New Jersey is seeing continued revenue growth and job gains along with continued improvement in the state’s credit rating. Collections were up 10.8%, or $294.9 million for the state’s major taxes for February for a total of $4.038 billion. New Jersey employers added 8,300 jobs for the month of January, with the unemployment rate rising by 0.1 percentage point to 5.2% due to more New Jerseyans entering the labor market in search of employment. State official credited “substantial” federal stimulus enacted last year, strong consumer demand, growing wages, and the improving COVID-19 outlook have strengthened economic activity and improved tax collections. North-JerseyNews.com
Legislation introduced in the state Assembly would reduce the state gas tax by 50% if the average price of a gallon of unleaded in the Garden State reaches $4.51, during the months of June, July and August. If gas prices go as high as $5.01 a gallon during the summer months, the state gas tax would be reduced by 75%, and the tax would be completely suspended if the price of gasoline tops $5.50 a gallon in New Jersey. NJ1015.com
Rep. Josh Gottheimer wants to marshal the nation’s gas and oil production resources to reduce dependency on foreign oil from the likes of Russia and Iran while delivering some price relief to drivers at the gas station and support Ukraine. The plan calls for “fully tapping energy resources in America” to avoid buying crude oil from nations like Russia, Iran or Venezuela by ramping up domestic production to 2019 levels, but not abandoning goals to shift to more renewable solar and wind generated energy in the future. InsiderNJ
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is scheduled to speak via video to Congress on March 16 to amplify his pleas for more military aid. President Joe Biden is planning to announce $800 million in new security assistance to Ukraine shortly after President Zelensky’s speech. The Biden Administration has already pledged aid in the hundreds of millions, but Zelensky says Ukraine needs far more. Additionally, President Biden announced his own plans to travel to Europe next week to showcase the unity of the NATO alliance in the face of Russian aggression. The New York Times
Multiple countries in Europe are showing an increase in new COVID-19 cases, fueling concerns about the possibility of another global surge. The United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Italy were among those that saw an upswing in cases this past week. Additionally, China ordered a lockdown of the residents of the city of Changchun, closed schools in Shanghai and urged the public not to leave Beijing this weekend amid a new spike in cases in the area likely from omicron. The Record
Pfizer has asked U.S. health regulators to authorize a second booster dose of their COVID-19 vaccine for people 65 years and older. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to make a decision in time for the Biden administration to begin a potential fall vaccine campaign. The company based its submission on a pair of real-world studies from Israel that showed an additional dose of vaccine increased immunogenicity and lowered the rates of infections and severe disease. The Wall Street Journal
North Jersey lawmakers from the 24th Legislative District are again panning Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget plan when it comes to school aid. According to State Senate Minority Leader Steven Oroho along with Assemblymen Parker Space and Hal Wirths, 28 of 38 school districts in Morris, Sussex and Warren counties in the 24th will lose money in the FY 2023 budget— including four with more than 30% reductions and two more at 28%. “There’s nothing fair with a funding formula that adds millions in state aid to certain school districts while cutting millions to others year after year,” said Oroho. “These funding cuts will not only result in an increase in property taxes, but cuts of this magnitude will certainly impact core educational programs for students.” North-JerseyNews.com
Former State Sen. Raymond Lesniak founded a super PAC to influence the Bayonne mayoral race that paid political consultant Sean Caddle—who has since pleaded guilty in a murder-for-hire plot—as recently as December, according to campaign finance reports. The super PAC, Government for the People, got almost half its funding — $25,000 — from a developer that has a major project in the Hudson County city, campaign finance reports show. PoliticoNJ
Former Mayor Sharpe James cannot run for city council in Newark’s May 10 election, a judge ruled March 15, citing James’ 2008 fraud conviction that bars him from holding office and rejecting an argument by James’ lawyer that merely running is not the same thing. City Clerk Kenneth Louis informed James that his candidacy would not be certified because a state judge had barred him from holding public office in New Jersey following his conviction on federal mail fraud and conspiracy charges. After the judges ruling, James said would not appeal and will not run in the Spring non-partisan race. New Jersey Globe
Newark’s West Ward Councilman Joseph A. McCallum Jr. admitted in federal court that he schemed to obtain bribes and kickbacks in a plot involving developers March 15. McCallum pleaded guilty before a federal judge to wire fraud and subscribing to a false personal tax return for calendar year 2018. The councilman, who has been in office since 2014, was accused in 2020 of receiving or attempting to get bribes or kickbacks ranging from $500 in cash to cover travel expenses for an out-of-country trip, to $50,000 from a developer, authorities said. None of the developers or companies were named in court documents. NJ.com
A bill that would extend the state’s bribery laws to candidates for political office is set to be heard by an Assembly committee March 17 after nearly 10 years in stasis. The bill’s introduction was spurred by bribery charges against two former Hudson County assemblymen whose cases were dismissed after judges ruled the state’s bribery statute does not apply to political candidates who have yet to win public office. New Jersey Monitor
The Bergen County Republican Policy Committee endorsed Nick De Gregorio for Congress in New Jersey’s 5th district ahead of the party’s convention next week. De Gregorio defeated investment banker Frank Pallotta, the party’s 2020 nominee against Rep. Josh Gottheimer, 49 to 16, 71%-23%, with four votes for businessman Fred Schneiderman and none for Sab Skenderi. In the race for the GOP House nod in the 9th district, the policy committee picked U.S. Air Force veteran Billy Prempeh by a vote of 47 to 15, 75%-24%, against realtor Patrick Quinn. Prempeh is seeking a rematch of his 2020 campaign against Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-Paterson). New Jersey Globe
North Jersey lawmakers are pressing the Internal Revenue Service to address massive backlogs in processing tax returns. The IRS started the 2021 tax filing season with a backlog of eight million returns from the prior year, according to a February report from the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. Despite reducing that backlog as of December 2021, the IRS still had about 10.5 million new 2021 returns to process. “I have sent six oversight letters to the IRS urging them to get back to the basics of opening the mail, processing returns, and answering phone calls,” said Sen. Bob Menendez, a senior member of the Senate Finance Committee. “No entity, public or private, touches more Americans than the IRS. That’s why we must have an IRS that works.” North-JerseyNews.com
NJ Transit officials predicted operating budgets will keep the agency running for the next four years—but in fiscal year 2026, it will face a $549 million deficit after the last of $216.8 million in federal COVID-19 aid is spent. The agency predicts ridership will have bounced back to 90% of pre-pandemic levels by fiscal year 2025, which runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. About 10-15% of riders will continue to work remotely or be in some form of flexible work arrangement. NJ.com
Ratable increases offset rising expenses in 2021, paving the way for the Morris Board of County Commissioners to introduce a $331.1 million budget for 2022 that generates no tax increase for a third straight year. Employee benefits ($80.7 million, or $24.4%) and public safety ($68.3 million, or $20.6%) consume the largest amounts of the budget. The 2022 budget proposal also includes a $62.5 million capital spending plan for the calendar year, offset by $30.4 million in grants. The Daily Record
An environmental group is fighting to prevent Montclair State University from managing the New Jersey School of Conservation at Stokes State Forest, citing what it calls years of “mismanagement and neglect.” Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation recently commissioned a facilities report for the property, which showed that many of the center’s 54 buildings are in decrepit and dangerous condition. A State Senate committee recently voted unanimously to forward a bill that would transfer custody of the historic outdoor school to the nonprofit, which has been managing the property since 2020. New Jersey Herald
Hoboken will continue the that outdoor dining areas born out of the pandemic will be made permanent features in the city. Restaurants will have to pay permit fees and follow guidelines regarding hours, trash control, cleaning and set up. News12 New Jersey
North Bergen is supporting two retail adult-use cannabis establishments, unanimously approving resolutions endorsing applications for the Class 5 cannabis retail facilities. The two businesses the township is supporting are Daily Muse at 6901 Tonnelle Avenue, and Green House Apothecary at 1600 Tonnelle Avenue, in line with the township’s ordinances limiting it to two cannabis establishments. Hudson Reporter
And finally…bergenPAC is embarking on $15 million project to restore its 96-year-old Englewood theater. The Record
