| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | Presented by Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind | Good Thursday morning! White collar work has changed. We all know fewer people are going to the office. But with this change, one of the justifications for billions in state-issued corporate tax credits has pretty much gone out the window. When the state revamped its tax incentives in 2013 to make them more generous, their blockers argued that small businesses surrounding the shiny new office buildings built with credits in beleaguered cities would also benefit from the influx of workers traveling to some of New Jersey’ most distressed cities. As The Philadelphia Inquirer summed it up in 2017 regarding Camden, “state and city leaders say the developments will lead to other businesses and jobs and a more robust local economy, as thousands of employees will now be traveling to Camden every day.” With the pandemic making in-person work impossible for a while, New Jersey changed the law. Previously, workers had to spend at least 80 percent of their time in the office. In 2020, the state reduced that to 60 percent. Right around this time last year, Gov. Phil Murphy signed legislation to waive that 60 percent requirement for one year, reducing it to 10 percent — if the business paid 5 percent of its annual tax credit to the EDA to support “small business and downtown or commercial corridor activation.” This is conditional on the businesses’ employees spending 80 percent of their time in New Jersey. Two weeks ago, Assemblymember Eliana Pintor Marin proposed a bill to make that change permanent. But she quickly amended Monday before the Assembly Appropriations Committee to extend this only through March, essentially punting it until after lame duck. What’s more, the newer tax incentive programs signed by Gov. Murphy don’t have any requirements that workers actually go to the office, according to the EDA’s website, only that offices built with the tax breaks can accommodate “50 percent of incented jobs” and that the employees spend most of their time in New Jersey. So while the bill that moved in committee is a small stopgap measure, it looks like there is a trend to keep these awards going while no longer requiring employees to show up. And a 5 percent payment to help the towns just the same as the selling point advocates used years ago. The NJBIA’s Chris Emigholz told me that businesses and the state are still trying to figure out how to grapple with the sharp drop in office work, and this is one way. “It’s not like the businesses planned for Covid’s change to the workforce. It’s an international phenomenon. Nobody knows how it’s going to play out,” he said. TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com PROGRAMMING NOTE — There will be no New Jersey Playbook next week. Thanks for reading, and I’ll be back in your inboxes Jan. 2. Have a nice holiday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Craig LeMoult, Thomas Becket, Jane Fonda, Andy Dick. QUOTE OF THE DAY — “Gorgeous hair, man … Like steak … Prime.” — Trenton barber Joe Festa, aka “The Mayor of South Warren Street,” describing Jim McGreevey’s hair WHERE’S MURPHY? — Nothing on his public schedule |  | WHAT TRENTON MADE | |
BY THE TIME THEY GET AROUND TO IT THEY WON’T BE ABLE TO AFFORD IT — “No contract awarded yet for a study about saving NJ Transit from massive budget shortfall,” by NJ Advance Media’s Larry Higgs: “Eight months after state Transportation Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti announced a realignment study to help NJ Transit avoid a forecasted budget shortfall, no firm has been hired to do the study. The budget shortfall is expected to start in the middle of next year, after the governor’s annual budget message, which usually outlines how much state aid NJ Transit can depend on and whether there will be fare hikes. ‘We expect the contract will be awarded soon, but we don’t have anything more specific at this time,’ said Stephen Schapiro, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Transportation. ‘NJDOT was asked to handle the procurement process in the summer.’ The DOT also will pay for the consultant, Schapiro said.”
EDNA MAHAN — “Payouts to women sexually assaulted at NJ women’s prison fall way short,” by NJ Spotlight News’ Colleen O’Dea: “In April of 2021, the New Jersey Department of Corrections announced a settlement in a number of lawsuits filed by current and former incarcerated women over years of alleged sexual harassment and abuse at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility for Women. The settlement, the state said, would include up to $21 million in payments to the women and their attorneys … The actual amount given to women found to have suffered abuse turned out to be much more modest: Most got an average of less than $55,000. The lawyers on both sides of the case were paid more than the women who were sexually assaulted: $6.33 million vs. $5.7 million.” CORRECTIONS — “The last days of Little Eddie: life and death in a US prison,” by The Guardian’s Josh McGhee: “A review of public records, interviews with prison mental health experts, family members and friends, along with the man’s own writings and [prisoner Kory] McClary’s observations, raise questions about his treatment and care in his final days. The man was confined, alone, in what other prisoners call ‘the crazy unit’. A video camera is supposed to provide constant monitoring for suicidal actions, yet he spent his final four hours sprawled forward, motionless, on his cell toilet. That’s where guards found him, according to a review of the video footage by Lauren P Thoma, the deputy medical examiner for Middlesex county, New Jersey, who conducted his autopsy. Thoma concluded that the man had died of a heart attack. The man’s name was Edward Robinson.” THE PHANTOM CANDIDATE MENACE — N.J. Republicans acquire bank records of shadowy super PAC, by POLITICO's Matt Friedman: The super PAC Jersey Freedom is notoriously opaque, but New Jersey Republicans are getting a peak into its inner workings. The Republican State Committee, which alleges in a lawsuit that Jersey Freedom violated campaign finance law by hiding its activities until after the election, while misleading voters through its support of alleged “phantom candidates” in November issued a subpoena for the group's bank account records and to Google for the email accounts of the candidates it backed. Jersey Freedom attorney Bill Tambussi, who frequently represents South Jersey Democrats and power broker George Norcross, attempted to quash the subpoena. But his motion was filed the same day as the subpoena’s answer date, and by that time the super PAC’s bank, Citibank, had already responded to the request. “We possess [the records] and we’ve reviewed them,” Republican State Committee attorney Jason Sena said. —“Legislative plan to overhaul affordable housing prompts applause, warnings” —“NJ attorney general: Comptroller's report on police training may require 'further action'” —“The Fulop Q&A: On his business record in Jersey City, taxes, policy papers — and being truer to his vision this time around” —McDonald: “Bill to limit children’s social media use has a big obstacle: the First Amendment” — “Former NJPP head McKoy to lead Fund for New Jersey as president beginning in 2024” —Ciattarelli: “Education reform, health care, property taxes: NJ Legislature must act in 2024” | | | | A message from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind: Atlantic Shores is generating cleaner air, cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, and a healthier, more sustainable future for all New Jerseyans. Led by a team with deep roots in environmental science, the company's first project will decrease polluting greenhouse gases by 4 million tons every year. Plus, Atlantic Shores is investing $50 million in community partnerships like New Jersey's Research and Monitoring Initiative to support the responsible management of marine and coastal resources. Learn more. | | | | | BIDEN TIME | |
ELDER MENENDEZ SEEN HOLDING UNION COUNTY SKELETON MAP — “Menendez gets Democratic line in Union,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “Senate President Nicholas Scutari, Elizabeth Mayor Christian Bollwage and Elizabeth Democratic Municipal Chair Maria Carvalho have endorsed Rep. Robert J. Menendez (D-Jersey City), a move that assures the freshman congressman the Union County organization line next year. ‘Rob Menendez has been a strong advocate for the City of Elizabeth and for Union County as a whole in the 118th Congress,’ the three said in a joint statement.” MURRAY SAYS WE’RE IN A ‘COSBY SHOW’ SPINOFF — “Murray on prez politics: ‘We’re just in a different world,’” by InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack: “Unemployment in the United States is less than 4 percent, which is about as low as it realistically can be. That means, logically, that job growth has been strong. So strong, in fact, that the nation has gained back – and added – all the jobs lost during the pandemic … The [Monmouth] poll found that 53 percent of respondents disapproved of Biden’s performance on jobs; 42 percent approved. What gives? Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth poll, said simply: ‘We’re just in a different world.’ What he means is that in the political universe of Donald Trump, what was conventional and the norm pre-Trump is no longer the case. The former president, Murray said, has turned things upside down. It may be hard to put your finger on what precisely that means, but here’s my take. In the pre-Trump world, we had hard “facts” and statistics that just about everyone respected. No longer.” —“Veteran Menendez fundraiser resigns” —“Justin Michael Murphy planning to enter GOP U.S. Senate race In N.J.” —“Chris Christie outlines his national drug crisis plan, focusing on treatment and stigma reduction” —“Sen. Menendez joins call for HUD to take over Atlantic City Housing Authority” —“Flooding swamps Denville, Pequannock and other Morris towns. When will rivers crest?” | | | | A message from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind:   | | | | | LOCAL | |
THE MORRILL OF THE STORY — “The Jersey City Times sues Mayor Fulop, press secretary, and city,” by The Jersey City Times’ Ryan Kilkenny: “In a lawsuit filed in federal court [Monday], the Jersey City Times and its founder, Aaron Morrill, have accused Mayor Steven Fulop and his press secretary, Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione, and Jersey City of violating the news site’s constitutional rights. According to the complaint, Fulop and Wallace-Scalcione blacklisted the Times following a May 2021 article that criticized the mayor’s record on public safety.”
MAHWAH AGUA — “Is floodwater compromising these NJ Transit tracks in Mahwah? The township has concerns,” by The Record’s Marsha A. Stoltz: “Monday's flooding of South Railroad Avenue has heightened township concerns that a yearlong problem with a damaged NJ Transit culvert may be eroding the embankment supporting its railroad tracks off Franklin Turnpike. Township Administrator Ben Kezmarsky said Tuesday that an apartment complex east of the tracks has experienced flooding from the damaged culvert for the past year. However, Monday's flooding west of the tracks is new, and it suggests that the culvert flow may be eroding a tunnel under the railroad tracks … Martin Kenwood, the owner/managing member of the Mall & Starview Gardens apartment complex at 250-260 Franklin Turnpike, filed tort claims against NJ Transit and the township in November after a year of seeking repairs to the culvert.”
—“Flooding rescues continue in New Jersey two days after heavy rains, river peaks in Little Falls”
—“Toms River: NJ deal on polluted Ciba land is foul, we'll spend $215K on expert to fight it” —“[Milleville] court accused of bias against Latinos scheduled to reopen after staff shake-up” —“Two more districts repeal policy protecting transgender students” —“NJ superintendent defends teacher worried about ‘cultural genocide’ as Jews move in” —“Atlantic City Council again postpones vote on needle exchange settlement” —“Ocean City police officer suspended after assault conviction” | | | | A message from Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind: Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind is generating cleaner air, cuts to greenhouse gas emissions, and a healthier, more sustainable future for all New Jerseyans.
Led by a team of purpose-driven professionals with deep roots in environmental science, the company's first project will result in a reduction of 4 million tons of greenhouse gases every year, which is equivalent to pulling 770,000 cars off the road.
Plus, Atlantic Shores is investing $50 million in community development partnerships like New Jersey's Research and Monitoring Initiative to support the responsible management of marine and coastal resources.
The Atlantic Shores team is committed to helping New Jersey reach its clean energy goals and improving the environment for communities throughout the state. Learn more about the current project, which is just the first phase of a long-term commitment to making New Jersey a national leader in clean energy. | | | | | EVERYTHING ELSE | |
R.I.P. — “Pilot, photographer killed after Action News' Chopper 6 crashes in wooded area of New Jersey,” by 6ABC: “It has been a devastating day for the Action News team after two crew members on board Chopper 6 were killed in a crash on Tuesday night. A pilot and a photographer were in the helicopter when it went down in Washington Township, New Jersey just after 8 p.m. They were returning from an assignment at the Jersey Shore. The pilot was 67-year-old Monroe Smith of Glenside, Pa. and the photographer was 45-year-old Christopher Dougherty of Oreland, Pa. They have a long history with our station and have been working as part of the Action News team for years. 'Our hearts are just broken for these men. They're broken for their families,' reporter Katherine Scott said.”
THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IS HOT — “NJ had decade-high wildfires in 2023. Why are we building more homes in fire-prone areas?” by The Asbury Park Press’ Amanda Oglesby: “New Jersey development continues to flourish in some of the Garden State's most fire-prone areas, the Asbury Park Press found during an analysis of housing and forest data from the University of Wisconsin. The Press discovered that nearly one-in-four New Jersey homes are located within areas known as the wildland urban interface, an area where homes and human structures commingle with natural landscapes, according to the University of Wisconsin's Spatial Analysis For Conservation and Sustainability lab. In 2020, 884,114 homes were in New Jersey's wildland urban interface, according to the University of Wisconsin. That marked an increase of about 167,000 new homes built in these at-risk areas since 1990, according to university data.” A TAYLOR SHAM — “Man pleads guilty in scheme to inflate securities value of N.J. deli to $100 million,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Robert Moran: “A North Carolina man admitted in federal court Wednesday to manipulating shares of a holding company created for a South Jersey delicatessen — pushing the value of the tiny public company as high as $100 million in 2021, prosecutors said. James Patten, 64, of Winston-Salem, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Christine P. O’Hearn in Camden to securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud … In September 2022, Patten was indicted along with the father-son duo of Peter Coker Sr. and Jr. in a case alleging that the trio befriended Paul Morina, the owner of Hometown Deli in Paulsboro, Gloucester County, and recruited their associates to bid up the sandwich shop’s share price illegally, then cash out at an artificially inflated profit … Hometown Deli closed last year.” ‘RESPECT THE PIZZA PARLOR!’ — ”Tommy DeVito shows up at Morristown pizzeria, makes peace after fees controversy,” by The Record’s Matt Fagan: “Giants quarterback Tom DeVito and his agent stopped by Morristown's Coniglio's Old Fashioned restaurant on Tuesday to clear the air after a few tumultuous days that followed a dust-up over how much dough DeVito, North Jersey's rookie sensation, would make from an appearance. Nino Coniglio, owner of the highly regarded pizzeria and bakery, said the Tuesday afternoon meeting ended with all sides making peace. ‘We broke bread together,’ Coniglio said.” —“Surprise bills from ambulance rides can be a huge expense, and NJ is no exception” | | | | Follow us on Twitter | | | | Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook | Playbook PM | California Playbook | Florida Playbook | Illinois Playbook | Massachusetts Playbook | New Jersey Playbook | New York Playbook | Ottawa Playbook | Brussels Playbook | London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters | | Follow us | | | | |
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