kamala Harris is marching to the Democratic nomination as broad swaths of the party — including potential rivals, lawmakers, governors, influential labor and advocacy groups and more — line up behind her bid to take on Donald Trump. Gaining support: No serious challenger has emerged yet after President Joe Biden announced his exit from the race. And the party’s best-known governors, several of whom had been seen as potential challenge ..read more

From NJ.com: The property tax overhaul New Jersey’s property tax breaks, including the popular Senior Freeze and ANCHOR benefits, could soon undergo dramatic changes as the state tries to keep its promise to further cut taxes for senior citizens under the Stay NJ law, according to recommendations released Thursday. The long-awaited 101-page report comes from the Stay NJ Task Force,which was charged with figuring out how to implement the complicated and much-debated law in time for the 2026 deadline for when payments are scheduled to start ..read more

Hat Tip Gator. From NJ101.5: NJ Democratic boss stares down officials at corruption-case news conference Like a boss, Democratic power broker George Norcross sat defiantly in the front row on Monday as the state Attorney General’s Office outlined a blockbuster corruption case. Attorney General Matthew Platkin and his team said the charges were rooted in a years-long investigation involving a criminal enterprise run by the 68-year-old Norcross and at least five associates. One of his brothers, 61-year-old Philip Norcross, of Philadelphia, and former Camden Mayor Dana Redd, now living ..read more

From InsiderNJ: Stay NJ Task Force Releases Report Recommending Changes to Simplify and Improve New Jersey’s Property Tax Relief Programs Today, the Stay NJ Task Force released its report providing recommendations for the State to implement the new Stay NJ program while simplifying and aligning its property tax relief programs – Stay NJ, ANCHOR, and Senior Freeze – with the goal to make the application process more accessible for New Jersey taxpayers.  The report recommends for the State to create one streamlined application that would be used ..read more

From CNN: Federal court scraps New Jersey’s controversial ‘county line’ ballot design Voting rights advocates scored a major victory Friday in New Jersey when a federal judge struck down the use of a controversial primary ballot design that favored party-backed candidates. The decision is potentially a grave blow to the state’s powerful political machines, which have for decades used the so-called county line to prop up their endorsed candidates. The system is currently used in 19 of the Garden State’s 21 counties. The preliminary injunction granted by US District Judge Zahid Quraish ..read more

From the Record: Senate passes bill to overhaul how NJ towns will meet affordable housing mandate How much affordable housing will New Jersey towns be required to zone for, build, convert or renovate over the next decade?  Gov. Phil Murphy is expected to sign a bill the Legislature passed Monday that aims to streamline the process that determines how municipalities fulfill a constitutional mandate to provide their “fair share” of homes that low- and moderate-income families can afford. The bill would codify a formula to help towns come up with the number of units they must allow to meet t ..read more

From CNN: The 6% commission on buying or selling a home is gone after Realtors association agrees to seismic settlement The 6% commission, a standard in home purchase transactions, is no more. In a sweeping move expected to dramatically reduce the cost of buying and selling a home, the National Association of Realtors announced Friday a settlement with groups of homesellers, agreeing to end landmark antitrust lawsuits by paying $418 million in damages and eliminating rules on commissions. The NAR, which represents more than 1 million Realtors, also agreed to put in place a set of new ..read more

From Newsweek: Housing Market Solution Could Help New Jersey New Jersey might have just found a solution to its affordable housing crisis, and it involves the undeveloped land outside of its transit system. The Regional Plan Association found 74,000 acres of land were underutilized around the commuter rail stations within New Jersey and New York. Today, the median rent in New Jersey is $2,500, $470 more than the national median, according to Zillow data. Already, land has been rezoned in Metuchen for mixed-use development, and this could continue into the larger area, accor ..read more

From News12: Gov. Murphy seek $55.9B New Jersey budget, increasing education aid, boosting biz taxes to fund transit Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday unveiled a $55.9 billion budget, up about 5% over his previous year’s proposal, calling for nearly $1 billion more in K-12 school funding as well as about $1 billion in new taxes on high-earning businesses to fund transit. Murphy, a two-term Democrat, cast the budget as the fulfillment of campaign pledges to identify a recurring source of funding for New Jersey Transit and to fully finance a state formula for schools that’s never before been fully imp ..read more