The New Jersey Budget Process Explained in Latest Gotta Know Jersey Segment from NJ Spotlight News

APRIL 29, 2024 - NEWARK, NJ - NJ Spotlight News, the newsroom of NJ PBS, released a new Gotta Know Jersey segment explaining the state budget process. The multimedia series consists of easy-to-understand videos about how the government works, the importance of local voting cycles and more. Watch all series installments to date on the NJ Spotlight News YouTube channel. The digital content is also contributing to NJSpotlightNews.org reporting.
The latest video explains how Trenton officials create an annual budget which determines how much will be spent and where the money goes throughout the state in the upcoming fiscal year. It starts with state departments submitting their budget requests and meanders through negotiations and approvals that take months to complete.

"Who hasn't sat around with friends and colleagues and pondered 'where does all the state's money go'," says NJ Spotlight News Special Projects Editor Colleen O'Dea. "This segment will help people answer that question and better understand who has input in the process and how long it takes."

"Gotta Know Jersey is a fresh take on governing and voting processes in layperson's terms so that everyone from students to seniors can better understand it and get involved," said Sr. Managing Editor Jamie Kraft. "This digital content is part of our extensive, multimedia NJ Decides portfolio of election news and resources."

NJ Spotlight News is an award-winning multiplatform news organization that provides reporting from across all 21 counties in New Jersey and beyond through its NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi newscast on NJ PBS, a robust website, social media platforms, daily newsletters and community engagement events. Learn more at NJSpotlightNews.org.

Major funding for NJ Spotlight News and the NJ Spotlight News with Briana Vannozzi newscast is provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the William Penn Foundation, PSEG Foundation, the Fund for New Jersey, The Peter and Carmen Lucia Buck Foundation, RWJBarnabas Health, NJM Insurance Group, New Jersey Education Association, Orsted, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ, New Jersey Realtors and Wyncote Foundation.