| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | | | Good Wednesday morning! The Trenton Starbucks has been granted a stay of its March 30 execution. Whether it’s anything more than that, we’ll see. It feels weird to devote the top of the newsletter to a chain restaurant. I’ve criticized New Jersey media outlets for prioritizing Chick-fil-A openings over town council meetings . But this isn’t just any Starbucks. It’s a designated “Community Store” and seen by local officials as vital to attracting other businesses to the restaurant strip along Warren Street. And if you read this newsletter, you’ve probably been to the capital city and know how few places there are to meet someone for coffee within walking distance of the Statehouse. Company spokesperson Betsy McManus in a statement Tuesday said: “We continue to evaluate our store portfolio to make sure we’re meeting the needs of our customers, our partners (employees) and the communities we serve — that includes continued investment in New Jersey. “We have extended the closure date for our store to support transition for our customers and the community, and we look forward to serving our customers at nearby Starbucks locations,” she said. Extending the closure date to one so far undisclosed doesn’t mean it will stay open, but it does indicate Starbucks is feeling the political pressure from the local mayor, governor, congresswoman and others, who stress that the store is vital to giving employment opportunities to Trentonians spurring other businesses to open downtown. The building that houses Starbucks occupies is owned by former Sen. Bob Torricelli and the Communications Workers of America. At a reader’s suggestion, I called Torricelli and asked him if he would consider reducing the store’s rent. He said he’s signaled a willingness to decrease both the store’s footprint and its rent. “It’s a very large space but probably too big for a Starbucks at that location. We can reduce the size and try to put someone else in it,” Torricelli said. Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora is holding out hope and said Starbucks officials are coming to Trenton for a site visit in April. “They want a situation where it’s a win-win — that they’re helping us with our economic business climate and we’re helping them to keep the presence in the capital city” he said. TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com QUOTE OF THE DAY: “People were crying. One lady. .. said this was taking food from her kid’s table.” — Estella Plaza, director of a church food pantry in Merchantville, which is closed over community complaints that include blocked driveways HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Victor Cirilo, Jeremy Feigenbaum, Petra Gaskins, Gerry Gibbs, Adam Silverstein WHERE’S MURPHY? — In Perth Amboy at 11 a.m. to sign the affordable housing bill
| | A message from Alibaba: American businesses sold $66B worth of products in 2022 on Alibaba’s online marketplace. New Jersey-based companies such as Phyto-C partner with Alibaba to reach one billion consumers globally. The impact: U.S. sales on Alibaba supported over 10 thousand local jobs and contributed $1.3B to New Jersey's GDP in one year. Explore Alibaba’s local impact. | | | |  | WHAT TRENTON MADE | | LINE COULD BECOME A CIRCLE, MAYBE TRIANGLE — NJ's top lawmakers vow to address ballot design as it dominates Senate primary, by POLITICO’s Daniel Han: New Jersey’s four legislative leaders are vowing to address laws that dictate ballot design in the state. But what they’ll exactly do is unclear. In a rare joint statement Tuesday evening, Senate President Nick Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin — both Democrats — and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco and Assembly Minority Leader John DiMaio, said they plan to begin a “public process on ballot design in New Jersey.” ... Their carefully-worded statement did not provide a timeline or even mention the word “line,” although they promised to review "other states” and include public input. The process, they said, would be “bipartisan.” Spokespeople for the four leaders did not immediately respond to a follow-up email seeking details. BUDGET — “Critics air concerns over spending cuts, higher taxes during first Senate budget hearing,” by New Jersey Monitor’s Nikita Biryukov: “Representatives from the state’s 18 community colleges urged lawmakers to ignore Murphy’s proposal to cut $19 million in state aid to community colleges that would reverse a funding bump enacted in the current year’s budget. They said the cut would push tuition upward and truncate programming as the schools deal with the after-effects of the pandemic. ‘I had the opportunity to testify before this committee 20 years ago, and at that point, my college was getting $6.4 million. If this cut goes through, next year I will get $6.4 million from the state,’ said Augustine Boakye, president of Essex County College. Increases to community college tuition should be avoided, Boakye said, because students at such institutions often come from lower-income backgrounds than their peers at four-year universities.” ONE HUNDRED AND NICE JUDGES CONFIRMED— “New Jersey's judicial vacancies fall to their lowest since 2019,” by The Record’s Katie Sobko: “With the confirmation of 12 new Superior Court judges during Monday’s state Senate voting session, New Jersey now has just 38 vacancies on its court benches, the lowest since before the pandemic. This batch of judges brings the total number nominated and confirmed since Gov. Phil Murphy took office to 169. In a statement, Murphy said that since he took office, his administration has ‘worked vigorously to fill judicial vacancies with individuals who demonstrate the credentials and impartiality required of a Superior Court judge, while reflecting the diversity of our state.’” NEW STATE SONG? — Red Mascara died without seeing his “I’m from New Jersey” made New Jersey’s state song. Springsteen’s “Born to Run” never made the cut; Bon Jovi’s “Who Says You Can’t Go Home” also failed. Enter the latest entry. Assemblymember Christian Barranco on Monday introduced a bill proposing a new song: “New Jersey’s for You and Me,” by Kathleen Golden Murphy and Shannon Murphy Flannery. Here’s a version sung by former state Sen. Dick LaRossa and here’s one sung by a church choir. (This is not a new song but as far as I can tell the first time it’s been proposed as the official state song.) Barranco is a parishioner at one of the churches in that choir, St. Thomas the Apostle. ”We have a wonderful music director,” Barranco told me. “He along with a couple parishioners took it upon themselves to write what New Jersey means to them They’re wonderful people I see every week. I hold them in very high regard. They asked me if they would help them and I said yes.” So what are the chances? Not so good. “We don’t have much hope for these sorts of things as the minority. I did my part as a representative and that’s basically the whole story.” I’ll keep my opinion of this song to myself.
| | | | Easily connect with the right N.Y. State influencers and foster the right relationships to champion your policy priorities. POLITICO Pro. Inside New York. Learn more. | | | | | POLITICO — “N.J. Politico editor pleads guilty to noise violation,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “The New Jersey editor of POLITICO admitted to violating a municipal noise ordinance after a plea bargain that dismissed a criminal charge. Dustin Racioppi will pay a $350 fine for making excessive noise in an incident at his home on January 13 that led to his arrest for assault in a domestic violence complaint. The victim, whose name is being withheld by the New Jersey Globe, testified in court today that she concurred with the plea agreement negotiated with the municipal prosecutor, Sean Kean. Ocean Township Municipal Court Judge Lisa Krenkel made it clear that Racioppi admitted to violating a municipal ordinance, leaving his record clean.” GEORGY FIEFDOM — I obtained the bank records from “Jersey Freedom,” the shadowy super PAC connected to South Jersey Democrats and indirectly funded in part by George Norcross that promoted alleged phantom candidates to hurt Republicans in November’s legislative elections. (The Republican lawsuit against the group on Monday was kicked over to the Election Law Enforcement Commission, which claimed jurisdiction.) Most of the records line up with what Jersey Freedom reported to the Election Law Enforcement Commission and IRS. But there were two $2,500 wire transfers that I didn’t see in either report: One from “Jersey Freedom” to itself, and one from Block, Inc. to Jersey Freedom. The ironically named Elections Transparency Act only requires independent expenditure groups to itemize donations of over $7,500. But they’re still required to disclose the sum total of their donations. Jersey Freedom reported $225,050. According to the bank records, the group received $230,050 — all of it except for $50 in wire transfers. Why were those two $2,500 wire transfers not included in the total? I asked Jersey Freedom attorney Bill Tambussi but didn’t hear back. This might seem like a small thing. But it has me wondering: How could Jersey Freedom wire money to itself unless it had two bank accounts? It only disclosed one on its ELEC form. I understand there could be explanations for this, but in the absence of any response from Tambussi, and the public interest at stake in understanding and complying with New Jersey’s new campaign finance law, I think it’s worth raising here. —“NJ Senate president says amended transparency reform bill could advance in April” —“Will Murphy sign bill to raise gas tax, collect registration fees on zero-emission vehicles?” —Democratic operative indicted over 2021 gubernatorial petitions —“Protest over proposed state-approved definition of antisemitism”
| | | | A message from Alibaba:   | | | | | BIDEN TIME | |
THAT FAMOUS TRUMP LOYALTY — “Trump Golf Club settlement hangs Alina Habba out to dry,” by The Daily Beast’s “Donald Trump’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, paid $82,500 last week to settle a lawsuit alleging that it had silenced a sexually harassed waitress by tricking her into an unfair hush money deal, according to the ex-employee’s lawyer. But the curiously worded contract left the former president’s own attorney Alina Habba — a rising star in his orbit — wide open to getting sued herself. … [Alice] Bianco is now preparing to sue the club all over again, this time for sexual harassment. But she’s also targeting Habba with a potential fraud lawsuit too, according to Bianco’s New Jersey lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith. … She gets to keep the measly $15,000 hush money payment she received in 2021 for keeping quiet about the way a supervisor repeatedly intimidated her and pressured her to sleep with him. Her attorney gets $82,500 for briefly litigating the case. Both sides can rip up the one-sided NDA. And the club doesn’t admit it ‘committed fraud to induce’ her into a shady deal. But then comes this line out of nowhere: ‘The parties agree that Alina Habba is not a party to this release.’ That means Habba was specifically cut out of the deal, allowing Bianco to sue her directly for the exact same issues."
—Stile: “NJ's Democratic Senate primary chaos went to federal court Monday. What's next?” —“We need transparency about plan to move N.J. mail sorting facility to Pa., lawmaker says” —“Gottheimer: Women underrepresented in rare-disease research”
| | A message from Alibaba: New Jersey skin care company Phyto-C grew revenue 600% after launching on Alibaba's online marketplace, which reaches over one billion consumers in China. This small business is among thousands of American brands growing global sales on Alibaba. In New Jersey alone, U.S. sales on Alibaba added $1.3B to the state GDP while supporting over 10 thousand full-time jobs in 2022.
“As a small business, none of this would have been possible without Alibaba. From day one, Alibaba supported our entry into the Chinese market by providing data-driven consumer insights that helped shape our marketing strategy and proactive guidance on supply chain and logistical hurdles,” said Dr. Eddie Omar, CEO of Phyto-C.
Learn more. | | | | | LOCAL | |
AN ENGAGED PUBLIC — “Paterson Board of Education OKs preliminary $809M budget with 5% tax hike,” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “In a meeting that lasted just 13 minutes, the Paterson Board of Education Monday night gave preliminary approval to an $809 million budget that includes a 5% increase in school property taxes. No parents, teachers, city residents or anyone else spoke during the public comment portion of the meeting just prior to the 5-3 vote.”
JOSHI’S ISLAND — “'Time to stop coddling criminals', says Edison mayor following brazen attempted carjacking,” by MyCentralJersey’s Susan Loyer: “Police are searching for three suspects in an attempted carjacking Friday afternoon at the Patel Brothers grocery store. And Mayor Sam Joshi has challenged his Democratic colleagues in the New Jersey Legislature to prioritize public safety ‘amidst rising juvenile crime rates.’ … In a statement Monday, Joshi called for stricter criminal penalties and more accountability for juveniles who are convicted of serious crimes including home invasion, robbery and auto theft, adding he's ‘calling on the governor and state legislature to enact tougher laws, detain repeat offenders pending trial, greater discretion for bail sentencing, change the classification to increase the severity of these crimes and address the backlog that allows prosecutors to impose longer criminal sentences for juveniles.’”
| | | | JOIN US ON 3/21 FOR A TALK ON FINANCIAL LITERACY: Americans from all communities should be able to save, build wealth, and escape generational poverty, but doing so requires financial literacy. How can government and industry ensure access to digital financial tools to help all Americans achieve this? Join POLITICO on March 21 as we explore how Congress, regulators, financial institutions and nonprofits are working to improve financial literacy education for all. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | DZ: ‘OMG!’ — “Zimmer takes aim at Hoboken BA over his OPRA for her RBD comms with council,” by Hudson County View’s John Heinis: “Former Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer is taking aim at Business Administrator Jason Freeman over his recent Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request for her communications with the city council related to Rebuild by Design over the past few months. On March 6th, Freeman, who has indicated he was acting as private citizen, submitted an OPRA request for all emails and text message between the nine council members, Zimmer, and, Stan Grossbard, her husband, between November 3rd and March 5th … ‘Jason Freeman, Hoboken’s business administrator, disingenuously claiming to be acting in his ‘personal capacity’ rather than on behalf of his boss, Mayor Bhalla, misused the OPRA process to gain access to my (and my husband Stan’s) private communications with Hoboken City Council members about Rebuild by Design (RBD),’ she said in a statement. ‘OPRA is meant to be a tool for use by the public to ensure government transparency and accountability. Mr. Freeman is twisting it into a tool to reduce transparency and avoid accountability.’” GUS TO CHASE NON-DEAL RESIDENTS OFF THE BEACH — “Meet Gus: Deal’s newest firefighter,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Jenna Calderon: “Staffing a fire station on your own can be a lonely job. But now, when Deal firefighters come back to the station after a call, they're greeted with a wet nose and big paws, thanks to a new addition to their firehouse family. Gus, a three-year-old Cane Corso mix, was adopted by Deal firefighters to keep them company on long shifts when they're alone at the station. Ronen Neuman, acting borough administrator and chief of police in Deal, said the firefighters came to him with the idea. Neuman then got the ball rolling. ‘The mayor was all for it,’ he said.” —“Our schools are losing too much state aid in new funding plan, Monmouth lawmakers say” —“Judge orders Paterson Parking Authority to pay $499K to Center City Mall owners” —“Former Jersey City worker to receive $500K in settlement of suit that claimed he was discriminated against, demoted” —“Feds seek input on 157-wind turbine project off Long Beach Island” —“Read Hoboken mayor Ravi Bhalla's state of city speech, see highlights” | | EVERYTHING ELSE | |
THE POT AUTHORITY OF NEW JERSEY AND NEW YORK — “What New Jersey did right — and New York did wrong — with recreational-cannabis launches,” by MarketWatch’s Steve Gelsi: “The neighboring states both approved recreational-cannabis markets in 2021, but New Jersey’s rollout has been quicker and smoother in terms of overall sales generation, industry players told MarketWatch. The Garden State is now home to 100 legal stores, many of which have been up and running for the past couple of years, and that number continues to grow. New Jersey’s legal dispensaries for medicinal and recreational cannabis generated more than $800 million in combined sales last year. The state expects to generate at least $1 billion in sales this year. New York continues to roll out its program more slowly after lawsuits and other complications caused delays that were partly responsible for keeping legal cannabis sales at $150 million in 2023, with a limited number of stores open. Now, New York is trying to play catch-up after recently bringing its total number of legal stores statewide up to 80, even as thousands of illegal stores continue to operate in New York City and across the Empire State.”
—“CarePoint Health drops lawsuit that sought $227 million from Jersey City Medical Center”
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