Some N.J. Dem senators now back change to law on recording conversations – Politico

Good Tuesday morning!

A lot of people think it’s interesting that two state Senate Democrats introduced what had been a mainly Assembly Republican bill that would change New Jersey from a one-party consent state when it comes to recording conversations to an all-party consent state.

State Sens. Richard Codey (D-Essex) and Bob Smith (D-Middlesex) last week introduced the bill, S2782, which had floated around the Assembly for seven years sponsored mainly by Republicans, including Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-Union). It would bar recording any conversation — in-person or electronic — unless all the people involved consent. (There are, of course, exceptions for law enforcement and others).

And it comes as staffers in the Department of Health continue to put out recordings that are embarrassing for Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli. Several people made that connection yesterday when I tweeted the bill’s synopsis.

“Absolutely, positively, unequivocally, totally unrelated,” Codey told me in a phone interview. “As bad and despicable as that was.”

There are about a dozen states that require all-party consent or something stricter than single-party consent, but the majority of states are like New Jersey and only require that one person who’s party to the conversation consent to its recording. And I know of two groups who will definitely not like this bill: Reporters and whistleblowers. Because not only would it be illegal to make the recordings unless all parties are OK with it — it would also be illegal to acquire the recordings.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “The local (police department) came in and basically cut my b—s off. … This governor is vindictive. This governor will not allow gyms to open while he’s got to deal with their a–es.” – Chris Lambert, owner of Atilis gym in Egg Harbor Township, blaming the high-profile PR offensive by the Bellmawr Atilis gym owners for putting heat on other gym owners

WHERE’S MURPHY? — No public schedule

CORONAVIRUS TRACKER — 258 newly-diagnosed cases for a total of 185,031. Four more deaths for a total of 14,025. (Not including 1,853 presumed deaths)

WHEN THE PUBLIC GETS ITS PHIL — “No New Jersey governor has faced challenges like Phil Murphy’s. Can he survive?” by The Record’s Charles Stile: “Murphy is shouldering an enormous agenda — one that’s a very far cry from the progressive “fairer and stronger New Jersey” theme of his 2017 campaign. Murphy’s talk of modernizing the state’s economy has now given way to talk of preventing the current one from sliding into a chronic, Depression-like malaise. The conditions are so daunting that even career politicians would be scared. Murphy is a first-time elected official — who also underwent cancer surgery in the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak. So far, the public has given him high marks for his handling of the crisis, with an approval rating reaching as high as 70%. He has been seen as the empathetic, in-control crisis manager speaking directly to them in his three-times-a-week briefings. But as the momentous reopening decisions pile up and the dreaded ‘second wave’ gathers on the horizon, will the reservoir of goodwill that has sustained Murphy evaporate — and right before he plans a likely run for a second term?”

JCP&L TO CHANGE NAME TO ‘L’ — “Utilities have spent billions, but storms still cut power to many in NJ,” by NJ Spotlight’s Tom Johnson: “In the years since Superstorm Sandy left 2 million households without power, some for weeks, state regulators have not been shy about giving New Jersey’s four electric utilities the go-ahead to invest billions of dollars in making their systems more resilient. So when a powerful tropical storm cut its path through New Jersey last week, it left many questioning why 1.4 million customers again had to struggle through another widespread and lengthy power outage. ‘The fact that we are having these storms isn’t new,’’ said Ev Liebman, associate director of the AARP in New Jersey, who is calling on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to once again launch an investigation into what went wrong. ‘The question is why are we not doing better.’’ New Jersey Division of Rate Counsel director Stefanie Brand agrees the state regulatory agency ought to examine the utilities’ performance in the storm to see ‘whether all the money we’ve spent on resilience has brought us to a better outcome.’’”

—“Critics bash state’s power utilities”

HE CAN ALWAYS RUN FOR CONGRESS — “NJ Congressmen demand CEO of Paramus veterans home to resign after NorthJersey.com report,” by The Record’s Scott Fallon: “Two congressmen called for the CEO of the New Jersey Veterans Home at Paramus to resign Monday following a NorthJersey.com story last week that showed how lax infection control and questionable decisions may have exacerbated the devastating toll COVID-19 has had at the facility. U.S. Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. and Josh Gottheimer called for CEO Matthew Schottlander to step down before an expected second wave of COVID-19 emerges this fall and winter. ‘Mismanagement and a lack of transparency at the state-run Paramus Veterans Home resulted in needless death and preventable tragedy,’ the two Democrats said in a statement … A federal inspection report and more than 100 other documents obtained by NorthJersey.com and the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey show how the staff at the state-run institution was so poorly equipped and trained, and infection control procedures there were so lax, that all residents and staff were found to be in ‘immediate jeopardy.’”

—New Jersey announces plans to gradually reopen nursing homes for indoor visits, by POLITICO’s Katherine Landergan: he plan outlined by Gov. Phil Murphy and Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli includes mandatory testing for staff and residents as well as stockpiling personal protective equipment. Long-term care facilities, Murphy said during his coronavirus briefing in Trenton, have borne an “outsized burden” on the pandemic, with nearly 7,000 deaths. “We can’t understate the enormity of the spread or loss of life within these facilities,” he said.

SUPER PAC FORMED AND FUNDED BY PARTNERS AT STEINHARDT’S LAW FIRM IS TOTALLY INDEPENDENT — Ciattarelli camp to ELEC: Fine pro-Steinhardt group for failing to register in New Jersey, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: An independent expenditure group that appears to have been set up to boost GOP State Chairman Doug Steinhardt’s widely expected 2021 campaign for governor should face sanctions for failing to register with New Jersey’s campaign finance agency, according a lawyer for a Republican gubernatorial rival of Steinhardt’s. Mark Sheridan, counsel for Jack Ciattarelli, wrote to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in early June requesting an investigation into the group, Lead Right New Jersey. “Lead Right New Jersey’s only purpose is to influence New Jersey elections. The Commission need look no further than the entity’s name to reach such a conclusion,” Sheridan wrote in the June 4 letter. Sheridan wrote that Lead Right New Jersey’s own press release makes “patently clear” that its “goal is to influence next year’s gubernatorial election.”

BRINGING OUT THE CHINA — “Reopening indoor dining in N.J. remains too risky for coronavirus spread based on study, Murphy says,” by NJ Advance Media’s Brent Johnson: “Though New Jersey’s coronavirus numbers continue to improve five months into the state’s outbreak, Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday it remains too risky to permit indoor dining at bars and restaurants, citing a study of a restaurant outbreak in China as evidence.”

GILL GETS OXYGEN — “Former Murphy campaign manager implores governor to help DeCamp, private bus companies,” by The Record’s Colleen Wilson: “Brendan Gill, president of the Essex County Board of Freeholders, wrote to Murphy on Friday, Aug. 7, about his concerns for the DeCamp bus company, which suspended its commuter routes on the same day because of the ‘sustained effects of the COVID-19 pandemic,’ according to a notification to customers … At NJ Transit’s board meeting in June, Carol Katz of the lobbying firm Katz Government Affairs, which represents the Bus Association of New Jersey, asked that the agency consider sharing some of the $1.4 billion in federal CARES Act funds it received with private bus operators, such as DeCamp …. Gill, who has worked in partnership with New Jersey’s second-largest lobbying firm, Public Strategies Impact, but is not a registered lobbyist, has had the governor’s ear on several issues affecting local businesses or policy issues. Last year, Public Strategies Impact represented NY Waterway and the Greater New Jersey Motorcoach Association in lobbying efforts, state records show.”

—Charter schools group urges Murphy to approve virtual reopening plans

—“There are over 16K unresolved eviction claims in NJ since March. And more could be coming”

—“1.47 million votes cast in 2020 N.J. primary, second highest in state history”

—“Why did Murphy reverse rules on indoor gatherings? Here’s a refresher on numbers guiding his plans”

—“NJPP report: Schools should prepare now for next year”

—“Labor Department would be audited amid unemployment delays under proposed N.J. bill”

—“Drivers in long MVC lines could get relief, if these bills make it to Murphy’s desk”

—Bill would boost airport worker paychecks to help cover health care costs

NOW LIVE — THE FIFTY: Governors have never mattered more to the future of the nation. They are making decisions that shape our everyday lives. The Fifty is a new series from POLITICO that examines the roles mayors and governors are playing amid pandemic, economic crisis and a national reckoning on race. See the page here.

BROMANCE ENDS — Murphy blasts Trump’s executive actions as short-sighted, by POLITICO’s Samantha Maldonado: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Monday blasted a spate of actions from President Donald Trump over the weekend designed to provide relief to unemployed Americans, declaring “millions of unemployed workers and their families deserve better.“ Murphy, speaking at a press briefing in Trenton, painted Trump’s actions — signed at his private golf club in Bedminster on Sunday — as short-sighted, counterproductive and insufficient.

—“Trump to Long Branch fundraiser crowd: ‘A deal with Iran within four weeks’ if re-elected”

—“The actions of Trump guests at N.J. golf club should ‘concern us all,’ Murphy says”

REDISTRICTING — “Study: NJ loses House seat under Census immigration change,” by NJ 101.5’s Michael Symons: “New Jersey would lose one of its seats in the House of Representatives if estimated numbers of immigrants not legally in the United States are subtracted from the tally used for apportionment, according to a University of Virginia analysis. The prospect underlies the stakes of a federal lawsuit filed in New York by 20 states, including New Jersey, that seeks to strike down the exclusion from the formula as unconstitutional. The Fourteenth Amendment says apportionment is based on the “whole number of persons” living in each state. If the change happens, and depending how closely the Census Bureau estimates come to those produced last year by the Pew Research Center, New Jersey would be at risk of losing a House seat and electoral vote for the fourth time in five decades.”

—Murphy offers suggestions to prevent future widespread power outages

—Kelly: “Omoyele Sowore has been held in Nigeria for a year. His NJ family wants him home”

—“Lamberto joins Richter team as deputy campaign manager”

—“Becchi wants three debates with Sherrill”

MONMOUTH COUNTY — “NJ to Monmouth County: Pause your ‘quarantine at work’ COVID-19 policy,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Susanne Cervenka: “Monmouth County can’t require certain employees to come to work if they have been exposed to COVID-19 but don’t have symptoms after a state labor agency imposed a temporary halt to the practice last month. The Public Employee Relations Commission’s temporary restraining order, issued July 30, applies to certain Division of Social Services employees who previously were allowed to work from home because of the public health emergency caused by COVID-19. The ruling stems from an unfair labor practice charge that CWA Local 1087, which represents 300 Division of Social Services employees, filed over the county’s sick leave policy for COVID-19 as well as a determination that all Division of Social Service employees are considered ‘emergency responders.’”

READY TO MAKE AN ENTRANCE SO BACK ON UP — “Snoop Dogg tells mayor he wants to invest in Atlantic City,” by BreakingAC’s Lynda Cohen: “Atlantic City’s development may soon be running with the big dogs. Make that one very famous Dogg. ‘I’m coming to the state, I’m coming to the city,’ rap legend Snoop Dogg told the city’s mayor in a FaceTime call Sunday. ‘We’re looking to try to invest in some real estate and do some big things out there with you.’ Mayor Marty Small told BreakingAC surprised when he got a call from real estate developer Cesar Pina — better known as Flipping NJ.”

JASON PLEDGES TO DONATE HIS HOCKEY MASK, WILL REVERT TO SACK WITH SINGLE EYE HOLE — “N.J. school district isn’t giving masks to teachers, so they’re fundraising to buy PPE themselves,” by NJ Advance Media’s Avalon Zoppo: “Math teacher Antoinette Blaustein worries about heading back to her classroom at Voorhees High School in less than a month amid a pandemic. And when she returns, school officials won’t be providing her with a mask to help stop the spread of coronavirus. It’s up to her to buy her own face coverings, according to North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High School District’s re-opening plan. So Blaustein, along with her colleagues, started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to purchase masks for the district’s more than 500 full-time staff members. They have raised $460 in three days.”

—“Engel challenges Richford for Mercer GOP chair”

—“Contact tracing: How will Ocean County find COVID-19 cases after massive parties?”

—“Host of huge mansion pool party charged with violating N.J. gathering limits”

—“Trenton cop facing dismissal for lying on search warrant in federal drug case”

—“Edison to consider community energy aggregation program”

—“$658M amended Jersey City budget will come with 0% municipal tax increase, mayor says”

REMEMBER WHEN THE CHURCH FOR YEARS BLOCKED LIFTING THE CIVIL STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS FOR SEX ABUSE? — “Catholic Church was warned about McCarrick decades ago, yet promotions, honors kept coming,” by The Record’s Abbott Koloff and Deena Yellin: “In the late 1980s, several seminary students approached one of their professors imploring him for help, saying they didn’t want to take any more trips to Newark Archbishop Theodore McCarrick’s Jersey shore home, but feared reprisals if they complained to archdiocesan officials. The Rev. Ed Reading, a priest of the Paterson Diocese, was alarmed when the seminarians told him they felt pressured into sharing a bed with McCarrick and having to undress in front of him, though they did not say he touched them sexually. Reading reported it to his bishop, Frank Rodimer, who indicated he’d contact the Vatican’s U.S. representatives … But like some other actions later taken by priests and church officials, there were either no consequences or they were fleeting, as McCarrick took seminarians to the shore home for years afterward. Church officials have said they knew of no allegations against McCarrick related to the abuse of children until two years ago. But his alleged sexual harassment of adult seminarians was whispered about for decades, based on recent NorthJersey.com and USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey interviews with former seminary teachers and students, and a former personal secretary to McCarrick. Reading called the harassment ‘the worst kept secret ever.”

SHOPWRONG — “We’re still risking our lives, but coronavirus pay raises are mostly gone, retail workers say,” by NJ Advance Media’s Katie Kausch: “A number of companies with locations in New Jersey, mostly those in the retail and service sectors, offered either hourly raises or pandemic bonuses in late March, when all non-essential businesses were shuttered to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Most companies told NJ Advance Media their pay increases ended earlier in the summer after having been in place for several months, citing increasingly normal shopping patterns and the opening of non-essential retail. Harvey Whille, president of United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1262, a union that represents grocery store workers, including Shop Rite and Stop and Shop employees, said the pay bumps should remain in place as long as the threat of the coronavirus remains in grocery stores … Most companies told NJ Advance Media their pay increases endeStop and Shop ended their 10% pay increase for unionized employees on July 4, spokeswoman Stefanie Shuman said. It had been in effect since March 20. Saker ShopRites, which owns grocery and liquor stores in more than 30 towns, cited similar reasoning in a letter sent to employees and reviewed by NJ Advance Media.”

—“Itchy, stinging sea lice surface at Jersey Shore beaches”