Oroho and Singer urge NJ to join lawsuit

Senator Robert Singer (R-30) and Senator Steven Oroho (R-24) called on the Murphy Administration to take on a lawsuit filed by the City of Newark that seeks to end New York City’s program of shipping its homeless across the Hudson to New Jersey.

Sens. Bob Singer Steven Oroho called on the Murphy Administration to take on a lawsuit filed by Newark that seeks to end New York City’s program of shipping its homeless to New Jersey.

“Overtaxed communities across the Garden State are already struggling with the fiscal challenges of funding our schools and existing public services for current residents,” said Singer, the Deputy Republican Leader. “We cannot afford to let Mayor de Blasio shift the substantial financial burden of the homeless crisis created by his failed social policies to New Jersey taxpayers.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has championed an $89 million Special One-Time Assistance (SOTA) program that provides his city’s homeless with a year’s worth of rent to move elsewhere.

This has had an impact on cities across the United States, including Newark, Elizabeth, and East Orange in New Jersey, leading to a federal lawsuit by the City of Newark that seeks to end the SOTA program. The City of Elizabeth has said it would participate in the lawsuit.

In a letter to the governor, the senators noted the existing challenges confronting New Jersey’s municipalities, including the nation’s highest property taxes, unfunded pension and benefit liabilities, overdevelopment, underfunded schools, and an opioid epidemic.

They called for the State of New Jersey through the Office of the Attorney General to assume the lawsuit on behalf of the individual municipalities that are currently standing on the own against the City of New York.

“Since substantial State municipal and school aid flows to the cities that have seen the greatest influx of New Yorkers under the SOTA program, the outcome of Newark’s lawsuit will impact every New Jersey taxpayer,” added Oroho, the Senate Republican Budget Officer. “It’s imperative that Attorney General Grewal commit his capable staff and the resources of his office to this litigation. Given the potential impact of the SOTA program on New Jersey’s finances and those of its taxpayers, we believe this dedication of resources would be well justified.”