Gov. Phil Murphy announced that $10 million in funding from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) will be allocated to support New Jersey’s Foreclosure Prevention Act. The program will not only focus on helping families facing foreclosure but keep at bay predatory investors who buy up homes and protect communities from being negatively impacted by the presence of an abandoned home. “The Foreclosure Prevention Act was more than a decade in the making…adding to our state’s capacity to address the concerns of current New Jersey homeowners and future homebuyers,” said Murphy during his weekly COVID press briefing. “Today’s funding will permit this program to launch at scale and continue to grow.” North-JerseyNews.com
Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Newark will no longer require students and staff to wear masks beginning March 7, the same day Gov. Phil Murphy’s decision to end the statewide school mask mandate goes into effect. The Archdiocese of Newark, which includes 50 elementary schools and more than 20 high schools in Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Union counties, will allow parents to choose if they want their child to wear a mask. Masks continue to be required on buses since they fall under federal transportation mandates. NJ.com
Paterson students and employees will be required to continue wearing marks at least until early May, extending the school mask mandate two months beyond the March 7 date on which Gov. Phil Murphy has decided to lift his statewide requirement. Paterson Superintendent Eileen Shafer said the district would reconsider its mask requirement two weeks after the restart of class on April 25 following Spring break. The superintendent cited a survey taken this week in which 2,208 employees and parents—or 63% of respondents—said they wanted masks to be mandatory. But the district’s protective desk partitions will be removed before the classes restart on Feb. 28 after Winter break. The Record
Philadelphia will no longer require proof of vaccination to enter places that serve food or drink, citing improving numbers of cases and hospitalizations as the Omicron-driven wave recedes. Philadelphia authorities announced a new tiered COVID response system that they said would make their public health decisions more transparent by tying them to specific benchmarks for new cases, positive tests and hospitalizations. If the metrics improve, authorities will continue to ease restrictions, but if they go in the wrong direction, the regulations will be reinstated. The New York Times
Rep. Josh Gottheimer is pushing for federal legislation to provide “more direction and certainty” to the emerging cryptocurrency marketplace while at the same time protecting consumers and investors. Gottheimer’s legislative proposal, “The Stablecoin Innovation and Protection Act,” would define qualified stablecoins as a cryptocurrency redeemable on demand on a one-to-one basis for U.S. dollars and issued by one of two qualified issuers, either an insured depository institution such as a bank or a non-bank qualified stablecoin issuer, which would be subject to reserve requirements. “We shouldn’t stifle innovation in the cryptocurrency market. We should ensure the proper safeguards are in place, and ensure our nation is a leading force in financial technology,” Gottheimer said. North-JerseyNews.com
President Joe Biden warned strong economic sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies could prompt energy price spikes if Russia invades Ukraine. President Biden urged Russian President Vladimir Putin against an invasion of Ukraine, a former Soviet republic that borders Russia, saying there would be strong economic sanctions on Russia’s largest financial institutions and most important industries, including the cancellation of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline connecting Russia to Germany. The Russian response to those sanctions could lead to a spike in U.S. gas prices. “If Russia decides to invade, it will have consequences here at home,” Biden said. “I will not pretend this will be painless. There could be impact on our energy prices.” New Jersey Monitor
Federal Reserve officials at their January meeting discussed an accelerated timetable for raising interest rates amid greater discomfort with high inflation, beginning with an anticipated increase in March. They agreed that “if inflation does not move down as they expect, it would be appropriate for the committee to remove policy accommodation at a faster pace than they currently anticipate,” said the minutes of the Jan. 25-26 meeting. When the Fed raised interest rates between 2015 and 2018, it did so gradually—and never more than once every quarter. Under the economic outlook they judged most likely last month, officials “suggested that a faster pace of increases…than in the post-2015 period would likely be warranted.” The Wall Street Journal
Fueled by pay gains, solid hiring and enhanced savings, Americans sharply ramped up their spending at retail stores last month in a sign that many consumers remain unfazed by rising inflation. Retail sales jumped 3.8% to January from December, the Commerce Department reported Jan. 16, a much bigger increase than economists had expected. Though inflation helped boost that figure, most of January’s gain reflected more purchases, not higher prices. News 12 New Jersey
Gov. Phil Murphy reiterated that the state would unilaterally leave the bi-state Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a week after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul’s office insisted that New Jersey could not simply walk away from the interstate compact binding the two states in an accord that established the commission in 1953. Calling it “a completely different world” from the days when the watchdog agency was created nearly 70 years ago, Murphy stated “It made sense then. It does not now…We think there is a better way to deal with this.” NJ.com
The numbers of robberies and aggravated assaults reported each year in Paterson are heading in completely opposite directions. Paterson’s Uniform Crime Report said robberies dropped by 13% in 2021, while aggravated assaults increased by 7%. The city’s 2021 numbers for robberies and aggravated assaults represent a valley and a peak in terms of historic benchmarks. Last year marked the fewest reported robberies in the city since before the 1990s; it also marked the most aggravated assaults since 1993. The Record
An investigation is underway into how two Bridgewater police officers handled a fight caught on camera between two teenagers at the Bridgewater Commons Mall this past weekend. The video, which has gone viral, appears to show the officers treating two teenagers very differently following a confrontation, leading some to claim racial bias in policing. The lighter skin teen is pulled off the Black teen and allowed to sit on a nearby couch while the officers then appear to force the Black teen face down on the ground and cuff him behind his back. News12 New Jersey
The New Jersey Supreme Court will operate with one fewer member than usual for the foreseeable future as uncertainty remains over a pair of vacancies on the state’s highest judicial body. Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced he won’t appoint a temporary replacement after Associate Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina hit the mandatory retirement age of 70 this week—the court’s second vacancy in less than a year. Gov. Phil Murphy has nominated civil rights attorney Rachel Wainer Apter to succeed retired Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia, but the Senate has yet to confirm Wainer Apter nearly a year after the governor announced her nomination. New Jersey Globe
A coalition of Democratic New Jersey Representatives voiced their support behind the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, saying it could help stabilize finances for an agency fraught with disarray for 15 years. The bill would eliminate a stipulation that USPS fully pre-fund its employee pensions in the future, saving the agency $27 billion over the next decade; require USPS to deliver both mail and packages at least six days per week across an integrated network; and allow flexibility to enter into agreements with state, local, and tribal governments to provide non-commercial and non-postal products and services. “I have long demanded needed reforms to improve the postal service because tens of millions of Americans are crying out to make their post office work again…Congress is taking a major step to fix the post office,” said Rep. Bill Pascrell. North-JerseyNews.com
After battling COVID-19 for nearly two years, local volunteer first responders may soon see the help they need to ensure they have the resources to continue protecting their communities. A bill co-sponsored by State Sens. Gordon Johnson (D-37) and Anthony Bucco (R-25) was approved by the State Senate allowing for counties and municipalities to contribute more money each year to volunteer first aid, ambulance and rescue squads. As it stands the county or municipality can annually contribute only $70,000, though it can give an additional $35,000 if the company “experiences extraordinary need.” The bill would increase these amounts to $125,000 and $70,000, respectively. New Jersey Herald
A $50,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs will help fund a pilot program called the Diverse Officials in High School Football Scholarship Initiative, to try to make the state’s “bench” of referees better reflect the student-athletes they adjudicate. State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-36), who helped secure the grant, noted staffing challenges caused in full or in part by COVID-19 have not spared high school athletic programs and hopes recruitment efforts will make the official’s pool younger and more diverse. “One thing they have learned even before the pandemic, but clearly during COVID, there is a significant shortage of officials,” the senator said, calling the dearth in football “tremendous.” NJ1015.com
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis said the city will review the impact eight years of pro-development governance has had on the city, expected to be a central issue in the upcoming May elections. Until it completes that review, it will not have the City Council vote on any new Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Agreements, which incentivize development by exempting properties from taxes for a set number of years and instead requiring certain, often lower, payments to the city. Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski, running against Davis for Mayor this May, called the announcement a victory for her campaign, arguing she pushed the mayor to listen to the residents rather than “govern by the back room deals.” The Jersey Journal
Crossing Aisles Consulting owners Andrew Casais and Raine Cuseglio have announced they are the campaign management team of City Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski’s candidacy for mayor of Bayonne in the upcoming May 10 municipal election. Casais and Cuseglio are former allies of Mayor James Davis—the former serving as his uncle’s inaugural Chief of Staff from 2014 to 2017 and the latter previously served as Special Advisor to Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairwoman Amy DeGise and Chief of Staff to former Assemblyman and Majority Whip Nicholas Chiaravalloti. Hudson Reporter
And finally…Power outages will be a concern and travel might be difficult overnight in New Jersey due to a storm expected to bring heavy rain and high winds that could gust up to 55 mph are possible. NJ.com
