| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | Presented by Health Care Association of New Jersey | Good Wednesday morning! The New Jersey Education Association's PAC on June 7 reached out to the three declared 2025 Democratic candidates for governor to start their endorsement process. They sent the candidates a lengthy questionnaire and invited them to meet with their screening committee this Saturday. This is strange for a couple reasons. It’s extraordinarily early for the NJEA to decide its gubernatorial endorsement. The Democratic field isn’t even set. So far, Steve Fulop, Steve Sweeney and Ras Baraka are formally running. But Reps. Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer are all-but-running and will likely declare after the November election. And the union gavec andidates, who often have pretty tight campaign schedules, just one week’s notice. I’m told all three declared Democrats declined the invitation. Reading between the lines here, I’m not sure the union really expected them to commit on such short notice. More realistically, I think this may be about accommodating a likely 2025 gubernatorial candidate who has not yet declared: Sean Spiller. You know, the NJEA's president. People I’ve spoken to who know about these kinds of things say it’s a sign that Spiller’s getting in imminently. They saw the invitation as pro forma, the union covering itself to ultimately endorse its own president while saying it considered others. I called him to ask if he’s screening with his own union on Saturday but didn’t hear back. TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at MFriedman@politico.com. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Republican Councilman Filipe Pedroso also pointed out the hypocrisy of ‘The Left’ that ‘celebrate the persecution of a Republican Presidential nominee out of personal animosity’ but also condemn ‘dark moments in our history as egregious miscarriages of justice’ when individuals, some of those who are Black, were ‘falsely accused and convicted by biased prosecutors, judges, and juries.’” — The Courier News’ summary of comments by Bridgewater’s Filipe Pedroso, who during a part of the council meeting reserved for council reports chose to talk about the Trump’s conviction for falsifying business records to hide hush money payments to a porn star HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Don Guardian. Also, Mary Melfi and Matt Mowers, who were mistakenly included yesterday WHERE’S MURPHY? Media: “Ask Governor Murphy” on your local NPR affiliate at 7 p.m.
| | | | A message from Health Care Association of New Jersey: Trenton must stop short-changing nursing home residents and the staff who take care of them. Instead of piling on unfunded mandates, critical resources should be spent on hiring more staff and improving care. Otherwise, more than 9,000 current New Jersey nursing home residents risk losing their homes. Tell your state lawmakers: The state must invest now in the welfare of its aging senior population. It’s not a choice, it’s an obligation. | | | |  | MENENDEZ CORRUPTION TRIAL | |
NO HAMBURGERS OR HOT DOGS TO SHOW FOR IT — Star witness in Menendez case endures day of grilling, by POLITICO's Ry Rivard: Defense attorneys spent all day Tuesday working to undermine one of federal prosecutors’ star witnesses in their corruption case again Sen. Bob Menendez. The witness, Jose Uribe, a New Jersey trucking and insurance industry figure who pleaded guilty earlier this year to bribing the senator and his wife, was repeatedly asked about his criminal record, which includes a history of fraud and lying to authorities. Uribe testified in vivid detail on Monday about a series of meetings with the senator, including a backyard gathering where they shared brandy ...
Uribe remained calm and at times exceedingly precise in his answers during cross-examination Tuesday, even as he admitted to a troubled past full of wrongdoing. When Uribe was called to the stand and questioned by federal prosecutors on Friday and Monday, they tried to inoculate him from some of the coming attacks by asking their own questions about a series of crimes he has pleaded guilty to, including some unrelated to his interactions with the Menendezes. Adam Fee, an attorney for Menendez, tried to drive home what those crimes were, at times using questions that were stricken from the record by the judge — though obviously said in front of jurors. “You’re a very good liar, aren’t you?” Fee asked at one point, while going through a litany of wrongdoing Uribe has admitted to.
| | | | A message from Health Care Association of New Jersey:   | | | | | WHAT TRENTON MADE | |
SALES TAX — “Your taxes could rise as N.J. budget talks heat up. This top Dem vows a fight,” by NJ Advance Media’s Brent Johnson: “New Jersey leaders have discussed the possibility of raising New Jersey’s sales tax back to 7% as a deadline fast approaches to pass a new state budget in a tight fiscal environment, according to sources familiar with early talks on the spending plan. But in a preemptive strike, state Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, one of the leaders at the forefront of negotiations, told NJ Advance Media on Tuesday he is against the idea. ‘I’m not in favor of raising the sales tax,’ Coughlin, D-Middlesex, said in a phone interview. ‘I don’t think this is the time. I think we need to improve the structural nature of the budget and spending so we’re in a better place for the future.’”
THE ‘DON’T CALL IT A VOUCHER’ VOUCHER BILL — Top sponsor withdraws bill to channel public money to private schools, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: Controversial legislation to channel public money to private schools appears dead, at least for now, after its top Senate sponsor withdrew it from consideration. State Sen. Vin Gopal, a Monmouth County Democrat, withdrew the bill … on Monday — a relatively rare move that demonstrates how politically fraught the topic is. “There were concerns from stakeholders. So out of respect for continued collaboration, I withdrew the bill,” Gopal said. … The bill originated from New Jersey’s burgeoning Orthodox Jewish community, whose children typically attend yeshivas instead of public schools. … Public education advocates said the bill was nothing but school vouchers in disguise. The Education Law Center called it a “voucher money-laundering scheme.” HIGHER ED — “New Jersey’s community colleges are fighting against Murphy’s proposed $20 million cut in state aid,” by WHYY’s P. Kenneth Burns: “Gov. Phil Murphy plans to slash $20 million in state funding to community colleges. Educators, college administrators and students say this budget reduction would devastate students and the higher education community. ‘That cut will have significant negative impacts on our colleges,’ said Dr. Aaron Fichtner, president of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges. ‘Colleges will be forced to raise tuition, to cut programs, to cut services.’ … As it now stands, state aid should account for a third of community college funding in the Garden State. … But Fichtner said, ‘[New Jersey] never lived up to those commitments,’ adding that ‘tuition now accounts for 55% of the cost of running the colleges.’” —“Could NJ budget handle the stress of a recession? There’s a test for that” —“Immigrants take part in workforce at higher rate than native-born in NJ, report states” —“NJ Transit, Amtrak meet to avoid summer of commuting hell” —“Insider NJ’s 2024 Insider 100: Lobbyist Publication”
| | | | A message from Health Care Association of New Jersey: Trenton must stop short-changing nursing home residents.
Nursing homes require additional staff, and those staff deserve living wages.
To support more staffing hours, state payment rates need to rise.
State lawmakers and regulators need to stop piling on unfunded mandates that drain critical resources that should instead be spent on hiring more staff and improving care.
If they don’t, more than 9,000 current New Jersey nursing home residents risk losing their homes.
Tell your state lawmakers: The state must invest now in the welfare of its aging senior population.
It’s not a choice, it’s an obligation. | | | | | BIDEN TIME | |
AFL-MIA — “AFL-CIO takes a pass on Kean vs. Altman in key national House race,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “The New Jersey AFL-CIO will not take sides in the hotly contested race for Congress in New Jersey’s 7th district between Republican incumbent Tom Kean, Jr. and Democrat Sue Altman. That means national Democrats head into one of the races that could determine control of the U.S. House of Representatives without the backing of the state’s largest labor union. Altman was likely a casualty of her past disputes with the South Jersey Democratic machine and with the New Jersey AFL-CIO president, Charles Wowkanech. The New Jersey Globe has learned that leaders of the building trades unions had pushed for no endorsement in the race … While individual unions are free to make their own endorsements in the 7th district, neither candidate’s name will appear on campaign materials circulated by the AFL-CIO, including GOTV labor walks in the fall.”
| | | | THE GOLD STANDARD OF POLICY REPORTING & INTELLIGENCE: POLITICO has more than 500 journalists delivering unrivaled reporting and illuminating the policy and regulatory landscape for those who need to know what’s next. Throughout the election and the legislative and regulatory pushes that will follow, POLITICO Pro is indispensable to those who need to make informed decisions fast. The Pro platform dives deeper into critical and quickly evolving sectors and industries—finance, defense, technology, healthcare, energy—equipping policymakers and those who shape legislation and regulation with essential news and intelligence from the world’s best politics and policy journalists.
Our newsroom is deeper, more experienced, and better sourced than any other—with teams embedded in the world’s most active legislative and regulatory power centers. From Brussels to Washington, New York to London, Sacramento to Paris, we bring subscribers inside the conversations that determine policy outcomes and the future of industries, providing insight that cannot be found anywhere else. Get the premier news and policy intelligence service, SUBSCRIBE TO POLITICO PRO TODAY. | | | | | YOUR DAILY DOSE OF SASS — Last week’s primaries marked a historic moment in New Jersey elections, with Democrats doing away with the county line ballot design that groups party-backed candidates favorably and instead adopting office-block ballots. While Republicans mostly stuck with the line in 17 counties, four used office blocks — Atlantic, Burlington, Salem and Sussex. Julia Sass Rubin — a Rutgers University professor who has authored multiple reports on the county line and was an expert witness in the court case against it in the Democratic primary — has examined some of those Republican races to offer some initial takeaways about the impact of the new design. — Dustin Racioppi "It is very challenging to evaluate the impact of using an office block primary ballot on the Democratic primary results because there are no counterfactuals, as all 21 counties used an office block ballot. However, the results of the Republican primary strongly suggest that using an office block ballot had a substantial impact on election results. Burlington County provides a particularly rich data set as it had two competitive primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives. In the 1st Congressional District, Teddy Liddell was endorsed by the Republican Party of Burlington and Camden while Claire Gustafson was endorsed by the Republican Party of Gloucester. Each won the counties that endorsed them. However, Liddell received 30 percentage points more of the vote in Camden, where he ran on the county line, than in Burlington, which used an office block ballot. The vote totals among the three candidates were also much closer in Burlington than in the two county line counties. In the 3rd Congressional District, Rajesh Mohan was endorsed by the Republican Party of Burlington, Mercer and Monmouth. He won Mercer and Monmouth, which used county line ballots, with 51 percent and 52 percent of the vote respectively. He lost Burlington, which used an office block ballot, receiving only 30 percent of the vote. In the U.S. Senate Republican primary, four candidates ran, but developer Curtis Bashaw and Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner received all the county party endorsements. Serrano Glassner was endorsed by seven county parties, six that used a county line and one (Sussex) that used an office block ballot. Bashaw was endorsed by 14 county parties, 11 that used a county line and three (Atlantic, Burlington, and Salem) that used an office block ballot. Bashaw and Serrano Glassner each won every county in which they had the county party endorsement. However, their vote share was higher in counties that used a county line primary ballot than in counties that used an office block primary ballot. For Bashaw, the difference was 11 percentage points and for Serrano Glassner, the difference was 15 percentage points. These results — which may shift slightly as more votes get counted — are consistent with my earlier analysis of the 37 primary contests for New Jersey governor, U.S. Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives that took place from 2012 to 2022, in which candidates ran both endorsed and on the county line and endorsed but there was no county line. In 35 of those 37 races, candidates received a larger share of the vote when they were on the county line than when they were endorsed but there was no county line. For non-incumbent candidates like these, the average difference in performance was 17 percentage points.” —“Herb Conaway won nearly every town in his landslide NJ-3 victory”
| | | | JOIN US ON 6/13 FOR A TALK ON THE FUTURE OF HEALTH CARE: As Congress and the White House work to strengthen health care affordability and access, innovative technologies and treatments are increasingly important for patient health and lower costs. What barriers are appearing as new tech emerges? Is the Medicare payment process keeping up with new technologies and procedures? Join us on June 13 as POLITICO convenes a panel of lawmakers, officials and experts to discuss what policy solutions could expand access to innovative therapies and tech. REGISTER HERE. | | | | | | | LOCAL | |
LODI — “Residents accuse Bergen town of infringing on free speech with summonses over lawn signs,” by The Record’s Kaitlyn Kanzler: “A handful of Lodi residents are accusing the borough, its mayor and a couple of employees of infringing on their free speech when they were told to remove political signs from their lawns. George Panagiotou, Joan Mastrofilipo, Bernard Guarino and Joao Mendes filed a lawsuit in Bergen County Superior Court saying they received notices from the borough that they would be fined $1,000 a day if they didn't remove political signs supporting school board candidates on their lawns. The lawsuit said the borough's sign ordinance was ‘unconstitutional’ and violated their right to free speech. … The ordinance said the sign is required to provide the name of the campaign fund that paid for its printing and a property can't have more than two signs per candidate or political campaign ticket.”
THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO WTF? — “N.J. school bus driver sentenced to prison for driving drunk with 27 kids on board,” by NJ Advance Media’s Anthony G. Attrino: “A school bus driver from Sussex County has been sentenced to 14 years in state prison for driving drunk two years ago with 27 children on board her bus.Colleen M. Eutermarks, 51, of Wantage, was pulled over by New Jersey State Police on Jan. 28, 2022, after witnesses spotted her driving the full-sized yellow school bus erratically on Route 565 in Frankford … At the state police barracks, Eutermarks provided a breath sample that showed a blood-alcohol content of .34, which was over eight times the legal limit of .04 for drivers of commercial vehicles, [Sussex County Prosecutor Carolyn A. Murray] said.” CHICK CITY — “Chick-fil-A gets Newark planning board’s OK as LGBTQIA activists object,” by TAPIntoNewark’s Matt Kadosh: “Chick-fil-A is slated to replace a Burger King in downtown Newark following the Central Planning Board’s approval on Monday — a move that has raised objections among LGBTQIA advocates because of the fried chicken company’s history of opposition to gay rights. Under the application approved by a 6-0 vote the fast-food restaurant at 2-28 Broadway will be torn down and replaced with a 2,936-square-foot Chick-fil-A with two drive-through lanes, a walk-up window and outdoor seating. … In Newark, several LGBTQIA advocates voiced their objections following the Planning Board’s approval. ‘As an advocate and person who lives in this city, it’s truly hurtful to me that during Pride Month we would consider an organization like Chick-fil-A to come into our city. This is an organization that has a longtime history of anti-LGBTQ+ practices,’" Citi Medina, co-founder of Equal Space, said. —“[Merchantville] church food pantry that shut down after residents complained has now reopened” —“Paterson mayor gets new ally in legal battle to stop state takeover of police” —“Angry Morris County mayors vow to fight 'fugazi' affordable housing mandates in NJ” —“Defense will challenge search warrants in Sayreville councilwoman's murder case” —“Prospect Park Council fills empty seat after resignation of longtime member” —“Ocean City’s 3rd Ward vote contested” —“$18.5M Aerospace Innovation Center coming to Egg Harbor Township tech park, Murphy says” —“Man ripped down Pride flags, tossed them in trash in [Madison] downtown, cops say” —“Jersey City Council poised to ask governor & legislature to help enforce payroll tax” | | EVERYTHING ELSE | |
THE TALC OF THE TOWN — “Johnson & Johnson agrees to $700M settlement in talc powder lawsuits,” by NJ Advance Media’s Matthew Enuco: “Pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson agreed to pay $700 million spread across 43 states to settle allegations it deceptively marketed talcum powder products as safe for women, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Tuesday. The agreement will send $30.2 million to New Jersey and is pending judicial approval in the Chancery Division of Superior Court in Mercer County. ‘The company blatantly promoted the products as safe and pure while possessing internal information about a carcinogen and while ignoring mounting external evidence about possible health effects,’ Platkin said Tuesday. … New Jersey was part of the lawsuit that alleged Johnson & Johnson marketed Baby Powder and Shower to Shower Powder as safe for daily use, including around the genitals, while knowing that studies and other information showed that the products were occasionally tainted with asbestos.” IN THE RED LOBSTER — “Red Lobster in Paramus may close amid company bankruptcy, as well as other NJ sites,” by The Record’s Daniel Munoz: “The Red Lobster on Route 17 southbound in Paramus is in danger of closing as the casual dining chain files for bankruptcy, according to bankruptcy documents. The company listed 228 rejected leases it says will keep losing money if they continue operating as they currently are. … According to court documents, two of the other New Jersey locations at risk are in Delran and Mays Landing, both in South Jersey.”
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