Kansas City tax credit truce appeals to New Jersey lawmakers – Politico

Good Friday morning!

It’s a far-fetched idea: New Jersey and its neighboring states form a compact to stop offering tax incentives to companies pitting them against one another.

Many of our state’s tax incentives have gone to companies that otherwise threatened to move jobs to Pennsylvania or New York City — whether or not those threats were genuine.

But three Democratic state senators: Loretta Weinberg, Joe Cryan and Troy Singleton expressed either openness or support for the idea yesterday. Gov. Phil Murphy vaguely said he’s open to the idea.

This comes after Kansas and Missouri called a truce to stop each other from trying to lure companies across their borders in the Kansas City area.

Senate President Steve Sweeney, who is one of the biggest champions of tax credits, said he’d consider working on a cease-fire proposal but only after Murphy puts a tax credit program in place. “We’ve already unilaterally disarmed,” he said in a statement. “The tax incentive extension bill passed both the Senate and Assembly overwhelmingly on a bipartisan basis. Once the Governor signs the bill, we need to work together on long-term reforms — including a multi-state tax credit ceasefire like the one that the governors of Kansas and Missouri just signed.”

I doubt this will ever happen. But it’s fun to speculate.

WHERE’S MURPHY?: No public schedule

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Murphy adviser Adam Alonso, Vision Media’s Paul Swibinski, Former Rep. Dick Zimmer

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We can sit together… At that diner you took us to.” — NJTV’s Michael Aron to Gov. Phil Murphy and Assembly Speaker Craug Coughlin

DAYS SINCE MURPHY-ALIGNED GROUP INTENTIONALLY BLEW OFF SELF-IMPOSED DEADLINE TO DISCLOSE ITS DONORS: 227

DIE ANOTHER DAY — “Judge halts N.J.’s Aid in Dying law,” by NJ Advance Media’s Susan K. Livio: “A state judge has granted a request to stop New Jersey’s ‘aid in dying’ law from taking effect, preventing any physician from writing a lethal prescription for terminally ill patients to end their lives. State Superior Court Judge Paul Innes, sitting in Mercer County, granted the temporary restraining order Wednesday at the request of a physician from Bergen County who opposes the law for religious and professional reasons, said E. David Smith of Bloomfield, the physician’s attorney. Innes sided with the plaintiff, Yosef Glassman, who argued that although the law took effect Aug. 1, the Murphy administration had not yet written the rules governing the practice, ‘rendering the entire death process wholly unregulated,’ according to court records. The law took effect on August 1, but required a two-week waiting period before a physician could fill a patient’s prescription. That two-week period would have come due Friday, Smith said.”

INSTITUTE TO BE FUNDED BY DEFERRED PROSECUTION AGREEMENTS — ”Chris Christie’s next big foray into politics? The Christie Institute of Public Policy,” by NJ Advance Media’s Matt Arco: “The former governor, known for his often brash leadership style that propelled him to the national stage as a tell-it-like-it-is politician, is about to unveil The Christie Institute of Public Policy, a non-profit, nonpartisan institute at his alma mater, Seton Hall University School of Law. And the goal of the program headed by the guy who became a Youtube sensation for his town hall shouting matches, boardwalk brouhahas and willingness to tell a heckler to ‘sit down and shut up’? Bring civility to today’s politics. ‘Unfortunately our politics have gotten so ugly and divisive in the country that people are not having civilized conversations,’ Christie told NJ Advance Media.”

DEMS CALL IT A VBM DECISION WITHOUT THE ‘V’ — “Voters who asked for mail-in ballots in last two elections must reapply, state says,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “In a move that creates even more confusion with New Jersey election law, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has decided that voters who requested vote-by-mail ballots in 2017 and 2018 must reapply to receive mail-in ballots for the upcoming election. That means Democratic candidates seeking to flip Republican Assembly seats won’t be able to ride the coattails of vote-by-mail programs conducted by the Murphy for Governor campaign in 2017, and by Democratic candidates in 2018. A new law approved last year granted forever VBM status to any voter who previously requested mail-in ballots, unless they specifically opt out. With the exact language of the legislation up for interpretation, the state has determined that the new law applies only to VBM requests made in 2016 and before.”

A 0.000000082 MASTRO TIP — “Customer leaves a 74-cent tip, NJ lawmaker calls him ‘jerk’ on Twitter,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Stacey Barchenger: “A Republican lawmaker is facing scrutiny after posting a Tweet on Tuesday that outed, by name, a man who left a 74-cent tip on a more than $100 check at a local restaurant. Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, ‘doxed’ the bad tipper — disclosing his personal information online — after dining at the Colts Neck Inn. O’Scanlon said the restaurant was abuzz that a customer from the night before left a 74-cent tip on a $119.26 bill. ‘It strikes me that the jerks of the world tend to count on people not knowing they’re jerks and maybe it’s time for that to change,’ O’Scanlon told the Trenton Bureau for the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey in a phone interview.”

—Camden activists protest lack of supermarket at site of failed proposed project

—New Jersey’s unemployment rate hits another record low

—Treasury says July revenue collections on target

—“Does bottled water expire? NJ was the only state that thought so”

—Mulshine: “With Phil Murphy and Steve Sweeney, who needs two parties?”

—“Murphy: Treasurer can decide whether to testify on spending freeze”

LUCKILY TRUMP IS MAGNANIMOUS AND HAS SHOWN GREAT RESPECT FOR MINORITY-DOMINATED CITIES — “Phil Murphy wants Trump to help him with Newark’s lead water emergency,” by The Record’s Charles Stile: “The city of Newark has no idea whether the water pouring out of the faucets in 14,000 households is safe to drink. And now the state is asking for help from President Donald J. Trump, who seems more inclined to give New Jersey the back of his hand rather than extend it to help. ‘We need the federal government to do its share and punch its weight,’ Gov. Phil Murphy said in a Newark news conference Wednesday. Murphy’s cry for help from the Donald is pretty ironic, given how much Trump has been Murphy’s favorite punching bag in his first two years in office. Every remedial step the city and the state of New Jersey have taken to screen lead from its water has now been cast in doubt. It suddenly needs a lot of things: comprehensive testing, reliable water filters and, for the foreseeable future, truckloads of bottled water. And now, suddenly, Murphy expects the thin-skinned president, the great counterpuncher with a long memory, to bail out New Jersey and prevent Newark from becoming a sequel, of sorts, to the fiasco in Flint, Michigan.”

BOOKER: ‘LA LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU’ — “ICE deports cabbie despite ongoing investigation into his alleged abuse at Essex Jail,” WNYC’s Matt Katz: “Bronx taxi driver Faruk Karimu was deported to Ghana this week without prior warning, even though there’s an ongoing criminal investigation into his claim that he was beaten and raped by corrections officers at Newark’s Essex County Correctional Facility. His attorneys believe the deportation violated federal law forbidding “any alien who is needed in the United States in connection with any investigation” from leaving the country. Karimu, 40, was arrested and taken to Essex after a regularly scheduled check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement in May. Ten days later, he said he had a dispute with Essex corrections officers that began with a complaint that he didn’t have enough time out of his cell to call his family. He was then handcuffed and taken to the segregated housing unit, which is known as solitary confinement. That’s when two officers allegedly assaulted and raped him. He said he was also penetrated with an unknown object, possibly a pen.”

REPORTER OBJECTS TO REPORTING — “CNN’s April Ryan after bodyguard ejects local journalist: ‘When I speak, I don’t have news covering my speech’,” by Fox News’ Joseph A. Wulfsohn: “A local news editor claims that a bodyguard for CNN political analyst and White House correspondent April Ryan violently removed him from an event where she was a keynote speaker. Charlie Kratovil, editor of New Brunswick Today, was on hand to cover a speech given by Ryan at the 4th annual New Jersey Parent Summit, which focuses on ‘educating, empowering and preparing parents for our future leaders,’ on Aug. 3 at The Heldrich Hotel … As Kratovil and Morris begin causing a scene, Ryan explains to the crowd, ‘When I speak, I don’t have news covering my speech.’ Kratovil said another journalist was recording her speech.”

—“Constituents urge impeachment at U.S. Rep. Andy Kim’s town hall meeting”

—“NJ fights federal rule that would deny benefits to some legal immigrants”

—“White supremacist attacks should be treated the same as foreign terrorism, Booker says”

—Steinberg: “My grandparents and Ken Cuccinelli — ‘Who would have ‘sent them back’”

—“Campaign: Nevada demographics, family tie a boon for Booker”

NEWARK WATER — Newark has quietly been giving bottled water to some in Wanaque service area, by POLITICO’s Sam Sutton: The acting director of Newark’s water department testified in court Thursday that the city has quietly been making bottled water available to certain residents of homes served by the Wanaque Water Treatment Plant, which the city claims has been unaffected by the ongoing lead contamination crisis. Kareem Adeem, who has been serving as the acting director since last fall, said pregnant women and those with small children are being given bottled water at the city’s four distribution points, regardless of whether or not they live the Pequannock Water Treatment Plant’s service area.

—Oscar James: “Lead in the water has Newark in crisis and our mayor has done nothing, ex councilman says”

—New contract will raise salaries of Newark teachers, end performance pay

AH, SHUGAR SHUGAR…. YOU’VE GOT ME WANTING FOOD — “Students with a $20 lunch debt won’t get a school lunch, N.J. district proposes,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Melanie Burney: “The Cherry Hill school district is considering a stricter policy for students who don’t pay their overdue lunch bills. After the first $10 in debt: Their lunch will be a tuna fish sandwich. Those who owe $20 or more will get no lunch at all until the debt is paid. Assistant Superintendent Lynn Shugars unveiled a proposal to tweak the district’s tuna fish sandwich policy at a school board meeting Tuesday night, citing a $14,343 meal debt incurred by about 343 students in the South Jersey school district … Community activists and parents immediately blasted the plan as lunch shaming for children whose parents may be unable to pay the bill. Located about 20 miles from Philadelphia, Cherry Hill is the 11th-largest public school district in New Jersey and enrolls nearly 11,000 students.”

SURPRISED THEY DIDN’T DRAFT IT USING ONLY JERRY SCANLAN’S TWEETS — “Sussex County wants voters to weigh in on immigration — again, even after AG told them not to,” by NJ Advance Media’s Rob Jennings: “Voters in Sussex County will be asked to weigh in on immigration enforcement come Nov. 5. The Sussex County Board of Chosen Freeholders voted unanimously on Wednesday night — in front of a packed, standing-room only crowd that spilled out into the hallway — to put a question on the ballot this fall. It would ask residents whether the county should cooperate with United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents and ‘make reasonably available … the tools, resources, personnel, and real, personal and intellectual property owned by the County, under its direct control.’”

THEY FORGOT THE WINKING EMOJI — “Did Eatontown Democrats suggest donations could help you get a job?” by The Asbury Park Press’ Suzanne Cervenka: “Four Democrats running this year for borough council are being called out by fellow Democratic leaders for an email to potential vendors that asks for campaign donations while also suggesting those same professionals apply for borough jobs. The email was sent Friday morning and appears to come from the campaign account of Eatontown council members Al Baginsky and Tonya Rivera, who are seeking re-election to full-terms, and James David and Renata Bodner, who are running to fill unexpired terms. The message was short, only four lines long, and noted that the professionals did not attend a June 25 fundraiser for the 2019 Democratic slate, but could still donate. It included a link to their fundraising page. The next line baffled vendors and elected officials alike: ‘Please note that next year’s professionals will be chosen solely on their merits and not based on political connection. We’re hoping you’ll apply.’”

NOT THE GUY THE DISTRICT PAYS $600,000 A YEAR — “Find someone who can make Lakewood’s school aid case,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Randy Bergmann: “Any objective evaluation of Lakewood’s funding mess shows the Lakewood district and its taxpayers cannot, and should not, bear the brunt of the burden of funding the busing and special education costs of Lakewood’s private schools. The state must respond to Lakewood’s extraordinary circumstances — a district with 6,000 public school students and more than five times as many private school students. State aid is based on the public school enrollment, but the district is responsible for paying for private school busing and special education. Bottom line: Lakewood’s school leadership, beginning with [attorney Michael] Inzelbuch, and the area’s state lawmakers have failed to get the job done. There is only thing that could come anywhere close to justifying Inzelbuch’s salary: Getting Lakewood the state aid it deserves. But he has repeatedly failed.”

RESIDENTS URGED NOT TO WORRY BECAUSE THE MAYOR OF BARNEGAT TOWNSHIP WILL TALK ABOUT HIS FEELINGS ABOUT GAY PEOPLE — “Barnegat Bay: Smelly dead fish, poison algae ahead; Ocean County growth makes it worse,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Amanda Oglesby: “This estuary, which spreads across about 64 square miles, has been imperiled for decades. Sewage polluted the waterway through the ’60s and ’70s, and later fertilizer runoff and animal waste from rapidly expanding developments throughout the watershed, the rivers and streams that drain into Barnegat Bay. Today, Barnegat Bay faces these decades-old threats as well as new ones: climate change and stinging jellyfish. And the stakes are higher than ever. Hanging in the balance: the fate of one of the largest brackish water ecosystems in the nation, a sanctuary for a vast variety of shellfish and migrating birds, and a tourism industry worth $4 billion. Ten years since the state enacted a rescue plan, there are signs the bay is coming back, but progress in a decade has been so slow that biologists warn the bay could still slip toward ecological disaster.”

—“Want to transform Newark? Then the city, N.J. need to offer up incentives, longtime developer says”

—“Dozens of Jewish residents targeted in bias crime. Their neighbors came to their aid”

—“Paterson mall owners accuse city parking agency of mismanagement”

THERE’S NO REASON TO MOVE TO FLORIDA — “2°C: Beyond the limit: Extreme climate change has arrived in America,” by The Washington Post’s Steven Mufson, Chris Mooney, Juliet Eilperin and John Muyskens: “New Jersey may seem an unlikely place to measure climate change, but it is one of the fastest-warming states in the nation. Its average temperature has climbed by close to 2 degrees Celsius since 1895 — double the average for the Lower 48 states … Alaskka is the fastest-warming state in the country, but Rhode Island is the first state in the Lower 48 whose average temperature rise has eclipsed 2 degrees Celsius. Other parts of the Northeast — New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine and Massachusetts — trail close behind. While many people associate global warming with summer’s melting glaciers, forest fires and disastrous flooding, it is higher winter temperatures that have made New Jersey and nearby Rhode Island the fastest warming of the Lower 48 states.”

BOBBY BOUCHER IS ANGRY — “Rutgers tells Louisiana high school: Stop using our logo,” by The Courier-News’ Greg Tufaro: “Ruston High School in northern Louisiana, which had adopted a block ‘R’identical to that which Rutgers University has trademarked as its official logo, has agreed to use a new design at the state university’s request. According to Ricky Durrett, Supervisor of Secondary Education for Lincoln Parish Schools, he and officials from Ruston High School received a cease-and-desist letter earlier this year from Learfield Sports, a Texas-based marketing company which manages the Rutgers brand, asking the school to stop using the logo. Durrett said Ruston High School, whose most famous football alumnus is Jones, a star quarterback for the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams from 1973 through 1982, will have a decade to remove the block ‘R’ logo from its uniforms, buildings, facilities, playing fields, sports apparel, social media platforms and school website.”

—“Here is a look at Rutgers football’s sagging ticket sale numbers heading into 2019 season”

—“Port Authority faces $1M lawsuit over workplace harassment lawsuit”