The New Jersey Legislature’s lame duck session is an opportunity for lawmakers to build a fairer, more equitable future for all New Jerseyans. And if there is one thing we learned over the past few months, it’s that our communities in New Jersey are willing – and ready – to keep fighting.
Last November, more than 35 New Jersey advocacy organizations worked together to launch the 2025 People’s Agenda, a collective effort to pass key social justice bills during lame duck. This alliance represented hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans and demanded lawmakers to pass critical legislation to ensure our state is more welcoming, accessible, and just.
Community members advocated for the passage of these bills by hosting events, including a public education webinar, a statewide in-district lobby day, a rally and lobby day at the State House, and more – all in the spirit of building a better, more equitable New Jersey for all.
The bills listed in the People’s Agenda related to immigrants’ rights, stronger democracy, criminal justice, decarceration, fair housing, accessible reproductive health care, and more. In January, we celebrated some important victories: New Jersey strengthened the protections against police use of force, required the Attorney General to develop model policies for schools, hospitals, shelters, food pantries, and other essential services, and expanded jury service eligibility to people with state convictions who have completed their sentences. These important policy changes will help our state build a fairer and more just future.
But at the same time, Gov. Murphy opted to pocket veto two bills that would implement important protections for immigrant communities. Together, these pieces of legislation would have created data privacy protections and ensured local resources are used to provide important municipal services rather than fund the federal deportation machine.
“In failing to sign these bills, Governor Murphy has left New Jersey without critical protections at a moment when ICE is brutalizing our communities. These bills were legally sound, politically viable, and commonsense policy,” said ACLU-NJ Executive Director Amol Sinha. "We call on Governor Sherrill, her administration, and the Legislature to establish data privacy protections and ensure state and local resources are not commandeered for federal immigration enforcement – we have no time to waste.”
Though New Jersey made important strides during this lame duck session, there is much more to be done – especially as Gov. Sherrill begins her new administration.
The people of New Jersey deserve elected officials who will rise to meet this moment when our communities are facing renewed attacks by a Trump administration that is set on abusing its power. State lawmakers have a responsibility to keep New Jerseyans healthy and safe. If there was ever a time for action, it is now.
The ACLU-NJ has called on Gov. Sherrill to prioritize policies that will protect and expand civil rights for all who call our state home. That includes passing a state voting rights act, ensuring state resources aren’t commandeered for federal immigration enforcement, leveraging categorical clemency to further decarcerate state prisons and jails, expanding jury service to people on probation and parole, expanding affordable housing, removing financial barriers to abortion care, and supporting the provision of gender-affirming health care across the state – just to name a few.
The progress made during lame duck will continue to influence the future of New Jersey for years to come as we continue to build a firewall for freedom.
We know our communities are energized, passionate, and committed to the fight to protect liberty and justice for all. We have seen them in action, and we are ready to keep fighting alongside them.
