News: POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: The Statehouse vaccine mandate showdown

Thursday, December 2, 2021

POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: The Statehouse vaccine mandate showdown

Dec 02, 2021

Presented by Bio NJ

Good Thursday morning!

The Legislature holds its first lame duck voting session today, but the big question is less about what's getting voted on than who's voting on it.

Legislative Republicans yesterday filed suit against the State Capitol Joint Management Commission over its vaccine-or-test mandate for entering the Statehouse. No decision has been rendered. While I doubt there will be a permanent ruling today, we'll see if Republicans get the injunction they're seeking. That would mean lawmakers could vote in person without showing proof of vaccination or a taking a Covid test.

If they don't get the injunction, we could see some drama. Most lawmakers I've talked to, especially Republican senators, want to avoid confrontation —but not all. Could we see any Assemblymembers openly defy the mandate? Good chance. And if so, what happens? Will State Police block a defiant lawmaker from entering the Statehouse? Or will they get in, only for Speaker Craig Coughlin to call on the Sergeant at Arms to remove them? This is a question I've never had to grapple with during my many years on the job.

Meanwhile, lawmakers plan to vote on several bills, most prominently one to expand the child care tax credit. But the real controversial lame duck bills like gun control measures and expanding abortion access — something that could get more momentum after Wednesday's Supreme Court arguments — will have to wait.

WHERE'S MURPHY? In Metuchen for a 10:30 a.m. gun safety announcement (see below) with Speaker Coughlin and others. Then in Jersey City for a 5 p.m. menorah lighting at City Hall.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "If these parents actually truly cared about the safety of their students regarding explicit content then they would have to put 'Twilight,' 'The Catcher in The Rye' — that literally has Holden, an underage teenager, having sexual contact with a prostitute — on the list. They should have put any Shakespeare, 'The Odyssey' on the list — those are books in our curriculum." — Sara Varag, speaking at a North Hunterdon Regional Board of Education meeting where some parents sought to ban several books from the high school library, all from the LGBTQ genre

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Activist Gerard Canta, retired Bergen Elections Superintendent Patricia DiConstanzo, former Christie staffer Kelly Klass, MWWPR's Bill Murray, Morris County's Brian Murray

TIPS? FEEDBACK? HATE MAIL? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

REPUBLICANS HOPE CASE WILL BE ASSIGNED TO JUDGE JUDY FRANCO — Republicans go to court to block Statehouse vaccine requirement, by POLITICO's Matt Friedman: State Senate and Assembly Republicans on Wednesday filed a lawsuit challenging a mandate that all visitors and lawmakers entering the Statehouse be vaccinated or tested for Covid-19. "The policy set forth in the Resolution constitutes an unprecedented overreach by a state agency, as well as direct interference with the rights and powers set forth in the Constitution of the State of New Jersey and statutory law," reads the lawsuit by state Sen. Steve Oroho (R-Sussex) and John DiMaio (R-Warren), the two incoming minority leaders. They're represented by Michael Lavery, a former state GOP chair. The lawsuit, filed in the Appellate Division of state Superior Court, targets the State Capitol Joint Management Commission, which approved the vaccine mandate last month. The mandate took effect Wednesday — one day ahead of the first full Senate and Assembly voting sessions since June. The Republicans are seeking a stay of the policy.

ED DURR'S CONCEALED CARRY LICENSE REMAINS ELUSIVE — "Coughlin will back Murphy gun agenda, agrees to post bills during lame duck," by New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein: "Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin will support Gov. Phil Murphy's third round of reforms aimed at reducing gun violence and act during the legislature's lame duck session, the New Jersey Globe has learned. Coughlin will appear with Murphy in Metuchen on Thursday morning to announce his intention to back the gun safety package. The announcement was initially set for November 3, the day after the general election, but was cancelled after Murphy left his election night headquarters without knowing if he had won re-election … With Coughlin on board, outgoing Senate President Steve Sweeney will feel some pressure to act on the gun proposals before he leaves office on January 11."

THE NUMBERS — "Murphy carried 24 legislative districts on his path to victory," by New Jersey Globe's Joey Fox: "Though Gov. Phil Murphy didn't win this year's gubernatorial election by as much as he may have wanted, he carried a healthy majority of the state's legislative districts, winning 24 to Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli's 16. Democrats in the legislature were nearly as successful, with Senate Democrats winning an identical 24-16 majority and Assembly Democrats garnering a slightly smaller 46-34 majority. Tallying up every Senate vote statewide, Democrats beat their Republican opponents 52-48%, closely matching Murphy's margin."

THE TERMINATED: 'I'LL BE BACK' — "'Is this Steve's wake?' Chris Christie asks at event to honor Senate president ousted in surprise upset," by NJ Advance Media's Matt Arco : "Former Gov. Chris Christie stood behind microphones inside a crowded room motioning to his longtime friend Stephen Sweeney after hearing countless elected officials heap praise on the state Senate president, whose election loss last month stunned New Jersey politics. 'Shit, is this Steve's wake?' Christie said to laughs. 'Quite frankly, you usually have to wait to die to have people say those things about you.' The undercurrent in the room may have been somber. But the event itself was a celebration of the longtime lawmaker who was presented with having a room named after him inside the Governor's Reentry Training & Employment Center in Kearny … [T]he former Republican governor who worked alongside the Democratic lawmaker for eight years suggested Sweeney will have another act. 'I will not give my funeral speech,' Christie said, adding, 'Which, by the way, if you go first it's going to be a shame you missed it because it's going to really be spectacular.' ... Sweeney was more direct. 'I want to be clear, I did not die. I lost an election,' he told the room of up to 200 people. 'I will be back and back probably sooner than you think.'"

— " Among former guvs and friends, Sweeney vows not to go quietly"

— "Voter turnout in 2021 N.J. governor election among lowest in a century at 40%"

— " Casino PILOT scheduled for Senate budget committee hearing Monday"

— "Groups push for N.J. lawmakers to create reparations task force"

— Steinberg: " The SALT controversy: Its effect on New Jersey congressional elections"

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BIDEN TIME

GATEWAY — "Hudson River rail tunnel gets green light from the feds to start building it," by NJ Advance Media's Larry Higgs: "A major and final bureaucratic hurdle has been cleared by the Gateway Tunnel project after the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers issued a permit to allow construction of the tunnel and tracks through the Meadowlands and under the Hudson River. The permit was announced Wednesday morning that allows construction of the $11.6 billion project to build two new tunnels and rehabilitate the exiting 111-year old tunnels to start in summer 2023, once funding is secured."

THE SUPPLY CHAIN HAS MORE TO DO WITH DOMINICAN SECURITY SCREENING EQUIPMENT THAN YOU MIGHT THINK — "Menendez proposes bill to address supply chain problems due to pandemic," by NJ Advance Media's Jonathan D. Salant: "U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez has introduced bipartisan legislation designed to address the shortages of supplies and equipment now hitting U.S. companies and consumers as the U.S. economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic. Menenedez joined U.S. Sen. Martha Blackburn, R-Tenn., on Wednesday in proposing a national database of manufacturers in the country's supply chain, letting companies know who's making particular products and who's not."

— " How the Mississippi Supreme Court case could impact abortion access in Pa. and N.J."

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LOCAL

BORDENTOWN — "Jury deadlocks again in Nucera hate-crime retrial," by The Trentonian's Isaac Avliucea: "For the second time, a federal judge declared a mistrial in the retrial of Frank Nucera after a jury remained deadlocked following more than 16 hours of deliberations over three days. The mostly white jury couldn't arrive at a verdict on counts of hate-crime assault and civil-rights deprivation brought against the former Bordentown Township Police chief, who was accused of slamming a handcuffed Black teenager's head into a metal door jamb in September 2016. Federal prosecutors now must decide whether to try the 34-year police veteran and former township administrator a third time. The panel passed a note to U.S. District Court Judge Robert Kugler around 3:30 p.m. saying it was hung on both counts … The jury sent another note seven minutes later. The answer was a resounding no, prompting Kugler to declare a mistrial."

CUMBERLAND COUNTY — "Lawsuits: Officers coerced sex from Cumberland County Jail inmates," by The Courier-Post's Jim Walsh: "Two former inmates contend they were sexually coerced by corrections officers at Cumberland County Jail. The women — Katonya Patterson of Millville and Nichole Bundy of Phillipsburg — claim in separate lawsuits that officers demanded sex in exchange for 'desirable' jobs at the jail, 'as well as other forms of favorable treatment' between 1997 and 2014. 'These acts ranged from sexually graphic verbal communications, abusive touching, oral sex and sexual intercourse,' each suit alleges. Defendants include Cumberland County, its sheriff's department and at least seven officers employed at the jail between 1997 and 2014."

AFTER 7 YEARS, JUSTICE IS KIND OF SERVED — Baraka pays nearly $31K fine over 2014 campaign finance violations, by POLITICO's Matt Friedman: Newark Mayor Ras Baraka paid a fine of more than $30,000 for dozens of campaign finance violations dating back to his first campaign for mayor in 2017, according to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. The commission released its consent order Wednesday with Baraka, the mayor of New Jersey's largest city and a potential candidate for statewide office, putting an end to the 28-count 2017 complaint it filed against him and his former treasurer, Frederick Murphy. Murphy in 2018 was sentenced to federal prison time for embezzling hundreds of thousands of dollars from the campaign.

THAT COUNTY DEPARTMENT THAT ONLY POLICES ONE CITY — "DOJ audit faults Camden County Police Department," by The Courier-Post's Jim Walsh: "The Camden County Police Department 'did not effectively manage' more than $4 million in federal grants, according to an audit by the Justice Department's inspector general. The county department also spent almost $300,000 in grant money that should have been returned to the Justice Department, said the report. But the review primarily cited bookkeeping and administrative concerns as it acknowledged the department's crime-fighting efforts."

FORD ROAD? NO WONDER — " Howell anti-Semitism lawsuit: $8.7 million payout and no yeshiva," by The Asbury Park Press' Alex N. Gecan: "The township's five-year legal fight over a proposed Jewish religious school has ended with a seven-figure payout and what one official termed a 'lesson.' Under the agreement, Lakewood-based Congregation Kollel and its affiliates will receive an $8.69 million payout, which includes what the township will pay for land where the proposed school would have gone. In return, the plaintiffs agreed to abandon their disputed claim that anti-Semitism drove the township's Zoning Board of Adjustment to reject the proposed school. The plaintiffs also agreed to ask federal investigators to drop an investigation into the discrimination claims. Congregation Kollel had sought to build a 190-student yeshiva and dormitories on Ford Road, but was denied amid a torrent of anti-Semitic public comment, much of it in social media."

WHERE ELSE? — "School bus hits utility pole in Lakewood: Reports," by Patch's Karen Wall: "A school bus hit a utility pole on Locust Street Wednesday afternoon, leading to a road closure, according to a report. Locust Street was closed from Vermont Avenue to New Hampshire Avenue, Lakewood News Network reported. The bus, which had writing in Yiddish on its side, was off the road with the rear backed up against the utility pole in a photo the site published. There were no children on the bus, the report said. There have been more than half a dozen crashes involving school buses in Lakewood since mid-September, including one where a bus wound up on top of a vehicle following a road rage incident."

'I'M NOT ANTI-VACCINE. I JUST SPREAD FALSE INFO TO SCARE PEOPLE ABOUT IT' — "The latest anti-COVID vaccine mandate protest tool for Shore parents: Shoes," by The Asbury Park Press' Joe Strupp: "The latest tool in the growing, and preemptive, parental opposition to vaccine mandates is not a bullhorn, a social media campaign or even a picket sign. It's a pair of shoes. Or, in this case, thousands of pairs being strategically placed outside of public schools statewide. They are part of a silent protest of what many parents fear will soon be a requirement: COVID-19 vaccinations for students. 'The vaccine is still new and in the experimental stage, it should be up to the parents' choice and their physician, and the government should not be involved,' said Edie Nico, who organized a shoe protest Sunday night at Middletown North High School, where they say 500 shoes were placed. (Public health officials note that while the COVID vaccines are new, they are no longer experimental; the three vaccines approved for use in the U.S. went through a rigorous safety and efficacy testing process prior to their rollout, and have been proven highly effective in preventing serious COVID.)"

BLOOMFIELD IS THE ONLY TOWN IN NJ NOT ALLOWED TO OPT OUT, BECAUSE OF ITS NAME — "Bloomfield is updating its recreational marijuana ordinances ," by The Record's Kaitlyn Kanzler: "Bloomfield is refining its retail cannabis ordinances ahead of the start of legal retail sales next year. Several amendments were introduced at the most recent Township Council meeting. The first would prohibit cannabis retailers from operating within 250 feet of another cannabis retailer. A second ordinance would allow cannabis to be sold within the commercial corridor of the Bloomfield Center Redevelopment District; the third amends the redevelopment Phase One plan to permit recreational and medical marijuana retailers."

— "Council moves toward firing Trenton clerk Matthew Conlon"

— "Amador, the past, the coming campaign, and the enduring pride of Newark's Ironbound"

— " There's going to be a mad dash to redraw wards for May 2022 municipal elections"

— "Bell Works owner completes $15.3M Fort Monmouth land deal"

— " Former Jersey City police sergeant CJ Parson walking the beat in Hollywood"

— "[Howell] HS student arrested after Snapchat threat with photo of Airsoft rifle"

— " [Vineland] District claims vo-tech school owes it nearly $1.6M for tuition overpayments"

— "No injuries in Ridgewood when section of ceiling falls at Village Hall"

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