A chaotic day in Trenton resulted in a number of Republican lawmakers, including those from North Jersey, not complying with COVID-19 protocols established by legislative leaders from the opposing party. At issue were the rules ushered in by the Senate President and Assembly Speaker that required all those entering the Statehouse to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or be tested, resulting in a nearly three hour delay in the Assembly for its session Dec. 2. Members of the GOP have gone to court to contest the requirements as being unfair to the public and unconstitutional. “I’m outraged that 28 members of the minority caucus could not be bothered to exhibit the decency or humanity (just) to have a couple minutes on the TV news,” said Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19). “To be clear, in the midst of this sacrifice the only thing that was asked of the legislators here today to do was to show that they weren’t infected, to care about their colleagues and the people in the chamber.” North-JerseyNews.com
A state judge has agreed to hear a Republican request to stay the Statehouse health protocols, but stopped short of granting a temporary injunction. Judge Allison Accurso Dec. 2 granted an application to file an emergent motion for a stay, which was made by Assemblymember John DiMaio (R-22) and State Sen. Steve Oroho (R-24), the incoming minority leaders in both houses. Oral arguments are scheduled for Dec. 13. PoliticoNJ
State officials are forecasting a continued rise of new COVID-19 cases driven primarily by the Delta variant for the rest of the calendar year. On Dec. 2, the number of new cases reached a one day high not seen since April 17 and hospitalizations were over 1,000 for the fourth straight day in a row. Additionally, the most recent one day percent positivity rate found nearly one out ten Garden State residents testing positive for COVID-19. “I think, at the moment, we’re going to be in this period where we’re going to be in the uncomfortable reality of probable cases continuing to go up, largely if not overwhelmingly fueled by Delta,” said Gov. Phil Murphy recently. North-JerseyNews.com
Multiple cases of the Omicron variant were detected in New York Dec. 2, including a man who attended an anime convention in Manhattan in late November and tested positive for the variant when he returned home to Minnesota. In addition to the conventioneer who was vaccinated for COVID-19, government officials said tests showed five other people recently infected with the virus had the variant. They included a person in the city’s Long Island suburbs who had recently traveled to South Africa, residents of Brooklyn and Queens and another case possibly linked to travel. At least one person had received a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine but officials did not have details about the vaccination status of the four other cases. News12 New Jersey
Investors are grappling with the unclear impact of Omicron for the global economy. The variant has triggered fresh restrictions around the world, throwing up new obstacles to overseas travel just as it was starting to bounce back from last year’s COVID-19 measures as scientists are trying to gauge how effective current vaccines will be against the variant. “What we see now this week since we had the Omicron news is extremely high volatility and extreme nervousness in markets,” said Carsten Brzeski, ING Groep’s global head of macro research. He expects this to continue until more is known about Omicron. The Wall Street Journal
Sen. Bob Menendez introduced bipartisan legislation this week that would establish a national database with information on different manufacturers in the U.S. supply chain. The law would work to prevent future supply chain disruptions by providing manufacturers key information as they make decisions to retool in critical areas to meet demand for key products including defense supplies, medical devices, and food products. “Future pandemics, natural disasters, cyber-attacks, raw material shortages, and even trade disputes could cripple our supply chains right when we need to engage them most in order to deliver critical goods to the American public,” said Menendez. “(This bill will) ensure the federal government has a critical tool that could give us reliable information about American manufacturers’ capabilities and inventories in order to prevent future disruptions should a future crisis arise.” North-JerseyNews.com
Congress approved legislation to keep the government funded through mid-February, after Republicans dropped a threat to force a shutdown over the Biden administration’s vaccine mandates. With less than 36 hours before funding was set to lapse, lawmakers agreed to a deal that would keep the government open through Feb. 18, 2022 and provide $7 billion for the care and resettlement of Afghan refugees. The action came after Senators voted down an amendment to bar funding to carry out President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandates for tens of millions of American workers, including many in the private sector. The New York Times
The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Dec. 2 approved the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act, named after the 20-year-old who was gunned down at the home of U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas in North Brunswick in July 2020. Under the bill introduced by Sen. Bob Menendez, government agencies could not publicly post information that could identify judges; states and localities would receive funding to redact judges’ personal information from property, motor vehicle and other public records; judges could ask other websites to take down their personal information; and companies could not buy or sell personal information about judges. NJ.com
State Sen. Holly Schepisi (R-39) is urging lawmakers to pass a bill requiring the New Jersey Commissioner of Education to prepare a report on learning loss and the operation of public schools during the COVID-19 public health emergency before the legislative term ends. “We’re going to have to help students make up the educational ground they lost during the pandemic, and the first step is understanding the severity of the problem,” said Schepisi. “By measuring the academic losses of the pandemic, New Jersey schools will be better prepared to alleviate any long-term impact on learning and prevent significant setbacks to workforce development in the state.” North-JerseyNews.com
The Jersey City Board of Education has raised the starting teacher salary to $61,000 in an effort to remain in front of a teacher shortage being seen across the nation. The BOE and the teachers’ union, Jersey City Education Association, came to a deal to raise the salaries for new teachers starting in the district from $54,700 to $61,000. The deal will also raise the pay scale for teachers throughout the district by at least $500. The Jersey Journal
All schools in Manchester Township are closed today due to threatening student comments on social media. A threat made by a student Dec. 2 morning was investigated and determined to not be credible by police, according to a message from Superintendent David Trethaway on the district website. In the afternoon, additional statements appeared online involving other individuals who claimed to know about a threat against the high school in Ocean County. Because there was not enough time for Manchester police to investigate the threats and speak with all the individuals involved, Trethaway said the decision was made to cancel classes on Friday at all district schools. NJ1015.com
The Assembly passed a bill that would raise poll worker pay from $200 to $300 on Dec. 2. The bill, sponsored by Assemblymembers Kevin Rooney (R-40), and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-37), was previously passed by the Senate in June. Votes in both houses were unanimous. The final hurdle for the legislation is Gov. Phil Murphy, who is likely to sign it. In October, Murphy issued a separate executive order temporarily raising poll worker pay from $200 to $300 for the 2021 elections, alongside other election worker-related changes. New Jersey Globe
Lawmakers in both New Jersey state chambers unanimously approved a bill expanding New Jersey’s child tax credit. Residents with annual taxable income of $150,000 or less will be eligible for the tax credit. The program’s current cutoff is $60,000. The new thresholds would see New Jersey filers receive credits worth between 10% and 50% of the federal child tax credit, with the greatest awards for those making $30,000 or less per year. The federal credit is worth between $3,600 and $3,000 depending on a child’s age. If a taxpayer’s credit under the state program exceeds the total of their income tax bill, they get the difference as a tax refund. New Jersey Monitor
A bill that would change NJ Transit’s reform law by making a customer advocate more independent and giving riders more transparency was approved by the State Senate Dec. 2. The bill’s more significant aspects include revising the Customer Advocates job description to create a position that is more independent from NJ Transit, requires more access for the public, including mandating NJ Transit’s board to hold half of its 10 annual meetings in the evening so commuters can attend and offer web streaming of all meetings. “While these reforms are not all I would have wished for, they provide for more accountability and transparency, give more power to the governing board, and represent a solid starting block from which to build a stronger NJ Transit in the months and years to come,” said State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-37), the main sponsor of the bill. NJ.com
A plane that crashed in Hampton last month had no mechanical issues before it went down, killing Blue Origin astronaut Glen de Vries and his Essex County flight instructor Thomas Fischer, the National Transportation Safety Board said in an initial report. Investigators did not point to any immediate reasons as to why the plane descended from the sky on Nov. 11, a clear and slightly breezy day and into the Bear Swamp Wildlife Management Area off Fenner Road. The two-page report, prefaced with a warning that the findings were subject to change or may contain errors, states more of what wasn’t the cause of the crash rather than what could have caused it. New Jersey Herald
Salary increases and the creation of the new Division of Housing were approved at the most recent Hoboken City Council meeting. The city council voted to adopt an ordinance that would increase the salaries for elected officials and the salary ranges of a few top directors in the city government, including the Mayor to $130,000 and the Business Administrator to $199,000. Additionally, the council voted to formally create the Division of Housing in an attempt to provide resources to address affordable housing needs. Hudson Reporter
Retired Lt. Dalton Price, who worked on the FBI probe that produced convictions of seven Paterson law enforcement officers, was named as chairman of the police de-escalation task force by Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh. Price had been a Paterson police officer for 25 years, serving in the gang unit and community policing division before joining Internal Affairs, where he worked on the federal investigation that uncovered shakedowns, assaults and drug dealings by rogue cops. Price, who now works as the Paterson school district’s security director, said he expected the task force’s first public meeting would be held in January 2022. The Record
And finally…One man’s list of 10 great Christmas songs by New Jersey artists. New Jersey Herald
