A state agency with a record of saving money for New Jersey residents through close oversight of the financial industry could be getting some reinforcements later this year.
The $60.7 billion state budget proposed by Gov. Mikie Sherrill for the fiscal year that begins July 1 would pay for major staff additions at the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance.
The plan to increase funding for the Trenton-based agency comes as Sherrill, a first-term Democrat, emphasizes affordability issues to enact state government’s next annual budget before a July 1 deadline.
That includes stepped-up insurance industry regulation after many New Jersey consumers in recent years have seen rising premium rates for auto-, health- and home-insurance policies.
Sherrill’s bid to boost funding for the department, called DOBI, comes while President Donald Trump, in his second term, has taken steps to weaken several consumer financial protections, including federal banking regulations, state officials said.
In all, DOBI is line for a roughly $12 million increase under Sherrill’s proposed budget, which is subject to lawmakers’ approval.
“This is not a request we make lightly,” said Susan Ochs, the department’s acting commissioner, during a recent budget hearing in Trenton. “Our current circumstances necessitate this increase.”
About half the proposed increase would be used to bolster staff at an agency with nearly 25% of its authorized positions vacant, Ochs said. In all, it would allow for the filling of 94 positions, she said.
The funding increase would facilitate “promotions and targeted salary adjustments” in the department, which also regulates the New Jersey real-estate industry, according to budget documents. And DOBI also would get nearly $2 million for updated software and hardware.
“Over the past decade, with a budget held basically flat, the department has forgone essential investments in both people and systems, which has led to staffing levels well below the department’s operational needs, and to technology and security systems that do not currently meet modern standards,” Ochs said during the budget hearing.
The fiscal year 2027 budget put forward by Sherrill, a former congresswoman who is a newcomer to state government, calls for a modest increase in overall annual spending by state government.
In her public speech to lawmakers in March, Sherrill also said the budget prioritizes efforts to make the state more affordable, and to make state government itself run more efficiently.
Sherrill and lawmakers have until July 1 to enact an annual budget or face a state government shutdown.
While Sherrill is also proposing a series of budget cuts as part of her push to keep overall spending in check, DOBI is in line for an 18% funding increase, according to budget documents. The agency oversees or regulates more than 300,000 entities, including insurance companies, state-chartered banks and credit unions and real-estate companies.
DOBI’s regulatory activities are funded primarily with revenue collected through fees and assessments levied on the industries it regulates, according to the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services.
During the recent budget hearing, Ochs said her department’s regulators in recent years have had to take on oversight of several new lines of insurance business, including those handling policies for e-bikes, pets and travel.
The staffing crunch, in addition to creating “backlogs and extended wait times, for both New Jersey consumers and for those we regulate,” Ochs said, has led to heavily reliance on outside consultants, such as actuaries, whose compensation can cost three times that of a full-time staff member.
“This reliance on consultants is not only more expensive, it also means we are not building important institutional knowledge, and, at times, we lose continuity in programs, making our work less efficient,” she said.
The department’s regulators, though, have remained vigilant in their oversight of the insurance industry, Ochs told lawmakers. In all, DOBI regulators have blocked an estimated $1.4 billion in rate increases over the last three years, she said.
As she discussed the longer-term outlook for the insurance industry, Ochs offered some additional hope to New Jersey consumers who’ve been rocked by rising premiums.
“Consumer costs will continue to be a focus for me and for the department,” she said. “And while each insurance market has unique attributes, my conversations with companies suggest an overall trend of rate requests starting to level off — in New Jersey and around the country.”
This story has been updated to include details on DOBI regulatory funding.
This story is made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
