New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill’s $60.7 billion proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2027 eliminates a $2 million line item that had been designated for security and anti-terrorism measures at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, TLS has learned.

The funding, which was included in former Governor Phil Murphy’s annual budgets was intended to support safety enhancements at the Yeshiva, which is the largest in the country, with well over 10,000 students enrolled.

As a whole, Sherrill’s budget proposal seeks to curb discretionary allocations and reprioritize state resources, as she works to avoid a looming fiscal crisis.

The proposed budget also reduces funding for the state’s New Jersey Nonprofit Security Grant Program by $3 million, bringing it down to $7 million. The program provides grants to nonprofit organizations, including religious institutions, to support security personnel, surveillance systems and other protective measures, and has been a key resource amid rising concerns about targeted threats.

In recent years, New Jersey has increased funding for nonprofit security grants amid heightened concerns about antisemitic incidents and threats against religious institutions.

The omission has raised concerns among some legislators, with Assemblyman Roy Freiman (D-Princeton) asking Attorney General Jennifer Davenport during a recent Assembly Budget Committee hearing why, in an environment of rising anti-Semitism, the budget cuts security funding.

Budget negotiations between the governor’s office and the Legislature are ongoing, and lawmakers could seek to reinstate the funding before a final spending plan is adopted ahead of the July 1 start of the new fiscal year.