N.J. Senate votes 38-0 to ban secret data-center deals

The New Jersey Senate on Thursday, Oct. 22, voted 38-0 to ban secret deals that hide data-center plans from the public, and 39-0 to pass Senate President Nicholas Scutari’s rewrite of where community solar projects can be built. Seven bills the Assembly had already passed, including two domestic-violence measures, now go to Gov. Mikie Sherrill.

Not every bill on the Senate’s list got a vote. The “Election Integrity and Voter Protection Act,” S4863, which would restrict active-duty military and certain law enforcement near polling places and ballot drop boxes, showed no Oct. 22 action in its official bill history when Jersey Intel checked at about 9:20 p.m. ET. Senators amended, but did not pass, the bill that would let State Police Superintendent nominee Jeanne Hengemuhle wear the uniform and keep her pension.

Also in this roundup of New Jersey public meetings: Newark, N.J. awarded its $5.9 million sludge-lagoon contract to the only company that bid, and votes from Oct. 20 in Clifton, N.J. and at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority that we confirmed from the official recordings.

N.J. Senate (Oct. 22): data-center secrecy ban, solar rewrite, utility fees

The Senate passed S4304, sponsored by Sens. Linda Greenstein and Brian P. Stack, 38-0. According to the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee’s statement, the bill bars anyone applying to build a data center, and their agents, from signing non-disclosure agreements with planning boards, municipal agencies or property sellers, and makes such agreements unenforceable. Applicants would have to attest that no agreement was made to hide the development plans, and local boards could not approve a project that violates the bill.

S4729, sponsored by Scutari and Sen. Jon M. Bramnick, passed 39-0. It changes the geographic limits on which solar projects can join the state’s community solar program. According to its history, the bill was introduced Oct. 5 and reported out of committee Oct. 8. It still needs an Assembly vote. Jersey Intel reported on the bill Oct. 9.

Other Senate votes that day:

• S3225 (Sens. Shirley K. Turner and Nilsa I. Cruz-Perez), which bars public utilities from charging surcharges and certain fees, passed 39-0.
• S4374 (Scutari), which expands automatic enrollment requirements for utility bill payment assistance programs, passed 28-9.
• S4631 (Sen. Gordon M. Johnson, D-Bergen) passed 26-11. It moves $300,000 of the Eid Committee of New Jersey’s $350,000 state budget grant to the Cultural Society of Bergen County for its Moms Food Pantry, according to the bill text. The bill’s statement does not give a reason.
• S2216 (Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz), a tuition reimbursement program for students at certain private postsecondary schools, passed 26-13.
• S2163, a new disorderly persons offense for hiding one’s identity while committing another crime, passed 39-0.

Headed to the governor (Assembly bills that the Senate substituted and passed, marked “Passed Both Houses” in their histories):

• A794, 27-10: changes how fair market value is set and paid in distressed municipalities for abandoned, vacant or tax-delinquent property.
• A4641, 27-11: lets a town’s governing body notify an insurance company about activity at a rental property it suspects violates the policy.
• A5451, 28-11: revises budget language on the Family and Internal Medicine Residency Expansion Program.
• A5439, 36-2: requires $375,000, or 2.5%, of the $15 million Working Class Families State Supplement for expanded free school meals to go to outreach, according to the Senate budget committee’s statement on the identical S4664.
• A4835, 39-0: permits pretrial detention for violating a protective order issued under the Victim’s Assistance and Survivor Protection Act.
• A5155, 39-0: requires faster compliance with certain search warrants in domestic-violence and stalking investigations.
• A1517, 39-0: creates a New Jersey Native Seed Commission.

Listed but not passed: S4863, the election bill named above; S3744, which would establish advertising set-asides for eligible local news organizations; S2777, on credentialing health care professionals in insurers’ networks; and S4414/A5236, on children’s psychiatric and behavioral health services, all had no Oct. 22 action in their bill histories when we checked. The histories do not say why. S1766, which would allow office parks and retail centers to be converted to mixed use, was amended on the floor by voice vote without a final vote.

State Police superintendent: The Senate Judiciary Committee’s 10 a.m. agenda listed Hengemuhle as a nominee to be interviewed, and the Senate’s 2 p.m. session listed her for advise and consent. The Legislature’s website did not show the outcome when we checked, and Jersey Intel has not confirmed whether she was confirmed. The related bill, A5034, which the Assembly passed 61-14 in May, was amended on the Senate floor by voice vote and was not given a final vote, according to its history. Our Oct. 21 preview.

Video note: the Legislature posts session video on its own archive player, not YouTube, so we link to it in the Sources box instead of embedding it.

Newark, N.J. (Oct. 21): $5.9 million sludge contract to the only bidder

The Newark Municipal Council adopted resolution 26-1433 on Oct. 21, according to the city’s Legistar record, which lists the item as “Adopted” with a passed date of Oct. 21. The record does not show a roll call tally. The resolution awards Spectraserv Inc. of Kearny, N.J. a contract of up to $5,919,420 for Pequannock sludge lagoon remediation, Contract 06-WS2026, for 730 calendar days. The city distributed six bid packages and received one bid, according to the resolution. Jersey Intel reported Oct. 21 that it would be the company’s sixth straight lagoon contract.

Clifton, N.J. (Oct. 20): health broker contract passes 4-1-1

On Tuesday, Oct. 20, the Clifton City Council approved Resolution R495-26. It awards Marsh McLennan Agency the city’s 2027 health insurance broker contract without public bidding. The posted draft pays $10 per employee per month. The roll call in the city’s recording was 4 yes, 1 no and 1 abstention. Councilman Chris D’Amato, Councilman Antonio Latona, Councilwoman Mary Sadrakula and Mayor Raymond Grabowski voted yes. Councilman Joseph Kolodziej voted no, and Councilwoman Rosemary Pino abstained.

Before the vote, Kolodziej said a closed-session presentation suggested stop-loss payments had been pushed from 2025 into 2026, which in his view inflated a savings calculation. He also said the city’s budgeted health benefit costs rose $5.5 million after the switch to the current broker. City Manager Gary DeMarzo said those numbers had not been raised with the broker in two earlier meetings and that he could not verify them. Latona said a broker recommendation to self-fund the prescription plan would bring the city roughly $2.4 million in drug-company rebates. Sadrakula said the savings were real and cited $1.4 million.

Right after that roll call, the presiding officer asked whether anyone objected to R494-26, the property-and-casualty broker contract for Acrisure, LLC, doing business as Polaris Galaxy Group. One council member answered, “No, I’m a yes for 494,” and the council moved on. We did not hear a separate roll call on R494 in the city’s recording. It appears to have passed without objection, but Jersey Intel has not seen a recorded vote or the adopted text. That includes whether the council fixed the draft’s wording, which called it a “health insurance broker” award, and the 5% commission that appeared only in its legal notice. Jersey Intel has not seen the city’s minutes. Our Oct. 20 report on both resolutions.

Video note: Clifton posts council meetings on its TelVue on-demand player, not YouTube, so we link to the city’s recording instead of embedding it. The broker items begin about 3:07:50 into the “City Council Meeting 10.20.26” recording, and the R495 roll call is at about 3:16:55.

NJ Turnpike Authority (Oct. 20): $18.55M sole-source credits, towing contractor suspended

On Monday, Oct. 20, the Turnpike Authority board approved Agreement No. 243-26 with Evergreen Environmental, LLC of Wayne, Pa., for up to $18,550,000 in wetland and riparian mitigation credits at $750,000 per credit. Mitigation credits are what a builder buys to make up for wetlands its project destroys. These credits cover up to 24.67 acres affected by the Interchange 1 to 4 widening program in Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem counties. The authority’s resolution calls it a sole-source purchase because Evergreen owns every bank with credits in the watershed. The agenda memo says two of the three banks are still waiting on state Department of Environmental Protection approval, and that the authority does not have to buy those credits unless DEP approves them. Executive Director Kris Kolluri told the board the purchase shows the authority is preparing for South Jersey capital projects that may still be years away.

The board also voted 7-0 to ratify an emergency, no-bid towing contract. According to an Oct. 14 agenda memo, the authority on Oct. 9 “temporarily suspended” Taylor’s Towing and its affiliated companies from routine towing on both the Turnpike and the Parkway “as a result of a pending law enforcement investigation.” The memo does not say which agency is investigating or what it involves. Taylor’s held five of the authority’s towing contracts. To keep service running, the authority gave Accurate Towing Service the Parkway Zone 5 work and split Zone 6 between Accurate and All Car Towing and Recovery. The memo says these arrangements are temporary while the investigation continues. A protest Taylor’s had filed against Accurate is on hold.

The board also accepted a $608,147 settlement in DISH Wireless’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy, which the agenda puts at about 41% of the authority’s claim.

On the agenda, outcome not yet confirmed

• NJ Economic Development Authority (Oct. 22, New Brunswick, N.J.): The public agenda listed a lease amendment for Ascendia Pharmaceuticals with a permanent rent reduction, a rent deferral, a term extension and a release of claims by the tenant; Aspire tax credits of up to 60% of eligible costs for three Newark housing projects; and a Cultural Arts Facilities Expansion tax credit for the Save Lucy Committee in Margate City, N.J. The agenda lists no dollar amounts. The board book was still not posted (the page returned “not found”) when we checked about 9:20 p.m. ET Oct. 22, and we found no approvals release. We have not confirmed the votes.
• Passaic, N.J. (Oct. 20): Item 23 on the council agenda was a resolution rejecting bids for “287 Monroe Street – Building Rehabilitation.” The city’s bid notice says the work was being bid on behalf of a private developer, 287-289 Monroe Associates LLC, and describes the city as only an administrative coordinator that “will not be a party to the contract.” The agenda gives no reason for rejecting the bids. When we checked the city’s Agenda Center at about 9:22 p.m. ET Oct. 22, it listed the Oct. 20 agenda but no minutes. We have not confirmed the outcome.

Also from this week: Essex County, N.J. votes to leave the State Health Benefits Plan and hires five vendors.

What should we dig into next on any of these votes? If you have documents or know more, email jerseyintel@gmail.com.