Did SWEENEY kill recent pension-padding bill? — Senate president: We’ve got the votes for legal weed — The …

By Ryan Hutchins (rhutchins@politico.com; @ryanhutchins)

Good Monday morning. Friedman is off for the week, so send tips my way.

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Last week, Matt told you all about the 11 elected officials who applied to take advantage of the new law that lets some politicians buy back time they spent out of the pension system, allowing them to further pad their retirement income and do so at the same tier they were at previously. The bill was designed to benefit former Camden Mayor Dana Redd, and it was signed by Gov. Chris Christie just days after Redd was hired as the CEO of an obscure university governing board at a salary of $275,000.

One of the more interesting things Matt found in the documents he obtained through a public record request involve the application of Sen. James Beach (D-Camden). It appeared not to make financial sense for Beach to re-enroll under the law: he would need to pay the pension system $150,000 to qualify. That’s what the state told him in a letter sent on April 16. Two months later, in the midst of budget negotiations in June, Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) introduced a bill that would allow elected officials who are already receiving pensions to continue receiving the benefits while re-enrolling in the system and building more credits. They wouldn’t have to pay back any money. Voila! Beach could get back in and without giving away the farm.

But that bill, which McKeon said he introduced at the request of “leadership,” didn’t make it to the floor of either house after Matt revealed its existence and other reporters followed up. What happened to it? According to Senate President Steve Sweeney, it died at his hands. “I was never going to do it,” Sweeney said during a two-hour interview with the POLITICO staff on Friday. Where did it come from? “The Assembly. It wasn’t my bill,” Sweeney said.

The Senate president made the remarks as he pushes Gov. Phil Murphy and fellow lawmakers to consider further cuts to public employee pensions and health benefits that are outlined in a new report from his fiscal policy working group. When Matt suggested he wasn’t leading by example, given the brazen efforts to pad the pensions of elected officials, Sweeney swung back hard. “Not true. You’re wrong,” he snapped, cutting Matt off. Why, pray tell? Because of the 2007 law that cut future elected officials out of the pension system. “There are thousands of people that are not in the pension system today that would have been in the pension system if we didn’t make the change.” He added: “You can’t make 11 the example when there’s thousands that are out.”

Stay tuned for more from our interview in coming days.

WHERE’S MURPHY? Headed out of state on “family business” and returning in the afternoon. Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver is acting governor.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Jersey City artist Amy Wilson

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I had some of the brutal fights of my life with him, but we’re friends.” — Steve Sweeney on Chris Christie.

WHAT TRENTON MADE

WHAT’S HE SMOKING? — “Sweeney: We have the votes to pass marijuana bills,” by POLITICO’s Sam Sutton: “The state Legislature has yet to produce a pair of bills to legalize recreational marijuana and expand the state’s medical cannabis program, but Senate President Steve Sweeney says he has the votes lined up to pass both measures by the end of September. ‘There’s some people that will never support it and there are some people who are just hedging their bets because there’s not a bill to look at,’ Sweeney said during a wide-ranging sit-down interview with POLITICO. Still, the Senate president said he‘s certain he and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin will secure the necessary votes in their respective chambers to pass both measures. ‘I’m confident we‘ll get to 21 and 41,’ Sweeney said, referring to the minimum number of votes needed for passage in the Senate and Assembly, respectively. ‘I‘m not going to get to 28, but I’m confident I’ll get to 21 votes and the speaker will find 41. ‘Don’t be surprised when people who say they were against it vote for it,’ Sweeney said, predicting some Republican support.” Read the report

—”Former New York Giants star wants to open a medical marijuana facility in N.J.” Read the report

FRENEMIES — “In Murphy vs. Sweeney, New Jersey needs to come out on top,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Kevin Riordan: “Gov. Murphy insists he and Steve Sweeney, the New Jersey Senate president, have a ‘good relationship.’ Says Sweeney: ‘There is no relationship.’ ‘We talk all the time,’ says Murphy. Says Sweeney: ‘I’ve had one meeting with the governor, one-on-one. It was 15 minutes and it was not very productive.’ … Sweeney says he misses the give-and-take of what some described as his ‘bromance’ with Murphy’s gubernatorial predecessor, Republican Chris Christie. ‘Chris and I figured out what we could agree on, and we worked together to get it done,’ he recalls. ‘I had some of the brutal fights of my life with him, but we’re friends.’ Says Murphy, who retired a decade ago after a successful Wall Street career and calls Middletown, Monmouth County home: ‘I’m not a transactional guy. I’m not a career [politician]. And that is just a fact.’“

“By phone Friday, Murphy dismissed the notion that he and Sweeney don’t get along as ‘inside the Trenton bubble, ‘he said, she said’ stuff that is … of little interest’ to him. ‘I want to get as much done as fast as possible,’ the governor said. ‘We’re digging out of a complete mess left to me by my predecessor … and with all due respect to what’s been written, with the Assembly speaker … and the Senate president, we’re gotten a lot done.’ … After spending a good chunk of our 90-minute conversation painting Murphy as a neophyte who has disrespected him and has unrealistic, if noble, notions, Sweeney did have a number of kinder things to say about him. ‘The governor worked very hard to become governor. He believes very much in what he is saying. He didn’t mislead anybody. Phil Murphy is who he is.’” Read the column

—”Why progressives should back Sweeney’s spending cuts,” by The Star-Ledger’s Tom Moran: “Progressive voters gave Phil Murphy a decisive win last year after he promised a muscular expansion of government that would guarantee every child a shot at college, every toddler a quality preschool, and every commuter a reliable train or bus at affordable rates. But he ignored the fiscal crisis, and now it sits squarely in his path. The crisis is not of his making, but it could be his undoing. Unless he changes course, it will extinguish all the hopes he raised during the campaign. … The fiscal crisis is tying his hands. That’s why progressives need to support Senate President Steve Sweeney’s efforts to cut pension and health benefits for public workers, despite their misgiving about him personally, and their natural sympathy for unions. Sweeney’s plan can be tweaked, and it will be. …. [T]he hard fact is that limiting benefits further is the only realistic path back to solvency.” Read the column

—“Sweeney Says It’s Time to Get Serious About Consolidating Schools in New Jersey.” Read the report

—”Tough sale ahead on school consolidations” Daily Record editorial

—“South Jersey school officials talk consolidation after Sweeney report” Read the report

PHOTO FINISH: Tammy Murphy beat Phil Murphy in the Bradley Beach 5k. See him trying to keep up.

ROME WASN’T BUILT IN A DAY — “Gov. Murphy Vowed to Fix N.J. Transit. Now It’s His Problem,” by The New York Times’ Patrick McGeehan: “Like his counterpart across the Hudson River, New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, Mr. Murphy is experiencing the peril of taking responsibility for rescuing a failing transit system. Mr. Cuomo promised to fix the subways and now has a rival for his office, Cynthia Nixon, blaming him for the system’s deteriorating service. Mr. Murphy, a Democrat like Mr. Cuomo, has called New Jersey Transit a ‘national disgrace’ and blamed much of the mess on his Republican predecessor, Chris Christie. But Republican leaders in Trenton have pushed back, pointing out that Mr. Murphy has already failed to deliver a comprehensive review of the agency. A week after he took office, Mr. Murphy appeared at the train station in Summit, N.J., to sign an executive order calling for an audit of the agency. He said it would be completed in about 100 days, but it is not done yet. ‘I think he over-promised,’ said Assemblywoman Nancy F. Munoz, a Republican from Summit. ‘It’s very convenient to blame everything on Chris Christie.’ But, she added, ‘This does now belong to this administration.’ …

“Martin Robins, a former deputy executive director of New Jersey Transit, said Mr. Murphy may have erred in insisting on a full-scale audit of the agency so quickly. Awaiting the results of the audit may have delayed some of the drastic actions that were obviously needed, he said in an interview. … He said he thought that the Murphy administration lacked the confidence to take action immediately — to ‘go 100 percent,’ as he put it. Absent an approach like that, he added, ‘I’m not surprised that things have gone haywire.’” Read the report

—”NJ Transit: Murphy’s being chased by a runaway train | Mulshine” Read the column

—”Stop tapping the brakes on NJ Transit reform, Governor” Read the editorial

SHOULD HAVE WORN THE FLEECE — “Frustrated flood victims grill Gov. Murphy as he tours storm damage,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jeff Goldman and Sophie Nieto-Munoz: “Gov. Phil Murphy faced a feisty and frustrated crowd of residents early Friday as he toured a 55-and-over community in Brick flooded by a deluge of rain earlier in the week, forcing evacuations and causing extensive damage. ‘We lost everything,’ one man told Murphy, as a crowd gathered, peppering the governor with pleas for help and questions about potential FEMA aid. ‘We can’t even stay here.’” Read the report

—”Brick flooding: Gov. Phil Murphy vows to ‘do everything we can’ to help residents recover” Read the report

—”Will FEMA help victims of recent N.J. flash floods?” Read the report

MORE NEWS:

—”Laurenti to lead Emerge New Jersey” Read the report

—”NJ utilities can raise your rates without getting state OK, and it’s legal” Read the report

TRUMP ERA

NEW POLLING LOCATIONS TO BE ADDED IN HUDSON COUNTY GRAVEYARDS — “New Jersey receiving $10M grant to upgrade voting machines,” by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: “New Jersey will receive nearly $10 million from the federal government to upgrade its election equipment and improve security, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and Gov. Phil Murphy‘s administration announced Friday. The $9.76 million grant, part of an overall $380 million pot of money, will see a state match of $488,000. The money will be used to upgrade some voting machines that have been criticized as vulnerable to hacking.” Read the report

PLAYBOOK EVENT: Join us for a special Playbook Elections event in Pennsylvania to discuss the 2018 midterm cycle and the issues that are shaping the races. This event will take place on Friday, Aug. 31 at the Ritz-Carlton in Philadelphia at 7:45 a.m. RSVP HERE.

HUGIN: ‘TAKE MY HAND. WE’LL MAKE IT, I SWEAR’ — “Here are all the stunning ways N.J. Republicans lost Senate races over 40 years. Can they win this fall?” by NJ Advance Media’s Jonathan D. Salant: “If you wanted to make a killing in Atlantic City over the past four decades or so, the one sure bet would be this: Jersey Republicans will lose U.S. Senate races. Actually, it’s stunning how many ways Republicans have gone down to defeat over more than 40 years. They lost in good times and bad, in Republican landslides and when Democrats were on the run in Jersey. They lost as the favorite and the underdog. They lost when other Republicans were winning across the country, and when Jersey had Republican governors. They even lost when a Democratic U.S. senator suddenly dropped out of the race at the last minute in the face of ethics charges. The last time Republicans won a U.S. Senate race? It was in 1972, when Clifford Case won a fourth term. In that year, gasoline cost 55 cents a gallon, Atari released the Pong arcade video game, and burglars funded by President Richard Nixon’s campaign committee broke into Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate hotel.” Read the report

—”Rep House Leadership PAC attack on Malinowski has some holes”
Read the report

—”Gabby Gifford’s gun group endorses Lance” Read the report

TAXES — “Phil Murphy moved to save your property tax deduction from Trump law. But nothing’s happened,” by NJ Advance Media’s Samantha Marcus: “In May, Gov. Phil Murphy announced he was taking the fight to President Donald Trump and Congressional Republicans to save New Jersey property taxpayers about to be slammed by the new federal tax law. He signed a law allowing local governments to establish charitable funds to accept property tax payments so New Jersey residents could get around the new $10,000 cap imposed on income tax deductions for state and local property taxes. But to date, no community has launched such a fund to help property taxpayers. And it may soon be too late for for local governments to act in time to accept payments for the coming tax year, municipal and county government experts said. Michael Cerra, assistant executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities, says they’re still awaiting guidance from Murphy’s administration on how to go about this complicated task.” Read the report

LOCAL

CALLED FOR MURDERING BLACK PEOPLE. APOLOGIZES TO ‘THOSE’ HE OFFENDED — “Monroe school board candidate withdraws following NJ Globe report,” by Nikita Biryukov: “A School Board candidate in Monroe Township, Gloucester County, withdrew from the race following a New Jersey Globe report on racist Facebook posts the man made between 2013 and 2016. Rick Jankowski, a carpenter, had made posts on Facebook calling black people ‘animals’ and ‘f—ing monkeys.’ ‘I’m sorry. There isn’t much more than I can say except for that. I would like to extend my heartfelt apologies to those that I have offended and to those who have supported me in my endeavors,’ Jankowski said in a posting announcing his withdrawal from the race.” Blah, blah blah: Read the report

CAMDEN —“Camden native says she is humbled to lead hometown school district,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Melanie Burney: “Katrina McCombs decided at an early age she would not follow the same career path as her parents, both educators. But she did — first in the classroom as a kindergarten teacher, and now as the interim superintendent overseeing South Jersey’s largest district, which has struggled to boost student performance. … McCombs, 48, believes she is prepared for the biggest challenge of her career, figuring out the next steps for Camden, a struggling state-run district that has become a model for the changing landscape of urban public education. … Education Commissioner Lamont O. Repollet appointed McCombs in June to lead the Camden school system as acting schools chief. She wants the job permanently and is believed to be the early favorite for the position when the state Department of Education launches a national search for the post.” Read the report

EVERYTHING ELSE

THE CHURCH — “N.J. diocese says report it covered up for predatory priest is ‘completely inaccurate’,” by NJ Advance Media’s Kelly Heyboer: “The Diocese of Camden says it told law enforcement officials at least six times over 12 years that one of its priests had been accused of sexually abusing boys — disputing an allegation in a new report that there was ‘little to no documentation’ that church officials notified police. The Rev. John P. Connor was one of more than 300 Catholic priests named in a sweeping grand jury report released earlier this week detailing the alleged abuse of more than 1,000 children over 70 years in Pennsylvania. … A spokesman for the Diocese of Camden said it was ‘completely inaccurate’ that church officials failed to report Connor to New Jersey police and prosecutors. ‘On April 9, 2002, February 25, 2004, February 15, 2005, February 3, 2011, August 24, 2012 and October 19, 2016 the Diocese of Camden notified law enforcement authorities in New Jersey of allegations that it had received against Connor concerning abusive activities that occurred prior to his removal from ministry,’ said Michael Walsh, a Diocese of Camden spokesman.” Read the report

SUPER TROOPERS — “Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Chief Michael Coppola resigns following drug arrest,” by The Record’s Steve Janoski: “The embattled chief of the Palisades Interstate Parkway Police Department resigned [last] week, just days after authorities arrested him for allegedly buying cocaine and having it shipped to his post office box. Michael Coppola tendered his resignation Wednesday, said Jim Hall, executive director of the overseeing Palisades Interstate Park Commission. Coppola, 43, of Totowa, did not point to a specific reason for his resignation, Hall wrote in an email. But it may have been a preemptive move by the chief. When asked if the commission planned to fire Coppola at its next meeting, Hall said he would ‘tend to think so, but it would not be appropriate for me to speculate on their final actions.’” Read the report

‘JERSEY SHORE’ SEASON 8 — “Foul-mouthed driver caught on camera in road rage incident. Now he’s facing charges,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jessica Beym: “Jersey drivers have a reputation for being aggressive and sometimes foul-mouthed, but a woman said she was ‘shaking’ after another driver hurled multiple expletives at her during an encounter on the road in South Jersey. Pasquale Dangelantonio, of Washington Township, was charged Friday with harassment and criminal mischief with property damage after a road-rage confrontation with a 22-year-old driver a day earlier, according to authorities and court records. In a video captured during the incident by the woman, the Gloucester County man — who was identified by police as Dangelantonio — is seen cursing at her through their open windows, calling her a ‘f—— jerk—.’ Throughout the 30-second-long tirade, the driver says the f-word multiple times along with other profanities. … After posting the video to her Facebook page, hundreds of people commented, some of whom the woman said were family members of the driver, who apologized on his behalf. That’s how she learned the driver’s name, which she then provided to police.” Read the report

—”Battalion chief punches niece in hospital scuffle,” by Jersey Journal’s Terrence T. McDonald: “A video obtained by The Jersey Journal shows a Jersey City battalion fire chief appearing to punch his niece in the face inside a Jersey City Medical Center waiting room in March. The fight was part of an ongoing feud among members of the Nally family, which includes two Jersey City firefighters and a city cop. Kevin Nally, the battalion chief seen in his uniform in the video, has been on the job since 1994. Nally, 48, now faces a disciplinary charge of conduct unbecoming a public employee, according to a city spokeswoman, and has at least temporarily lost out on a chance to become a deputy chief. Nally confirmed to The Jersey Journal that he was on the list of firefighters to get promoted on Friday but that’s on hold until this matter wraps up. The incident has both sides claiming to be the victim. Nally said his niece, 20-year-old Ashley Nally-Nagel, was the aggressor, stirring up trouble repeatedly inside the hospital before the punch. Nally-Nagel denied she instigated any fights. Her father, John Nagel, called Nally’s story preposterous. ‘She got cold-cocked by a 48-year-old who doubles her weight,’ he told The Jersey Journal.” Read the report

MORE NEWS:

—”‘These are homicidal maniacs.’ Camden County seeks 3 gunmen in police ambush” Read the report

—”All Jersey Shore beaches open after week of high levels of bacteria” Read the report

—”Kushner Cos. continues N.J. buying spree, purchases 2 Jersey Shore properties” Read the report

—”South Jersey begins using new 640 area code Saturday” Read the report

—”Police find man with arrow in head in South Jersey” Read the report

FOR MORE political and policy news from New Jersey, check out Politico New Jersey’s home page: http://politi.co/1JiYTDg

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