On April 26, the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee continued its process with a set of departmental budget hearings in Trenton. The meetings follow a set of recent public hearings as the upper house of the state Legislature works through Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed $48.9 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2023.
Tuesday’s proceedings kicked off with the New Jersey Judiciary, as Judge Glenn Grant, acting administrative director of the New Jersey Courts, testified, along with other top officials.
“While this conversation is on the proposed judiciary budget for the upcoming fiscal year, I would be remiss if I did not begin my remarks by acknowledging how we weathered the unprecedented challenges of the past two-plus years of balancing the health and safety of our workforce as well as the public while maintaining the operations of our systems proudly since the very beginning of the pandemic,” Grant said. “We have kept our operations going from the very early days of the pandemic. We were able to safely provide crucial services, sometimes with modifications, but without interruptions.”
Grant outlined several of the top issues facing the Judiciary, including funding to upgrade technological infrastructure and filling the alarmingly high number of judicial vacancies.
“To resolve these cases, quite rightly. We need judges. But as of May 1st, we will reach a new historic high of 75 judicial vacancies, with 22 more currently anticipated by the end of 2022,” Grant said. “Seventy-five vacancies out of 463 authorized judge hands represents a 16% vacancy rate.”
Sarlo
Grant was asked by Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-36th District and chairman of the committee, about bail reform and repeat gun offenders, as well as the upcoming impact of the new adult-use recreational cannabis market in the Garden State.
“First statement I would make is all of society, all of government is dedicated, focused on trying to reduce acts of violence in our community,” Grant said. “That is a joint effort and I think we all agree upon. Whether you’re in executive branch, whether you’re the legislative branch or the judiciary, we all agree upon that.”
The hearings are ongoing; Judiciary is being followed by the Department of Military and Veterans’ Affairs, with testimony from Brigadier General Dr. Lisa Hou, adjutant general/commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, as well as other top officials.
The Department of Environmental Protection rounds out the slate of hearings, with testimony from Commissioner Shawn LaTourette and other top officials.
