Today, we heard a bill in the housing committee to impose a new fee on court filings to fund programs to prevent homelessness through the
@NJDCA.
Legal Services of NJ, which is one of the most effective organizations preventing homelessness by providing legal representation to tenants facing eviction, testified against the bill, arguing the increase in fees will not achieve its intended purpose of preventing homelessness, and will instead have the undesired impact of increasing rent for tenants.
This was enough to make
@AsmRCNJLD12 and me to vote no, but the entire debate made us wonder ...
If we are truly focused as a State at preventing homelessness, why is the Governor's budget cutting $6 million funding from
@NJLS, the entity doing the work on the ground to represent tenants in evocation actions? This bill today - raising a fee on court filings - does not square with the message being sent by those budget cuts.