Murphy’s baby bond feint – Politico

Good Thursday morning!

Gov. Phil Murphy was out yesterday aggressively promoting his brand newborn “baby bond” proposal to give $1,000 to every child born in New Jersey to a family under a certain income threshold.

“I don’t want New Jersey to emerge from Covid-19 thinking that just doing the basics is good enough,” Murphy said yesterday in Paterson. I want New Jersey to come away from this pandemic stronger, fairer and more resilient and hopeful than before.”

The proposal is not popular with some powerful legislative Democrats and has drawn the ire of Republicans. It’s unlikely to pass, and I think Murphy knows that.

The baby bond proposal could be a feint. This shiny new object is an idea that may be popular on its face with Democrats, but one they’re not eager to pay for. At the same time, Murphy’s proposal to up the tax rate on incomes over $1 million, which has languished for years, might really pass this year — along with some other tax hikes.

By making this proposal the centerpiece of his budget agenda, Murphy may be creating an easier path for his policies that actually have a shot. And it might be a politically tough look for Democrats to deny cute little itty bitty babies money while continuing to spare the wealthy from a tax hike. That’s my analysis, anyway.

WHERE’S MURPHY?: No public schedule. Media: Ask Governor Murphy at 7 p.m. on your local NPR affiliate

CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: 356 newly-diagnosed cases for a total of 194,990. Seven more deaths for a total of 14,220 (not counting 1,789 presumed deaths)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: ““If we knew, specifically, that it was transmitted airborne … If we had known that earlier, we would have shut the state meaningfully earlier. We would have gotten to a mandatory masking policy meaningfully earlier. We would have had a stay-at-home mandate put in place,” — Gov. Phil Murphy on CNN, on President Trump’s Feb. 7 comments to Bob Woodward that the coronavirus “goes through the air” and is “deadly,” even as he downplayed it publicly.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Murphy spox Mahen Gunaratna, PhillyVoice’s Lexie Norcross, Attorney Nick Repici, Newark Alliance’s Jorge Santos

NJTV: THE NEXT GENERATION — Briana Vannozzi, who’s been anchoring the NJTV nightly newscast on an interim basis since Mary Alice Williams stepped down in March, is officially the anchor now of NJTV News with Briana Vannozzi. Vannozzi, a respected and popular member of the Trenton press corps, has been wiht NJTV since 2012. It comes as a changing of the guard and the network, the successor to NJN, which in addition to Williams’ departure recently saw the semi-retirement of Michael Aron. “No matter my change in role, I’m centered on being a journalist first. I’m honored and humbled to serve as NJTV’s news anchor,” Vannozzi said in a statement. “I began my career in public television and I’ve found nothing more rewarding. The NJTV News and NJ Spotlight team is an unbelievably dedicated, hard-working, enthusiastic group of journalists and I’m looking forward to helping the news program grow.”

YES WE CANNA — “Campaign to legalize marijuana kicks off with 55 days until election,” by NJ Advance Media’s Amanda Hoover: “A coalition of activists and experts is readying to roll out a campaign to legalize marijuana in New Jersey for those over 21, framed through a racial justice lens seeking to end arrests for weed use and address the damage caused by the war on drugs. NJ CAN 2020 formed in March, just a week before the state began shutting down to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Since, the landscape of an election has changed drastically — no going door-to-door to spread the word, no rallies with motivational speakers to rouse voters. And the get-out-the-vote message has shifted to getting the ballot in the mailbox on time, as New Jersey plans to send mail-in ballots to all of its registered voters … The coalition will take a virtual-first approach to reaching voters and educating them about the ballot question seeking to legalize marijuana. They will host online forums, live broadcasts and posts on social media as well as phone banking and text alerts.”

—Resolution from Murphy restores funding for New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission

NJ TRANSIT — “Weinberg scolds NJ Transit while seeking answers on new turnpike funds, budget and transparency,” by The Record’s Colleen Wilson: “The NJ Transit board, administration and CEO received a public scolding from state Sen. Loretta Weinberg at Wednesday’s board meeting about its transparency with the public while raising critical questions about budgets, how money gets spent, and the board’s role as a watchdog of the agency. Weinberg … said the way the board operates stands in stark contrast to what the Legislature intended when it passed a 2018 law that increased the board’s size and how much experience was required, among other reforms. She complained that the board had yet to answer numerous questions she had sent, and she asked many of those questions during the meeting.”

—NJ Transit says it’s on track to meet deadline for installing PTC, by POLITICO’s Samantha Maldonado: NJ Transit is halfway toward meeting a federally-mandated, year-end requirement for implementing positive train control and expects to meet that deadline, an agency official said. About 50 percent of NJ Transit‘s route miles are now in “revenue service,“ Terry Fetters, a project manager with the agency’s consultant Parsons, said at Wednesday‘s board meeting. Revenue service means the routes have undergone advanced field testing to activate the positive train control technology.

DON’T MAKE MARK RUFFALO ANGRY — “A fracking threat we can’t afford,” by Mark Ruffalo and Dr. Kathleen Nolan for The Daily News: “It comes as no surprise that the Trump administration has fast-tracked a dangerous, untested system of transporting highly explosive fracked gas by trucks and trains through local communities from Pennsylvania down the Delaware River to then be shipped overseas. What is shocking is the level of secrecy that the proposed fracking export facility in Gibbstown, N.J., has been cloaked in by the governors of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware. They have gone along with the plan without answering important questions about dangers the facility poses to public health and potential impacts to the river, which provides drinking water for 15 million people.”

NETFLIX AND BILL — “NJEDA approves $22M in film tax breaks for Netflix, Sopranos spin-off and others,” by NJBIZ’s Daniel J. Munoz: “The New Jersey Economic Development Authority on Wednesday approved $21.8 million in corporate incentives under its popular film tax credit program, including funds for Netflix’s production of its upcoming zombie movie ‘Army of the Dead,’ being shot in Atlantic City and directed by Zack Snyder. Meanwhile, Rose City Pictures was awarded a $2.7 million tax break for its production of the HBO series ‘The Many Saints of Newark,’ based in New Jersey’s largest city in 1967 and acting as a prequel to HBO’s ‘The Sopranos,’ which was set and filmed across New Jersey and New York City.”

—Lawmakers submit resolution to restore funding for school-based mental health services

—BPU moves forward on offshore wind initiatives

—“Sweeney wants Orsted wind energy pact suspended as state embarks on more projects”

—“N.J. Homestead property tax relief not coming this year, treasury says”

—Treasurer: We need more information on OLS’ revenue estimates

—“N.J. takes action to stop landlords from refusing to rent to people receiving government aid”

—“N.J. Republicans challenge Murphy’s plan to borrow $4B”

—“N.J. teacher corps should mirror state’s beautiful diversity | Opinion”

—“N.J.’s first natural gas terminal for tanker ships may get final vote”

TWEET OF THE DAY — @MattKatz00: “7 years ago [Wednesday] Fort Lee, NJ, woke up to a horrific traffic jam: Bridgegate. Federal convictions of 2 Christie aides were tossed by SCOTUS, which noted that the state could still prosecute. But that won’t happen. NJ’s statute of limitations for official misconduct expires [Wednesday]”

MUY MALINOWSKI — Republicans slam Malinowski for encouraging out-of-district resident to cast vote in his district, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: A brief exchange during a virtual town hall meeting last spring has Republicans alleging that Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski encouraged a former staffer to commit voter fraud and cast a vote for him in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District primary even though she was not living in the district. Carolyn Singer, the former staffer, said her living arrangement is temporary and that her permanent address is in the 7th District. A Democratic attorney who works for Malinowski said Singer can legally vote using the address she considers her true home… ‘Although I don’t quite live in-district anymore, I think it’s an important question,’ said Singer, who noted she was living in Morris Township before asking Malinowski about home inspections by her landlord. ‘I also want to state that my voting address is still in Springfield in Union County,’ Singer told Malinowski. Springfield is in Central Jersey’s 7th District. ‘Good,’ Malinowksi said with a slight smile. ‘Everyone should vote in the 7th Congressional District.’”

ABOUT SCHMID — “FEC warns Schmid of possible legal action over campaign finance violations,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “Democrat Stephanie Schmid faces an internal investigation by the Federal Election Commission over allegations that she didn’t properly disclose contributions to her campaign for Congress in New Jersey’s 4th district. Since becoming a candidate, Schmid has filed a total of seven amendments to five campaign finance reports. Now the FEC is threatening legal action against her campaign if they don’t properly disclose their contributions. Among the issues related to Schmid’s filings is a $100,000 loan she made to her own campaign on June 27. Schmid did not report the contribution immediately before the FEC before the July 7 Democratic primary. Federal law requires candidates receiving donations of over $1,000 in the final days of a campaign be reported within 48 hours.”

—“Gun control group Brady PAC endorses Chris Smith; only second Republican to get their nod”

—“Police reform can’t wait | Opinion”

—“Menendez co-sponsors $120B relief bill to help restaurants impacted by COVID-19”

—“NJ says 2020 census self-reporting tops 2010”

NOTHING TO SEE HERE — “A cop got caught lying about a drug bust. N.J. prosecutors tried to keep anyone from finding out,” by NJ Advance Media’s Joe Atmonovage: “Armed with a search warrant, New Brunswick Police Det. Joshua Alexander said he approached the home of a couple suspected of distributing marijuana along with a group of plainclothes cops. Alexander wrote in his report that detectives knocked on the door ‘several times,’ and announced their presence. Since there was no response from inside, a command was given to bust down the door. … The only problem? That is not how the search warrant went down. And unbeknownst to Alexander, defense attorney Joseph Mazraani had surveillance video of what actually happened. The video showed that Alexander — with the warrant in hand — was one of the last officers to approach the house and that he was not near the door when officers initially barged in. The video also showed the officers busting down the door of the home seconds after they arrived — not after knocking and announcing their presence, as required by the search warrant signed by Superior Court Judge Colleen Flynn … Once Mazraani revealed the information, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office dropped the criminal charges against the defendants the next day. Yet … Instead of any censure or public rebuke of Alexander for his misleading testimony, the Prosecutor’s Office instead sought to prevent the public from learning about it.”

KNIVES OUT — “Clifton shop owner gets backlash over ‘Speak English or Pay $10’ sign. Now he wants to explain,” by The Record’s Matt Fagan and Monsy Alvarado: “Two weeks ago Dave Feinberg, owner of Cutters Edge, a knife and blade sharpening shop in Clifton, posted a sign — really a handwritten note — that read ‘Speak English or Pay $10 Extra.’ ‘I did it out of frustration,’ Feinberg said. ‘I had something to get off my chest.’ Now he knows what it’s like to be caught in a Twitter storm … When Feinberg got to his shop Tuesday, the phone was ringing almost non-stop. Most of the calls were hateful, he said, but there was a sprinkling of support as well. ‘Some of the people are quite vulgar,’ Feinberg said. In retrospect, he said he wished he hadn’t posted the sign. By mid-morning Tuesday, he had already taken the sign down.”

CAPTIVEHOLDERS PROTEST FREEHOLDERS — “Cumberland corrections officers stake out Democratic Party get-together,” by The Daily Journal’s Joseph P. Smith: “Corrections officers disgruntled over a plan to close the Cumberland County Jail were unwelcome visitors to a hotel here where the Democratic Party County Committee had gathered Tuesday afternoon for an invite-only meeting with its local, county, and statewide 2020 candidates. About 30 members of Police Benevolent Association Local 231 and their families lined up around the entrance to the Ramada Inn on West Landis Avenue, with signs castigating county freeholders for what they termed a ‘defund’ effort of law enforcement.”

—“Third family sues Sussex nursing home over COVID deaths, citing ’false promises’”

—“Covid-19 hit [Essex County] hard. Now, families are lining up for food”

—“Steady rise in PATCO ridership prompts reopening of South Jersey speedline stations”

—“Police chief cleared in dispute with [Hillside] mayor, prosecutor finds”

—“Fanwood Mayor Colleen Mahr tapped as Somerset County administrator”

—“Middletown anti-police graffiti pops up again”

HIGHER ED — Montclair State president Susan Cole announces her retirement, by POLITICO’s Carly Sitrin: Montclair State University President Susan Cole announced Wednesday that she will retire at the close of this academic year, ending her 23-year run as the public university’s first woman president.

GOD MILDLY ANNOYED ABOUT ELIMINATION OF ‘FREEHOLDER’ TITLE — “‘My whole house shook’: Overnight earthquake strikes in N.J.,” by WHYY’s Justin Auciello: “A magnitude 3.1 earthquake struck in Monmouth County, New Jersey, early Wednesday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The USGS said the earthquake happened around 2 a.m. and was centered 1.25 miles south, southeast of the center of East Freehold, about 3 miles deep. Residents took to social media to express their shock at the rare occurrence.”

A MOVE THAT TAKES SOME BALLS… TO NORTH CAROLINA — “USGA moving museum, two departments to Pinehurst,” by The Winston-Salem Journal’s John Dell: “The United States Golf Association Golf Museum and Arnold Palmer Center for Golf History is moving to Pinehurst Resort along with two other departments of one of the most powerful organizations in the sport. The moves of the museum, the ball-testing facility and the agronomy department from headquarters in Liberty Corner, N.J., were confirmed Tuesday evening when the USGA revealed its plans to the Village of Pinehurst town council in a hearing. The USGA said it will have a $25 million campus and it plans to fit it in the community.”

THE 1980S HAD SATANIC PANIC. THE 2020S HAVE PAGAN PANIC — “Pagans biker gang is a growing threat to the public in N.J. Here’s how officials believe it can be stopped,” by NJ Advance Media’s Alex Napoliello: “The Pagan’s Motorcycle Club, one of the major outlaw motorcycle groups in the U.S., is a growing threat to citizens in New Jersey — and every cop in the state should be trained to deal with them, according to a new report issued Wednesday. Members of the Pagans, who have doubled their chapters statewide in the past three years, have conducted ‘numerous assaults’ against members of the public, some of whom have had no connection to the club, the report from the New Jersey Commission of Investigation said … The commission recommended the state Attorney General’s Office create a working group comprised of law enforcement officials at every level devoted to identifying and prosecuting criminal activity conducted by outlaw motorcycle gangs. The agency also said every officer in New Jersey should undergo training in case they encounter these gangs.”

— “Remote learning forces nurse to choose: Her career or her child?”

—“William Paterson University faces $5M budget gap due to enrollment drop, vacancy at dorms”