President Joe Biden is expected to announce Dec. 2 a series of new measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic this Winter. Among the strategic moves include extending the current mask mandate for airplanes, trains, buses and transit hubs until mid-March, more than 150 million Americans with private health coverage will be able to get at-home coronavirus tests reimbursed by their insurers, international travelers must show proof of a negative coronavirus test taken the day before departing for the United States, an additional 25 million at-home tests to community health centers and rural clinics to make them more available to those who are not covered by private insurers and a call for employers to provide paid time off to their employees to get boosted. The New York Times
The Omicron COVID-19 variant has been detected in California, the first case in the U.S. Dr. Anthony Fauci said the individual was fully vaccinated, but added it is believed they did not receive a booster shot. They experienced “mild symptoms, which are improving at this point,” Fauci said. The individual traveled to South Africa and returned home Nov. 22; he then tested positive Nov. 29. PoliticoNJ
Republicans in both the State Senate and Assembly went to court Dec. 1 seeking to block a new policy that requires all people to show either proof of vaccination against COVID-19 or a negative coronavirus test to enter the New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton. State Sen. Steve Oroho and Assemblyman John DiMaio, who will lead their chambers’ Republican caucuses in the next legislative session, filed a lawsuit in State Superior Court against the State Capitol Joint Management Commission arguing the policy, which took effect Wednesday, is an “unprecedented overreach by a state agency” and violates the rights and powers granted by the state Constitution to both the public and lawmakers. New Jersey Monitor
New Jersey reported another 2,471 COVID-19 cases and 20 confirmed deaths as positive tests continue to climb following the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. There were 1,052 patients hospitalized with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases across 70 of New Jersey’s 71 hospitals, the highest number of COVID-19 patients statewide since Oct. 4. Of those hospitalized, 207 patients were in intensive care, with 98 of them on ventilators. NJ.com
Some parents are silently voicing opposition to a potential mandate requiring children to receive the COVID-19 vaccination. Operation Shoe Drop, promoted by an anti-vaccine group called NJ For Medical Freedom, is encouraging parents to leave pairs of shoes at schools. Over 400 shoes were placed outside Middletown North High School Nov. 28 followed by more shoes being left in front of schools in the Berkeley Township and Central Regional school districts on Nov. 30. Additional drops are scheduled in Medford and East Brunswick. The shoes eventually will be donated to Habitat for Humanity in Newark. NJ1015.com
A 15-year-old boy was charged with 24 felony counts, including first-degree murder, terrorism and various counts of assault, in connection with the mass school shooting in Oxford, MI. Three students were killed Tuesday; a fourth died Wednesday, police officials said. Six other students and one teacher were injured. Before what prosecutors are describing as a planned shooting, school officials met with the teen and his parents on the morning of the shooting about the teen over “concerning behavior.” The Wall Street Journal
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. Murphy’s plan includes raising the minimum age to purchase long guns to 21, mandating safe firearms storage, safety training requirements, electronic ammunition sales recordkeeping, and $10 million for community-based violence intervention. The governor is also seeking a ban on .50 caliber military-style firearms, closing the loophole for important out of state guns and promoting microstamping technology. New Jersey Globe
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-37) is attempting to make gun laws even stronger and hopefully prevent a mass shooting event at a Garden State school. Vainieri Huttle introduced legislation to prohibit retail dealers of firearms from being located near certain businesses and facilities, specifically from community centers and locations servicing vulnerable residents. “When I learned a new gun shop had opened within just a couple blocks of a local elementary school, I was quite alarmed,” said Vainieri Huttle. “Having a firearms retailer so close to a place where our children go to learn and socialize throughout most of the week is absolutely unacceptable and poses a major threat to both students and the surrounding community.” North-JerseyNews.com
The U.S. Supreme Court seemed poised on to uphold a Mississippi law that bans abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, rolling roll back the abortion rights the court has defined over the last half century. During sometimes tense and heated questioning in almost two hours of oral arguments, the court’s six conservative justices signaled they are comfortable with the Mississippi law, even though upholding it would be flatly at odds with Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that established a constitutional right to abortion and prohibited states from banning the procedure before fetal viability, currently around 23 weeks. The New York Times
Chris Christie says raising the current $10,000 federal cap on state and local tax (SALT) deductions primarily will help higher income taxpayers, not the middle-class. “Under the current SALT cap, everybody who has the average property taxes in New Jersey can fully deduct them, so who you’re benefitting in New Jersey are the higher income folks,” the former governor said. “And that’s not the Democratic, you know, hymnal.…When you’re in politics and you’re speaking against brand, people kind of raise an eyebrow. Lifting of the SALT cap is an against-the-Democrat-brand moment and the Republicans are going to seize on it.” North-JerseyNews.com
A major and final bureaucratic hurdle was 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 Dec. 1 that allows construction of the $12.3 billion project to build two new tunnels and rehabilitate the existing 111-year old tunnels to start in summer 2023, once funding is secured. The Daily Record
Sen. Bob 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. Menendez joined U.S. Sen. Martha Blackburn (R-TN) 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. It would use the existing manufacturing extension program to connect all 50 states. ROI-NJ.com
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol voted unanimously to recommend holding former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark in criminal contempt for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena. Clark had appeared for a deposition on Nov. 5, but he left before it was complete and declined to answer questions or turn over documents, with his lawyer citing executive and other privileges, according to a transcript released this week by the Jan. 6 committee. The Wall Street Journal
New Jersey law enforcement officers responding to 9-1-1 calls for mental, behavioral, or emotional health crises will bring along mental health professionals under a pilot program. The goal of the effort, dubbed the “ARRIVE Together Initiative,” is to deescalate law enforcement scenarios that could end in violence, thereby improving outcomes. ARRIVE stands for Alternative Responses to Reduce Instances of Violence & Escalation. “This pilot program will help us assess how we can safely deescalate behavioral health crises when law enforcement is contacted,” Gov. Phil Murphy said. “We believe that this new initiative will help connect individuals in crisis to care and treatment and can help to reduce violence during interactions with law enforcement.” North-JerseyNews.com
Opponents of Montclair’s rent control statute won a decisive victory after an appeals panel in Trenton sided with a landlord group that argued that the Montclair town clerk improperly rejected signatures on a petition. The landlords’ petition sought to force the ordinance to be put to a referendum. The court’s decision essentially invalidates the ordinance unless it is approved by a majority of Montclair voters. The ordinance limits annual rent increases to 4.25%, or 2.5% for seniors; two- and three-family homes are exempt. Per state statute, apartments in new buildings with an affordable housing component are exempt for 30 years. The Record
The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) fined Newark Mayor Ras Baraka $30,634 for a large number of campaign finance violations. According to the ELEC report, Baraka committed a total of 264 campaign finance violations during his successful 2014 campaign for mayor, covering contributions and expenses that totaled around $200,000. Of the 264, 258 of the violations were due to late, incomplete, or missing reporting of contributions and expenses, while the remaining six were from receiving contributions that exceeded the contribution limit. InsiderNJ
And finally…Major League Baseball’s owners voted to lock out players after their collective bargaining agreement expired, creating the first work stoppage since 1994-95. The Record
