TRENTON -
On Monday, November 9, Governor Chris Christie vetoed
S-2783/A-4265, legislation that would have required municipalities, county governments, and regional divisions to establish residency requirements for police and firefighters. Both the New Jersey Fraternal Order of Police and the Professional Firefighters Association of New Jersey vehemently opposed these bills.
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PFANJ Dominick Marino (left), NJFOP Bob Fox (center),
and Immediate FOP Past President Ed Brannigan (right)
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NJFOP President Robert W. Fox is thrilled that the bills did not become law. Fox noted, "Our brothers and sisters have been demoralized so much over the past six y
ears and needed a win of this magnitude."
Fox continued, "We thank Governor Christie for recognizing that a residency requirement would have caused severe hardships on police and fire."
NJFOP fought and testified against these bills because while they were permissive, it would have given towns the right to control where police and firefighters lived for the first five years of their employment The NJFOP believed that such a requirement would have negatively impacted towns because the pool of candidates in those towns would have been severely limited.