News & Events

New $1.7B NJ Turnpike contract to operate E-ZPass program is awash in controversy
Companies winning contracts with state agencies are required to provide disclosure forms showing ownership structures for those with a 10% stake or higher, said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow and faculty researcher at Rutgers University’s Center for Urban Policy Research.

‘Extremely concerning’: Recession fears could upend New Jersey’s next state budget
Pfeiffer also pointed out this is something that every state has to deal with and should be “very cautious in the assumptions they make about new revenues and cautious with the assumptions they make on what they do with federally funded programs.”

New Jersey has contributed more than $800M in funding to Atlantic City for budgets since 2016
“In New Jersey, we have a single way of raising money, which is property taxes,” Pfeiffer said of municipal budgets. “Atlantic City has always been an exception to that because you have the hotels and then the casinos. You’ve always had a policy of state engagement to support Atlantic City’s municipal budget in particular.”

Will NJ taxpayers get help from Trump, Congress on expiring $10K SALT tax deduction?
“If it gets lifted to $20,000, that’s really going to be inclusive to a lot more places,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at Rutgers University’s Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy, who studies local government in New Jersey

The Future of Local News in New Jersey? It’s Adapting.
Rutgers Today, February 18, 2025 Rutgers policy expert Marc Pfeiffer discusses the decline of print, the rise of digital media, and what it means for New Jersey communities. With The Star-Ledger ending its print edition and The Jersey Journal shutting down, New Jersey’s media landscape is changing fast. But does the decline of print mean the end of local...

Pfeiffer Explores Public Policy and Surveillance Tech
Municipalities should have a sense of the technology’s costs (financial, societal, and reputational) versus its benefits. Financial costs include staff management time and storage fees; they will rise with the volume of data stored. Societal and reputational costs may come into play when deciding what physical locations warrant surveillance and if the technology is obvious or invisible to those affected by it.

Op-Ed: The future of New Jersey news is digital — and that’s OK
Earlier this month, I completed a report titled “The Future of New Jersey Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction,” and it was recently released by the Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers’ Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy. In it, I discussed the current environment facing New Jersey journalism, and recommendations on how it can thrive. I also analyzed the current debate about advertising legal notices in newspapers.

NJ watchdog chief owns house in Maryland, teaches in D.C., votes in Tinton Falls
“In person meetings have a value, they provide upfront interaction with the people they represent. It allows more direct participation and provides nuance that can’t be seen or observed or happen when you are on a webinar,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at the Bloustein Local Government Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. “In person requires a little more formality. It requires a better sense of decorum, which is representative of the official nature of what is going on.”

Data shows reduced public participation under virtual-only Lakewood Township meetings
“In person meetings have a value, they provide upfront interaction with the people they represent. It allows more direct participation and provides nuance that can’t be seen or observed or happen when you are on a webinar,” said Marc Pfeiffer, a senior policy fellow at the Bloustein Local Government Center for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University. “In person requires a little more formality. It requires a better sense of decorum, which is representative of the official nature of what is going on.”

Montclair Holiday Party to Honor Town Manager Raises Eyebrows
“On this surface, this appears to strike a balance. It’s something they’ve done before,” Pfeiffer said. The employees likely have been buffeted by management changes with the governing body changes over the last year. You always have some people who may not like the idea. But here, the phrase ‘don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good applies.”
Recent Products
Tech Fitness for Local Elected Officials and Administrators
These articles were designed to help local government leaders develop “tech fitness” for their organizations. The idea of tech fitness is to ensure that organizations can meet expectations for technologically driven services, which today, include most government...
Calculators and Dashboards
Local Fiscal Impact Calculator Demographic Multipliers Elizabeth Air Quality Dashboard Acknowledgments: Financial support was provided by National Science Foundation awards 2053637, 2103754, and 2322062.
The Future of New Jersey Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction
This two-part study examines the evolving landscape of state and local journalism in New Jersey during a critical transition from print to digital news delivery and challenges those changes mean for the publication of "official notices." The analysis, drawing on five...
About Legal Advertising
This second part of The Future of New Jersey Journalism: Evolution, Not Extinction examines the evolving landscape of legal advertising requirements in New Jersey amid significant changes in media publishing models. The impending cessation of print operations by New...