Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 7/1/2019 – InsiderNJ

Below is the Insider NJ Morning Intelligence Briefing for 7/1/2019:

TOP STORY: On Budget Deadline Day, Murphy Rallies His Base Against the ‘Stubborn Forces’ of Stagnation

Here’s what happened under the Gold Dome on Thursday.

In addition to signing the FY2020 budget, Governor Murphy took action on legislation. Murphy signed legislation establishing a state-based health care exchange. Senate President Sweeney and Senator Pou applauded the bill’s signing. Murphy conditionally vetoed legislation that would allow lottery purchases through decoupled debit payment.

Reacting the Governor’s signing of the budget, Speaker Coughlin called the budget ‘responsible and fiscally thoughtful‘. Assembly Majority Leader Greenwald praised the budget as a reflecting Democrats’ shared priorities. Assembly Budget Chair Pintor Marin lauded the budget as ‘fiscally responsible and sustainable’. Assemblyman Wimberly applauded the fiscal spending on CharityCare and community food banks. Assemblywoman Sumter said the budget is ‘fiscally sound and responsible’. Assemblyman Mukherji said while the budget is ‘imperfect’, it includes priorities of both the administration and the Legislature. Assemblyman Benson said the budget ‘puts the state on the right track‘. Assemblyman Burzicelli said the budget is ‘fiscally solid, sustainable, and responsible’. Assemblyman Johnson called it a ‘sound, sustainable budget‘. Assemblywoman Murphy applauded the budget’s inclusion of PCA and DSP funding. Senator Oroho and Assemblymen Space and Wirths railed against the budget and school aid cuts.

NJ Chamber of Commerce President Bracken said the budget is a ‘promising step‘ toward fiscal responsibility. The NJBIA praised the budget’s avoidance of broad-based tax increases, but bemoaned its 11% spending increase over FY2018. The Garden State Initiative said the lack of tax increases but increased spending is a ‘meaningful step but leaves unfinished business’. NJ Citizen Action said ‘many pressing needs remain unaddressed’ in the budget. NJ Main Street Alliance said the budget is a ‘step in the right direction’. NJ Policy Perspective said its a ‘responsible budget‘ but that more must be done.

The state’s gaming regulators say NJ has surpassed Nevada as the sports betting capital, according to NJ Biz.

The NJDOL announced that the federal government awarded the state $1.7M to expand apprenticeship programs.

The Civil Service Commission held its first annual Diversity and Inclusion Summit at Mercer Community College.

ICYMI: Sweeney couldn’t interest caucus in SDA committee subpoena power; legislators held press conference on decrim and expungement; Holley expressed disappointment w/ ‘miscalculated political civil war‘, says Sweeney is ‘playing chess while the front office is playing checkers’; progressives rallied outside the Statehouse; advocates/legislators urge expansion of drivers’ licenses to immigrants; Cryan expressed discomfort Persichilli choice for DOH; Lesniak will testify at task force public meeting; Task Force report released after judicial ruling; Leg. passed extension, Murphy promises veto, chastised Legislature; Senate EDA committee postponed first hearing; Codey congratulates Murphy ‘having the onions to stand up‘ and investigate tax incentives; Sacco says Dems on Dem ‘not healthy’

AROUND THE WEB:

Budget fight: Murphy goes out not with a bang but with a whimper | Mulshine

Paul Mulshine, Star-Ledger

• Gov. Phil Murphy went into June saying he wouldn’t sign a budget that lacked his proposed hike in the millionaire’s tax. On Sunday he’s scheduled to sign such a budget. This collapse at the hands his fellow Democrats might amount to the biggest defeat in the history of the annual budget fight in Trenton – if it had happened in Trenton.

Murphy, like Trump, won’t reach past his base | Moran

Tom Moran, Star-Ledger Columnist

• Think of everything before last week as Phase One of the Phil Murphy Era. It will be remembered as the good part, if only in comparison to Phase Two, in which Murphy is destined to play the role of a squeaky little gerbil, a plaything for a Legislature that is firmly in control, with hard feelings against the governor and plenty of votes to override him at will.

Editorial: Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora’s first year in office wasn’t easy

Trentonian Editorial Board

• Reflecting on a year in office has to be tough for Trenton’s freshman mayor. It’s way easier for us on the outside of that office to criticize and complain, so that’s exactly what we’re going to do. One year ago, Reed Gusciora took office with a pile of promises and a lot of good ideas. He hit the ground running and really hasn’t stopped sprinting all year.

New Camden tower is a monument to New Jersey corruption. Unfortunately, we have to look at it. | Inga Saffron

Inga Saffron, The Philadelphia Inquirer

• It’s hard to look at the stubby, black-and-white tower that has recently defaced the Camden waterfront and not consider its origins. The new home for a trio of companies associated with longtime South Jersey political boss George Norcross, it was built with $245 million in tax breaks that were obtained in a manner that a state task force has deemed highly improper. A grand jury is looking into the process.

Opinion: In Battle with Norcross, Murphy Seizes Moral High Ground

Carl Golden, NJ Spotlight

• In his 19 months as governor, Phil Murphy has suffered some notable failures: legalization of recreational marijuana, tax increases on incomes in excess of $1 million, disclosure of donors to so-called “dark money” organizations, free tuition at county colleges, among others.

Even a small New Jersey city can share in the power of Pride

Kevin Riordan, The Philadelphia Inquirer

• Woodbury is blessed with a distinctive character that blends the pretty, the gritty, and a long and lively history. And since 2017, this diverse city of just under 10,000 has had another distinction: Woodbury Community Pride, an LGBTQ organization that has shrewdly partnered with City Hall, as well as the business and arts communities, to promote and market their shared hometown.

Gusciora receives solid C for first-year mayoral performance

LA Parker, The Trentonian

• Freshman year for high school and college, even politicians, offers challenges. So, the orientation of first-year Mayor Reed Gusciora delivered those bumps, bruises and successes one should expect with such a significant charge as Trenton. The honeymoon period lasted a big longer than one might have expected as Gusciora showed up everywhere at any time for photo ops despite a warning by former Mayor Douglas H. Palmer that leading Trenton is a marathon not a sprint.

How will Supreme Court shocker affect Christie, Kelly, Baroni and others tied to Bridgegate saga?

Kelly Heyboer, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

• It seemed like the Bridgegate saga was winding down. Nearly six years after the local lanes to the George Washington Bridge were mysteriously shut down, those tied to the case seemed to be moving on.

Will the Atlantic City Rail Line ever see improvements?

Colt Shaw, Press of Atlantic City

• Kathleen Jurimas takes the 5:47 a.m. train from Atlantic City to Philadelphia for work every morning. And since the Atlantic City Rail Line returned in May, she’s had to take the bus home. The new train schedule would require her to wait too long, she said. It’s been a headache.

Christie: I always said no one broke the law in the Bridgegate case. Now, let’s see what Supreme Court says.

Kelly Heyboer, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

• Speaking publicly for the first time since the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would hear an appeal of the Bridgegate case, former Gov. Chris Christie said he believes no one accused in the case broke federal laws and he is waiting to see if the country’s highest court agrees.

Cory Booker says ‘Kamala Harris doesn’t have sh-t to prove’ after Donald Trump Jr. shares racist tweet linked to birtherism

Amy Kuperinsky, NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

• Cory Booker sent the message loud and clear. “Kamala Harris doesn’t have sh-t to prove,” the U.S. senator from New Jersey tweeted on Saturday evening. Booker, 50, posted the tweet in reply to a New York Times story about a tweet that Donald Trump Jr. shared during the Democratic debate this week.

Josh Gottheimer push for border funding bill angers NJ liberals

Terrence T. McDonald, North Jersey Record

• Rep. Josh Gottheimer’s support of an emergency border funding bill loathed by immigrant advocates has reopened the divisions between the Democratic congressman and his district’s liberal activists.

Second day of Hackensack police hearings over ‘Brady’ letter adjourned early

Rodrigo Torrejon, North Jersey Record

• The second day of hearings to determine if four Hackensack police officers, who the city fired for an unlawful search in December 2016, can be reinstated to their jobs was adjourned early. On Friday, a disagreement over what testimony would be allowed from Ted Ehrenburg, the city manager, led administrative law Judge Andrew Baron to adjourn the hearing. He set a return date of July 30.

NJ Transit chief says rail, bus system can be ‘best in the country’

Mike Deak, Bridgewater Courier News

• Kevin Corbett, executive director of NJ Transit, told the Somerset County Employers Legislative Committee (ELC) on Friday that the embattled agency is “turning around.” With modernized equipment, improved communications and more train engineers being hired, Corbett said NJ Transit was on its way “to be the best in the country.”

Lakewood schools to close? Parents told to make ‘alternate plans’

Amanda Oglesby and Stacey Barchenger, Asbury Park Press

• The township’s public schools may close Monday as a result of the financial pressures facing the district, where officials say money will run out before the end of the next school year. Administrators said on the district website that parents should make “alternate plans” for their children. School leaders called it a “precautionary measure” due to the “unknown fiscal situation.”

Jim Walden went after the mob as a federal prosecutor. Now he’s investigating N.J. tax breaks.

Catherine Dunn and Andrew Seidman, The Philadelphia Inquirer

• Twenty-five years ago, New Jersey was just one of eight states that enjoyed Wall Street’s highest AAA credit rating. How times have changed! Today, only Illinois suffers from a lower rating. But for some reason, New Jersey’s political leadership seems anxious to claim the title as the nation’s Least Responsibly-Financed State Government.

‘Lot of ifs’ about state leaving Atlantic City in 2021

David Danzis, Press of Atlantic City

• Since the state assumed control of the city in late 2016, the big question on the minds of officials and residents is whether Trenton would cede power after its five-year run is up.

The New Jerseyans Who Rebelled: Meet John Hart

Matt Rooney, Save Jersey

• We’re continuing our pre-Independence Day look at each of New Jersey’s five signatories to the Declaration of Independence, Save Jerseyans. Our state’s founding fathers. Post #1 was devoted to the life and times of Abraham Clark. Unlike his fellow New Jerseyan Clark, Hart didn’t live long enough to see American Independence. He died in 1779 on his Hopewell Township, New Jersey farm and you can still visit farmland named in his honor today.

Citing conflicts, Jersey City BOE trustee, ex-state monitor seek to void JCEA contract

John Heinis, Hudson County View

• Jersey City Board of Education Trustee Matt Schapiro and Cathy Coyle, a former assistant superintendent and later a state monitor for the district, have filed a petition with the state to void the latest four-year deal with the teachers union due to conflicts in the negotiating process.

Could Personnel Swap at University Hospital Have Denied Trinitas Its Trauma Center Status?

Rebecca Panico, TAPinto Newark

• Union County officials are raising eyebrows at personnel swap between University Hospital and the state Department of Health, which they say might have played a role in an Elizabeth hospital not getting Level II Trauma Center status.

Mayor, businesses react to Lake Hopatcong algae issue

Jennifer Jean Miller, New Jersey Herald

• Local businesses and officials are feeling the squeeze of the state’s warning about harmful blue-green algal blooms in Lake Hopatcong, but they are remaining hopeful. Although some business owners have seen a decrease in boat traffic since the state Department of Environmental Protection issued warnings that humans and animals should not come into contact with the lake water, other businesses have been optimistic.

RWJ Somerset holds ribbon-cutting ceremony for transitional housing program

Catherine Nguyen, Bridgewater Courier News

• Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital (RWJUH) Somerset held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first completed “Healing Home,” an initiative that aims to provide temporary housing for individuals with a chronic illness and their families, on Friday, June 28.

Camden nonprofit looks to turn abandoned houses to homes, renters to homeowners

Phaedra Trethan, Cherry Hill Courier-Post

• Michelle Pagan was going to work as a financial aid representative at Walnut Hill College in Philadelphia, even though her family had spent Wednesday night at a motel. An afternoon fire made their North Camden home inhabitable, and while she was busy looking at houses where the family — her, her husband Sergio, two teenage daughters, a grown son, a grandson and a dog — could stay, she also didn’t want to miss any time. “It’s really busy now,” she said. “A lot of students need to get their aid.”

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