Sweeney pulls a Ciattarelli – POLITICO – Politico
Good Wednesday morning!
So Steve Sweeney is saying he’s running for governor out loud. I confirmed what David Wildstein first reported: That at a union convention in Atlantic City Tuesday, Sweeney acknowledged what he’s thus far hinted at.
The outgoing Senate president‘s defeat last month may have been the biggest New Jersey political upset in recent memory, but he never stopped acting like a candidate for governor. He’s even borrowing a page out of the Phil Murphy playbook and talking about starting a think tank.
But you don’t need me to tell you all that can happen in four years. Maybe he’ll run. But the 2017 Democratic primary between Steve Sweeney and Steve Fulop, or lack thereof, is a reminder of just how unpredictable this all is. Still, this isn’t the longest lead time for anyone running. With former GOP nominee Jack Ciattarelli’s declaration at his concession speech last month that he will run again in 2025, he’s been running for governor almost nonstop since 2016.
That said, being the actual Senate president is helpful in locking up support from New Jersey’s various Democratic factions, since you’re in a position to do them a lot of favors. Even with George Norcross behind Sweeney, it’s going to be a lot more challenging, especially when much of the Democratic base is outright hostile to him and his public sector-benefit-cutting ways.
WHERE’S MURPHY? Rutgers Medical School at University Hospital for an 11 a.m. vaccine event
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I am truly honored to have the endorsement of General Flynn.” — 11th District Republican House candidate Robert Kovic on securing the endorsement of the former general, pardoned perjurer and coup suggester.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY — State Sen. Joe Lagana, Kivvit’s Megan Cryan, NJEA’s Michael Giglio
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PROGRAMMING NOTE — NJ Playbook will be on a two-week hiatus starting Monday Dec. 20. I’ll be back in your inbox on Jan. 3. But I’ll still be reporting. So don’t stop emailing me.
COVID SCORE — Nearly two years into the Covid-19 pandemic, we’re beginning to get enough data to evaluate how well states handled the crisis. Each state shaped its own response differently, and you can see the results in POLITICO’s State Pandemic Scorecard. See how New Jersey and other states fared here.
MASK EFFECT — ‘They’re sick of masks’: Democratic governors fight Covid fatigue, by POLITICO’s Zach Montellaro: Asked in an interview about his November close call, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy attributed it to “a lot of folks who are frustrated, is my guess.” In his most candid assessment of his 3-point victory to date, Murphy said some New Jerseyans “feel like government is not connecting with them. They’re sick of masks, being told what to do in terms of vaccines, probably not thrilled with what they sense is going on in Washington, they may have lost a job or a business that went bust — or a loved one, worse yet.” Murphy said his political operation would be launching a series of focus groups in the coming week to draw deeper lessons on his narrow victory in November. For many Democrats, the answer is already apparent: The start of the pandemic may have sent governors’ approval ratings shooting through the roof, but its durability is an existential threat to their power across the map, from traditional battleground states to even reliably Democratic territory like Virginia and New Jersey. According to interviews with a half-dozen Democratic governors at and leading up to the conference, along with conversations with senior party aides and consultants, the party needs to find a message that acknowledges voters’ exasperation with the virus and its economic and societal impacts.”
MOUNT HOLLYWOOD — Latest bill to expand New Jersey’s film tax credit program moving quickly in Assembly, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: A bill to expand New Jersey’s film and digital tax credit program is advancing rapidly through the Assembly and is poised for a vote in the full chamber, just months after another major expansion of the program. The bill, NJ A6070 (20R), sponsored by Assemblymember Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), cleared the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee on Dec. 6 by a vote of 8-0 with two abstentions. The Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced the measure, 9-2, on Monday. The legislation has not yet advanced in the Senate, where it’s sponsored by outgoing Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg. While film tax credit programs have critics, nobody spoke against the bill in either of the committee meetings. The two lawmakers who voted against it — Jay Webber (R-Morris) and Kevin Rooney (R-Passaic) — did not share their reasons.
GARDEN STATE’S LACK OF INTIATIVE — “NJ public pensions face fiscal peril as new police and fire retirees grow: report says,” by The Record’s Dustin Racioppi: “New Jersey’s pension system for public employees costs more than most other states while offering ‘generous’ benefits that are increasingly going toward more retirees than active employees, according to a new report. One retirement fund, for police and firefighters, had more people collecting pension benefits in 2019 than current workers, and two others were on a similar trajectory — meaning those funds are less able to handle investments risks, the analysis by the fiscally conservative think tank Garden State Initiative found. All this is despite years of increasing payments by the state that reached a record of nearly $7 billion this year. Without making policy changes for tens of thousands of public employees, New Jersey’s political leaders will likely face difficult choices on how to use taxpayer dollars to stabilize the pension funds, the group said.”
GONNA WANT IT IN THE WANT ADS — “NJ Transit’s job ad for new customer advocate is missing investigative power legislature wants,” by NJ Advance Media’s Larry Higgs: “After more than a year of waiting, NJ Transit commuters finally found out how the agency’s customer advocate will represent them in a job description that was posted for potential candidates. Two different versions of what a customer advocate should do to represent riders have emerged. Legislation calls for a position independent from the agency with the power to investigate. NJ Transit’s version has more customer-oriented duties, but less investigative power … Not all of the duties outlined in State Senate majority leader Loretta Weinberg’s ‘NJ Transit reform 2.0’ legislation are included in NJ Transit’s customer advocate job description and one commuter group is skeptical. Missing from the job description are some of the boarder powers in Weinberg’s legislation that was passed by the Senate last week. The future of that bill is bleak as time winds down before the Jan. 10 end of the legislative session.”
MURPHY ADMIN HIRES CONSULTANT THAT ISN’T MCKINSEY — “N.J. hires consultant to help shut down troubled women’s prison,” by NJ Advance Media’s Joe Atmonavage: “The New Jersey Department of Corrections has hired a consultant to assist with the closure of the state’s troubled women’s prison, which Gov. Phil Murphy said he intended to shut down after years of rampant sexual abuse and a violent attack on a handful of women earlier this year. The Department of Corrections said it hired Steve Carter, a correctional planning and design consultant, ‘to assist with the relocation of Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women’ to a new facility. Carter is the executive vice president of CGL Companies, a South Carolina-based company that specializes in planning, design, maintenance and operations of correctional facilities.”
—Bill to save the New Jersey School of Conservation introduced
—“South Jersey lawmaker [Moriarty] backs smoke-free casino efforts”
—“N.J.’s COVID activity map is all orange, again. Here’s what it means for school quarantines”
—“Highlands plan says growth depends on environmental quality”
—“Bill expanding SNAP to more college students advances”
‘TO THE WALL THAT SLAMMED INTO ME: I KNOW WHERE YOU ARE AND I WON’T FORGET YOU’ — “Menendez slips, fractures shoulder in rush to get to U.S. Senate floor for vote,” by NJ Advance Media Jonathan B. Salant: “His Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing had ended and a vote awaited, so Robert Menendez darted across the U.S. Capitol to reach the Senate floor. But en route, the New Jersey senator slipped and crashed into a wall, fracturing and dislocating his right shoulder, the side he writes with. He said he expects to be on the injury list for at least six weeks and might need surgery … ‘I’m going to survive and I’m one tough son of a bitch, so this too will pass,’ he said afterwards.”
—“After unemployment woes slammed residents during COVID crisis, N.J. and feds move to fix system”
—Moran: “Mikie Sherrill’s innocent mistake”
—Pallone and O’Malley: “We have a once-in-a-generation chance to clean up our most dangerous toxic waste sites”
—Snowflack: “What do the CD5 endorsements actually mean?”
—“Man caught with arsenal of weapons, white supremacy propaganda sentenced to federal prison”
PRICK CITY — “Feed the hungry? You’ll need a permit for that,” by The New York Times’ Andy Newman: “A few days before Thanksgiving, [Newark] sent out an email to churches and relief organizations announcing that it was prohibiting feeding homeless people in public places, including parks and the train station. After inquiries from The New York Times about the policy, the city shifted and said that groups who give out food would need a permit and that the new rule would be specifically targeted at those who give food to the homeless … Putting restrictions on perhaps the most fundamental act of human charity, feeding the hungry, may seem harsh. But many places do it. According to a 2019 report from the National Homelessness Law Center, at least 17 cities across the country either ban giving out food in public areas or require permits for it, some with onerous conditions attached. Tristia Bauman, a senior attorney at the law center, said that by singling out homeless people, Newark’s ordinance could violate the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause and also impinge food donors’ First Amendment rights, since courts have found that food sharing is a form of protected speech … Newark officials offered various reasons for the crackdown, saying that the city needed to ensure that food being given out was safe, and that distributing food in public places actually encouraged street homelessness. The city wants those who wish to donate food to bring it to shelters and soup kitchens instead. But the shifting ground also reflects a struggle over marquee public space.”
WALL OF SILENCE — “District stayed silent as football hazing scandal erupted. Inside an N.J. town that protects its own,” by NJ Advance Media’s Matthew Stanmyre: “It was the biggest game of the football season for Wall High School, the evening when the Crimson Knights opened the playoffs in front of their home crowd … But this wasn’t any other year at Wall: On Nov. 5, the student section in the home bleachers was virtually empty … students had refused to show up and support the team in protest of serious allegations of misconduct involving players. The demonstration marked the first outward, public sign that something serious was amiss at Wall High School … But there had been others — two video clips of alleged hazing among players had surfaced around Oct. 31, starting their virtual proliferation from cell phone to cell phone. And the week leading up to the playoff game, parents of players learned from their sons that the team had abruptly changed its locker room procedure, requiring freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors to enter separately during different times to get changed for practice, according to team parents. Despite mounting evidence that something was wrong at Wall, the first official acknowledgment didn’t come until Nov. 9 — roughly a full week after the locker room procedure changed and two weeks after rumors began circulating — when NJ Advance Media first reported the district and police were investigating allegations of hazing within the football program. Two days later, sources also confirmed law enforcement was investigating sexual assaults of multiple female students from Wall in a probe unrelated to the hazing accusations.”
—“Seven students suspended in Wall High School football hazing probe face hearings”
LONG GETS SHORT SENTENCE — “Ex-Cumberland freeholder gets 14 months for quarter-million in tax evasion,” by BreakingAC’s Lynda Cohen: “A former Cumberland County freeholder was sentenced to 14 months in prison for evading more than a quarter-million dollars in federal taxes from his law firm. Douglas Long, 55, of Upper Deerfield, was managing partner for the Woodbury-based Long & Marmero, and had primary control over the firm’s finances and supervised their bookkeeper, according to the charges. Long paid personal expenses out of the firm’s accounts, including tuition for his children, student loans for him and his spouse, and utilities and service fees at his personal residences, acting U.S. Attorney Rachel Honig said.”
APPARENTLY THE PANDEMIC CAUSED VERY LITTLE PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA — “Why Paterson may lose part of $1.2 million federal COVID relief funds,” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “City officials are in danger of losing much of the $1.2 million in federal COVID-19 relief money they earmarked for mental health counseling because so few people have signed up for the services. The grant provided enough money for 1,000 Paterson residents to get eight free virtual counseling sessions, but just 10 residents have registered for the ‘Well Being For Me’ initiative since it started in September, officials said.”
HOW ARE THE STUDENTS SUPPOSED TO CONCENTRATE ON MEMORIZING THE LITTLE RED BOOK? — “Montclair students bundled up in cold classrooms as HVAC system upgrades are delayed,” by The Record’s Julia Martin: “With the transmission of COVID’s new variants a big concern and no ventilation systems in most district buildings, teachers are opening windows to get air circulating. But aging boilers mean the heat can’t be cranked too high, and the result can be freezing classrooms and distracted students. ‘The windows are open, the heat is not sufficient, our children are cold, our teachers are cold, it is not conducive to learning,’ said Board of Education member Kathryn Weller-Demming, who is also a public school parent, at a December meeting.”
RELIEF, BUT ONLY TEMPORARY — “Company wants facility in Kearny to convert human waste into commercial products. The mayor says the plan stinks,’ by The Jersey Journal’s Jake Maher: “A proposed facility for processing ‘biosolids’ — or solid human waste — in Kearny is on hold for now, but the battle residents are waging against the project is far from over. The state Department of Environmental Protection told Aries Clean Technologies, the company behind the project, that it failed to give enough advance notice for a legally required public hearing on the project. Aries was required to give 30 days’ notice; instead, it only gave five day’s formal notice for the Dec. 13 meeting. The hearing was cancelld with no new date set, and since Aries can’t get the DEP permitting it needs without it, Kearny residents have a reprieve. But the project has set off warning bells in the town, where residents are angry at being asked to shoulder the burden of another major industrial facility. ‘It is embarrassing that we have to defend ourselves against these kinds of uses in 2021, when there’s nothing positive, there’s absolutely nothing positive, that comes out of this,’ Kearny Mayor Al Santos said.”
—“Massive 1,200-unit apartment complex with a ferry to NYC just got the OK in Edgewater”
—“Counties to vote on 10-year deal that would send Passaic prisoners to the Bergen jail”
—“Faculty member with lung damage from COVID sues [Essex County] college for right to work remotely”
—“[Franklin] Township may stay with virtual meetings into 2022, move cleared with governor”
—“Recreation for inmates debated as Cumberland County jail drama continues”
—“Election recount yields same outcome for $33M school proposal”
WAKE UP, MAGGIE, I THINK I GOT SOMETHING TO EMAIL YOU — “PR exec connected to Andrew Cuomo sex-harass defense leaves job,” by The New York Post’s Theo Wayt: “Maggie Moran, Cuomo’s 2018 reelection campaign manager and a current managing partner at swanky PR firm Kivvit, was in the governor’s mansion in February when accuser Lindsey Boylan published a blog post saying that the then-governor kissed her without her consent and asked her to play strip poker on a taxpayer-funded jet, according to testimony from Cuomo confidante Steve Cohen. Moran was also included in group messages where other Cuomo staffers and allies plotted how to discredit Boylan and kill news coverage of the governor’s pervy behavior, according to documents recently released by Attorney General Letitia James … Despite Moran’s inclusion in weeks of messages, she insisted in a statement to The Post that she never responded with any advice about the sexual harassment claims or participated in any calls about the issue. ‘I can not control being included in an email,’ Moran told The Post. ‘In fact, I repeatedly asked to be removed from emails regarding the sexual assault allegations detailed in the Attorney General’s report and never engaged in those communications. When asked to join calls regarding allegations of sexual assault, I chose not to participate in them — every time.’ Moran’s claim that she asked to be removed from the email threads does not appear to be supported by any of the messages released by the attorney general.”
SORRY, BUT I CAN’T THINK OF A POLITICS-RELATED HEADLINE FOR AN ARTICLE ABOUT TRAFFIC IN FORT LEE — “The worst U.S. bottleneck for trucks is in N.J., and it’s slowing delivery of your stuff,” by NJ Advance Media’s Larry Higgs: “The Garden State is number one, again, for the worst truck traffic bottleneck in America on I-95 at Route 4 in Fort Lee, the gateway to and from the George Washington Bridge, according to ‘The U.S. Freight Network’s Critical Role in the Supply Chain,’ an annual report by TRIP, a national non-profit transportation research group. Drivers are going nowhere fast in this section of highway — where the average speed ranges from 30 mph to 39 mph when it’s moving , the report said. The New Jersey bottleneck tops a list of the nation’s 100 worst, according to the American Transportation Research Institute’s (ATRI) annual list of the top 100 truck bottlenecks in the nation. It also comes at a time when there is a global focus on the supply chain — ranging from ships to trains to trucks — bringing goods and groceries to store shelves. Another similar South Jersey bottleneck made the worst 100 — the junction of I-76 at I-676 in Gloucester City that leads to the Walt Whitman Bridge to and from Philadelphia.”
—“An earth-sheltered office in Cherry Hill shows the roots of green building”
