| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | Good Thursday morning! After years of touting no fare hikes for NJ Transit riders, the Murphy administration is finally doing it — and not just once. NJ Transit has proposed a 15 percent fare hike effective this summer, Ry Rivard reports. And that wouldn’t be all. It would then be indexed to increase up to 3 percent per year. Indexing is popular now with public officials who are loathe to make these kinds of major, politically-difficult fare hikes. Well, except when they think it will be a tough election year. This hike had been in the cards some time, as NJ Transit was staring down a nearly $1 billion budget gap. “We can’t hold the line forever,” Murphy said a year ago, in a video touting his administration’s sixth year without an increase. This will only slightly reduce it to about $800 million, which means the Murphy administration is going to have to look at what some politicians like to call “revenue enhancers” — newspeak for hiking taxes or fees — to deal with this. The hike was met with immediate political opposition from all over, including Senate President Nick Scutari. For months, the governor’s office has been taking the Legislature’s temperature on types of revenue options for NJ Transit in very hush-hush discussions. One option floated — not the only one — would be to undo the sales tax cut that former Gov. Chris Christie made as part of the 2016 gas tax hike deal, gradually reducing the sales tax from 7 percent to today’s 6.625 percent. That would go a long way toward filling the gap. But hiking the sales tax, last done in the Corzine administration, is politically difficult. Murphy proposed it in his first budget, but dropped it as part of a last-minute budget deal. The backlash to the Jim Florio sales tax hikes, more than 30 years later, still gives New Jersey politicos nightmares. To be honest with you, at this point I'm not sure what the other options are, though I could imagine the governor softening his opposition to reinstating the lapsed corporation business tax surcharge, which Scutari appears open to. TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com QUOTE OF THE DAY: "It gets frustrating to listen to these proposals from the industry that are just based on greed and ignorance.” — State Sen. Joe Vitale on the casino smoking ban, which he believes finally has the votes to pass at a committee meeting Monday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Rhea Fryer, Linda Doherty, Michel Cerra, Bill Caruso WHERE’S MURPHY? — Media: "Ask Governor Murphy" on News 12 at 4 p.m.
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FULL UP ON MURPHY — Steve Fulop, Jersey City’s mayor and first Democrat to declare for governor in 2025, is increasingly taking on the role of renegade. On Tuesday morning, hours before NJ Transit went public with its proposed fare hikes, Fulop preempted the agency, telling all his social media followers that a fare hike was coming. “I’m going to be the first to comment on this bc I know front office is preparing it,” he wrote, after which he excoriated the Murphy administration for a “fake veto” of the Turnpike Authority minutes, for supporting the Turnpike widening project for the Hudson County extension, and for allowing the Corporation Business Tax temporary increase to lapse instead of becoming a permanent NJ Transit revenue source, as he and many advocates are pushing. He ended with a pretty negative assessment of Gov. Murphy. You can read the whole thread here.
This reminds me of the Fulop I knew in the late aughts, when he was a city councilmember for the city’s then-rapidly gentrifying Ward E where residents had few links or history with the city’s long-established Democratic machine politics. Fulop was a rebel who frequently poked the local Democratic machine. I profiled him at the time, back when I was a 20-something cub reporter and Fulop constituent who had yet to be jaded by years of reporting on New Jersey politics. Of course, Fulop gradually gained power and in 2013 unseated the machine-backed incumbent Jerramiah Healy — never charged but nevertheless weakened by the 2009 corruption busts — to become mayor. Fulop went from raging against the machine to becoming it. But now, with most of the state’s political bosses (save for Hudson County) backing or preparing to back other candidates for governor — the declared Steve Sweeney or the all-but-declared Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer — Fulop the gubernatorial candidate is reminding me of Fulop the councilmember. THAR SHE BLOWS! — New Jersey bets big on offshore wind after year of woe, by POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: New Jersey made another big bet on the offshore wind industry’s future Wednesday when utility regulators approved new wind farms that will provide enough power for 1.8 million homes. The Board of Public Utilities greenlit ratepayer subsidies for a pair of projects by two developers — Attentive Energy, a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, and Leading Light Wind, a partnership of Invenergy and co-developer energyRe. The move was a big reset for Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration and the offshore wind industry … Both projects are far offshore — between 40 and 47 miles from the coast, according to the board. One project is off the southern Ocean County coast while the other is planned around the Atlantic City area. I CAN’T READ THE STUDY BECAUSE A BAG LANDED ON MY FACE — “New Jersey bag ban followed by increased use of plastic,” by Forbes’ Patrick Gleason: “According to a new study released on January 9 by the Freedonia Group, 53 million pounds worth of plastic shopping bags were used in New Jersey prior to implementation of the state’s bag ban, a figure that has risen to 151 million pounds since the prohibition was instituted. The Freedonia Group study found that the reusable bags New Jersey shoppers have been forced to use since the bag ban took effect in May of 2022 are rarely reused, only two to three times on average. With many people in New Jersey now using reusable bags as single use bags, the state’s plastic and paper bag prohibition, though passed with the best of intentions, may be doing more harm than good in practice.” THE CAMPAIGN FUND FATTENING ACT — The Elections Transparency Act, signed last year, vastly increased fundraising limits and — surprise! — New Jersey’s main political organizations are taking in more campaign cash. The “Big Six” committees — the Democratic and Republican State Parties and legislative leadership PACs — raised a combined $15.8 million last year. That’s 28 percent higher than the average campaign years, according to an analysis released by the Election Law Enforcement Commission. It’s not the highest ever, but you really can’t compare 2023, a legislative elections only year, to 2021, a gubernatorial and state legislative election year. Previously, these committees could only accept a single donation of up to $25,000, with a few exceptions. Now, they can take in individual donations of up to $75,000, and then an additional $37,500 for “housekeeping accounts” that pay for non-political expenses like rent and legal bills. d. Read ELEC’s full analysis here. —McDonald: “With eye on November — and 2025? — New Jersey Democrats again target Dobbs” —“'An important moment': Breweries react to New Jersey's new liquor license reform bill” | | BIDEN TIME | |
MALMENTUM — Former U.S. Rep. Tom Malinowski, who had been considering a U.S. Senate bid himself, will not run. Instead, he’s backing U.S. Rep. Andy Kim (D-3rd Dist.) over his biggest rival, First Lady Tammy Murphy. “Andy Kim has all the qualities we should be seeking in these difficult times. He is a person of unquestionable character who clearly has the experience to be an effective Senator. He has spent his entire career in public service, as a member of Congress and as a national security official in the Obama administration. Having worked closely with him in both capacities, I know he has earned the opportunity to represent us, and that he’s done so in all the right ways,” said Malinowski, a former diplomat and now a senior fellow at the McCain Institute after two terms in Congress. The Record’s Katie Sobko got the jump on this announcement.
The Tammy Murphy campaign responded with a statement calling for a ban on congressional stock trading, referring of course to Malinowski’s stock trading scandal and saying that it cost the former congressman his seat in the 2022 election, when Republican Tom Kean beat him in a rematch. “Our country is losing its faith in our public servants, in part because they believe that too many Washington politicians are more focused on increasing their personal wealth than ensuring our country's prosperity," Tammy Murphy said. The press release, not quoting Murphy, went on to say “Andy Kim did not call on Congress to ban trading stocks until after former Congressman Tom Malinowski was investigated by the House Ethics Committee.” Granted it was after the House Ethics Committee began its investigation, but Kim introduced a far-reaching bill to ban not only stock trading in Congress, but also ownership. Was this Tammy Murphy's first real swing at Kim?
| | | | YOUR GUIDE TO EMPIRE STATE POLITICS: From the newsroom that doesn’t sleep, POLITICO's New York Playbook is the ultimate guide for power players navigating the intricate landscape of Empire State politics. Stay ahead of the curve with the latest and most important stories from Albany, New York City and around the state, with in-depth, original reporting to stay ahead of policy trends and political developments. Subscribe now to keep up with the daily hustle and bustle of NY politics. | | | | | CIATTA REALLY? — Your New Jersey Playbook author will not get to have fun writing headlines about a Senate race between the current first lady and the almost first lady. Melinda Ciattarelli, the separated wife of 2021 Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli, by all appearances had been preparing to run for the Senate seat currently held by the indicted Sen. Bob Menendez. She’d been spotted at events, issued statements about her interest in the seat and even weighed in on a Murphy campaign controversy. In fact, I was expecting her to formally announce her candidacy Friday. But that suddenly changed, with Ciattarelli announcing yesterday that she wouldn’t run after all, but would instead launch a “groundbreaking nonprofit foundation committed to safeguarding individuals from the detrimental impact of bullying, both online and offline.” New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein had the scoop Wednesday. MENENDEZ AND THE BALKANIZATION OF NJ POLITICS— “The third foreign connection in Bob Menendez’s spiraling scandal,” by The Daily Beast’s Will Bredderman: “The Daily Beast has found that IS EG and its dealings with Egyptian authorities involved another operator on New Jersey’s Manhattan-facing ‘Gold Coast’: [Fred] Daibes’ longtime business partner Gazmend “Gus” Lita. What’s more, during the timeline of the alleged bribery scheme, Menendez coordinated with an Albanian-American advocacy group in which Lita was involved, met with the businessman’s brother—then a member of the Balkan state’s parliament—and repeated talking points favored by both, including in official statements. These acts mirror some of those the feds say the senator took on behalf of Qatar, where Menendez allegedly made multiple positive statements about the country in exchange for bribes.” SERRANO DOESN’T HAVE IT WRAPPED — “Serrano Glassner raises $266k in her first senate fundraising quarter, most of it from herself,” by New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox: “Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner has been viewed for months as the presumptive frontrunner in this year’s Republican primary for U.S. Senate, but her fundraising numbers from the opening quarter of her campaign likely won’t scare off potential challengers. Serrano Glassner raised a total of $266,534 between October 1 and December 31 last year – a respectable total, though not a large enough one to immediately kickstart a fully fledged statewide campaign operation. $200,000 of the total, however, came from a personal loan, with only around $66,000 coming from donors.” —"News 12 seeks to stop Zdan from using ‘fair use’ clips" —“Charges of bullying heat up Tammy Murphy-Andy Kim battle for N.J. Senate” | | LOCAL | |
RICHARD BERDNIK — “Friends and colleagues search for answers after Sheriff Richard Berdnik's death,” by The Record’s Joe Malinconico and Matt Fagan: “Berdnik recently endured what may have been his most difficult week as a public official. Federal authorities on Jan. 17 arrested three of his officers in a jail beating case. The next day, Berdnik had to issue a memo announcing layoffs of 29 corrections officers because of the shutdown of the county jail. … There were other problems looming, including nine pending lawsuits filed by jail inmates saying they were mistreated at the jail Berdnik oversaw. … But people in law enforcement and politics said handling lawsuits, layoffs and accusations against jail guards are normal parts of the job of being a county sheriff in New Jersey … Meanwhile, multiple sources said Passaic County and its Sheriff's Office may be among the government entities victimized in a $35 million fraud case also being handled by federal law enforcement officials.”
—“Undersheriff Gary Giardina sworn in as Passaic County acting sheriff” BANNED FROM PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT? JUST BE A CONSULTANT — “Small defends Atlantic City use of consultant who took bribes as school board member,” by The Press of Atlantic City’s : “Mayor Marty Small Sr. said the city has done nothing wrong in hiring a consultant to head up its reentry services program who was once convicted of taking a bribe while president of the Atlantic City school board in 2005 … Small confirmed that subpoenas from the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office have been served seeking information on two people working in the reentry program. … ‘One is a consultant and one an employee,’ the mayor said of the individuals. ‘The consultant can't work for the city.’ ... The other one has no bar on public employment.’ The only consultant hired by the program is Reentry Coordinator Cornell Davis, a former Atlantic City school board president convicted of bribery for accepting a $2,200 check in 2005 to facilitate a contract with the board. He was sentenced to five years in prison and is banned for life from public employment.” OCEAN COUNTY —“Manchester man pleads guilty in antisemitic terror spree in Lakewood and Jackson,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Kathleen Hopkins: “A 29-year-old Manchester man is facing 30 years in prison after pleading guilty to terrorism Wednesday, after a violent crime spree that targeted members of the Orthodox Jewish communities in Lakewood and Jackson. Dion Marsh entered the guilty plea before Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan, admitting to a series of acts that included a carjacking, stabbing and hit-and-runs against pedestrians. All of the crimes were committed on April 8, 2022. Marsh said he specifically targeted all of his victims because he believed they were of the Orthodox Jewish faith.” —“Clifton restaurant Toros endured a public death. How does it bounce back?” —“The Atlantic City Aquarium hopes to reopen after 4 years. The fish have been there all along” —“Judge orders [Newark] district to give her unreleased report on racial tension” —“New Toms River mayor faces blowback for proposing to hire EMTs by cutting police jobs” —“Judge dismisses negligence suit against Wayne police officer in case of '21 slaying” —“[Rochelle Park] cop claims unfair favoritism cost him chances at promotions” —“Boggiano running for reelection to Jersey City council, but says plan could change” | | EVERYTHING ELSE | |
THE HOUSE DIDN’T WIN — “New Jersey Supreme Court rules against Ocean casino in COVID business interruption case,” by The AP’s Wayne Parry: “New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that an Atlantic City casino is not entitled to payouts from business interruption insurance for losses during the COVID-19 outbreak, determining that the presence of the virus did not constitute the kind of “direct physical loss or damage” required for such a payout. … The ruling is similar to others reached in state and federal courts around the country.”
—“Nursing home may be sold to owner approved by N.J. who has troubled track record” —Snowflack: “Librarian Hickson on the front line of the book battlement”
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