Bend Over, Here It Comes Again…
Your Stay NJ check really is half what you got before — here’s why
What actually happened
Back in July, NJMoneyHelp.com reported that the state’s FY2027 Appropriations Act, signed June 30, quietly cut the second half of this year’s Stay NJ benefit in half. Here’s the actual mechanism, and it’s worth spelling out plainly because it’s confusing by design. If your February and May checks were $200 each, the total combined amount left for the rest of the year didn’t stay at $200 per quarter. It got cut to $200 total, split between August and November, meaning $100 in August and $100 in November instead of $200 each. That’s not a rounding issue or a processing error. It’s the new law.
The bigger number tells the same story. Stay NJ originally promised a maximum annual benefit of $6,500. Under this change, nobody is getting that this year. The real maximum for the 2024 benefit year is now $4,875.
And next year looks different too
This isn’t a one-time adjustment tied only to this benefit year. Starting with the 2025 benefit year, payments beginning in February 2027, the income cap for Stay NJ drops from $500,000 to $200,000. Seniors earning $100,000 or less would still be eligible for the full benefit. Anyone earning more than that will see their benefit reduced further.
