Among the most restrictive: AWB, 10-round mag limit, FID card + permit to purchase, 7-day handgun waiting period, restrictive carry post-Bruen with extensive sensitive places, suppressors banned, red-flag law, duty to retreat.

Recreational cannabis legal 2021 (Public Question 1, A21). Automatic expungement of past cannabis convictions. Strong harm reduction including syringe services and naloxone standing order. No psychedelic decrim though psilocybin therapy bill pending.

State minimum wage $15.92/hr (most employers). MIT living wage for 1 adult: $18.72/hr. Ratio 0.85 — minimum-wage workers earn 85% of what's needed to live there alone.

4th-highest per-pupil spending ($27,234) and top tax burden produce strong NAEP scores and high life expectancy (~79.5+), but the cost-to-outcome ratio is poor — the archetypal expensive-but-decent case. You pay top dollar for above-average (not elite) services.

IJ grades NJ C+ (S.1963, 2020 - increased transparency, raised burden). No QI reform but A4656 (2021) created statewide use of force database. Body cam mandate (2021). No-knock restrictions via AG directive. Strong sanctuary policy (Immigrant Trust Directive). Robust whistleblower (CEPA).

No-excuse mail voting; permanent vote-by-mail list. Early voting 9 days since 2021. Automatic and online registration; same-day registration not yet enacted. Non-strict ID. Felons vote after release (parole/probation restored 2019). Bipartisan commission with chair tiebreaker, moderate bias. Pro-voter trajectory.

Medicaid expansion adopted 2014. Abortion protected by Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act 2022. Gender-affirming care shield law. Low uninsured rate. Strong provider density. Mental health parity enforced.

No statutory qualified immunity elimination but state Civil Rights Act provides parallel claim path. Statewide BWC mandate (P.L. 2021, c.54) with public release rules under AG Directive 2019-4. Major-discipline records public (AG Directive 2020-5). PTC decertification with public database (2022 license law). No-knock restricted. AG Use of Force Policy requires de-escalation and necessity. Chokeholds banned. AG investigates police use-of-deadly-force (Directive 2019-4).

Abortion right protected by Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act. Comprehensive LGBTQ+ nondiscrimination. Conversion therapy banned. Shield law. Gender-affirming care protected. LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum mandated. No religious mandates in schools. Strong church-state separation.

Not a right-to-work state. Paid family leave (since 2009) and TDI. Paid sick leave (Earned Sick Leave Law 2018). Federal OSHA but strong state DOL enforcement. Strong prevailing wage. Wage Theft Act (2019) - among nation's strongest. Domestic Worker Bill of Rights (2024). Below-median fatal injury rate.