Gov. Phil Murphy did not hold back about those he holds responsible for the mass shootings that plagued the U.S. the past weekend. “As it pertains to Buffalo, cue the hurried backpedaling from the right-wing talking heads and politicians who have so freely and openly peddled the garbage ‘replacement conspiracy’—I can’t bring myself to call it a theory— and who can’t possibly believe that the words they’ve poisoned our airwaves and rotted our civic dialogue with could actually come home to roost,” he said. “I think every single one of them knows where they can shove their ‘thoughts and prayers’.” North-JerseyNews.com
The nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services and the state Department of the Treasury are both forecasting billions of dollars more in revenue, primarily driven by a spike in income tax filings. Treasury’s combined two-year forecasts are $7.8 billion higher than its initial forecasts in March. For Fiscal Year 2022, Treasury officials are projecting $4.5 billion more, for a total of $51.4 billion. For Fiscal Year 2023, which begins July 1, they are projecting $3.3 billion more, or $50.6 billion in all. Meanwhile, OLS increased its revenue forecast by $3.6 billion over the same two years. If those estimates are borne out, the state would have some $6.9 billion more in tax revenue than what the Murphy administration initially estimated in March. PoliticoNJ
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin is promising tax relief as a condition of passing the next state budget. “The revenue update shared with the Legislature today demonstrates a surplus of billions of dollars beyond what was anticipated in the Governor’s proposed budget,” said Coughlin. “We have additional money this year, and New Jersey needs tax relief now. In this year’s budget, I will insist on the largest tax relief program in state history.” New Jersey Globe
Gov. Phil Murphy is encouraging local school districts to enact new mask mandates for students and staff if they are in high transmission areas for COVID, but will not impose a statewide mandate for now. Murphy says his administration is “looking at what options we need to take,” but says predictive modeling from the Department of Health indicates the current wave will peak in the “next week or two.” “School districts, particularly if they’re in those counties (that have a high transmission rate), have every right to say, ‘Listen, we need the kids and educators to put masks back on when they’re indoors,” he said. NJ1015.com
Staff and students at Prospect Park’s K-8 school are once again required to wear face masks in the building due to a statewide uptick in cases of COVID-19. Tyeshia Reels, acting school superintendent, said in a letter to parents that her decision to return to universal masking was based on the most current recommendation from the state Department of Health. The Record
New Jersey on May 16 reported two new COVID-19 deaths and 2,904 new confirmed cases. There were 777 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases at 70 state’s 71 hospitals and of those hospitalized, 96 were in intensive care and 39 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.26 with the positivity rate was 12.1% for tests conducted on May 12. North-JerseyNews.com
The American Academy of Pediatrics says over 93,000 children tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week, the fifth straight weeks of spiking cases after months of declines. Children made up about 18% of all the weekly reported cases. Johns Hopkins University says cases for all ages have more than doubled over the past month. News12 New Jersey
North Jersey lawmakers—in Washington and Trenton—decried the stance of the opposition party when it comes to their actions for a woman’s right to choose. State lawmakers are displeased with Gov. Phil Murphy’s pledged to improve access to allow a woman to have an abortion, while federal officials blamed Republican Senators for a failed vote to codify the Roe v Wade precedent as law. “Governor Murphy’s radical proposal calls for free abortions with no limits right up to birth, and he wants struggling New Jersey families to pay for abortions for everyone through even higher taxes and health care premiums,” said State Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-24). Meanwhile, Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. took aim at the GOP U.S. Senators by stating “Republicans’ unified blockade of this policy supported by a supermajority of Americans is radical, extremist, and just plain wrong.” North-JerseyNews.com
The Food and Drug Administration on May 16 reached an agreement with Abbott Laboratories on the steps needed to reopen the company’s shuttered baby formula plant, which could begin to ease the shortage of infant formula nationwide. The F.D.A. said it expected Abbott to restart production in about two weeks at its Michigan plant and could translate to more formula on shelves in six to eight weeks. The company said it will continue flying formula in from a plant in Ireland. The New York Times
U.S. health regulators took steps to allow more foreign baby formula on American shelves, easing rules that had effectively prevented shipments from many overseas manufacturers. Easing the import rules could add to formula supplies, according to supporters, by allowing manufacturers overseas that haven’t been able to ship their products to the U.S. access to the market if they can meet the FDA’s adjusted requirements. It could also allow domestic manufacturers of formula destined for foreign shelves to sell their products in the U.S. The changed guidelines are a temporary measure valid for the next 180 days. The Wall Street Journal
Only 38% of Americans approve of the job President Joe Biden is doing, according to the latest Fairleigh Dickinson University Poll. Of note, the President seems to be suffering from “Green Lanternism,” a term coined by political scientists referring to the DC Comics superhero whose power is limited only by his willpower. Many Americans tend to believe the role of President has a direct impact on inflation, gas prices, and more. “Americans want someone to fix things. The President is someone, so they want him to fix things,” said Dan Cassino, a Professor of Government and Politics at Fairleigh Dickinson University and the Director of the Poll. “The problem is that there just isn’t a lot that any President can actually do about most of these issues.” North-JerseyNews.com
Americans of all partisan stripes continue to back sanctions on Russia—including a fuel import ban—in response to its invasion of Ukraine, according to a Monmouth University Poll. More than 3 in 4 Americans (77%) back the economic sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. This is down only slightly from Monmouth’s poll two months ago (81%), due entirely to a decrease among Independents (from 78% to 71%). However, the percentage who support a ban on Russian gas and oil imports (78%) is identical to the March poll. At least three-quarters of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike support these fuel import sanctions. InsiderNJ
Ukraine says it has given up fighting at the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol, allowing hundreds of its fighters who had been taking a last stand there to be moved to Russian-controlled territories, securing for Russia a hard-fought and costly victory to seize a swath of the country’s south. The steel plant had been the final pocket of resistance to Russia’s bid to create a land bridge between the Crimean Peninsula and areas it controls in the east. Mariupol and its residents had sustained some of the worst and most brutal attacks since it was surrounded in early March because the city stood squarely in the way. The New York Times
April was the first month that wagering at New Jersey’s online and retail sportsbooks slowed, marking the first month of an expected seasonal ebb in sports betting. New Jersey’s online and retail sportsbooks generated $926.9 billion in bets in April, which is still up 23.9% from $746.8 million in April 2021. April’s handle was down 17.3% from $1.1 billion in March and was the lowest since $664.7 million in bets were made in August 2021. ROI-NJ
New Jersey will use $10 million in federal coronavirus relief funds to help provide fire departments with more safety and sanitary equipment. Announced by Gov. Phil Murphy and Rep. Josh Gottheimer in Hackensack on May 16, the state’s Firefighter Grant Program will allow local and regional fire departments to apply for the taxpayer money from the American Rescue Plan, which Congress passed to provide stimulus funds in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. NJ.com
Drivers who flee crashes that leave multiple people dead can only be charged once with fleeing the scene, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously ruled May 16 in an opinion that upholds the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition of multiple punishments for the same offense. Judge Julio Fuentes, writing for the court in the cases where a driver fled the scene after hitting two teenage boys riding bicycles in Jersey City, said justices based their decision in part on how lawmakers wrote a law intended to punish people who leave the scene of a fatal crash or fail to report they were involved in one. The lawmakers criminalized those actions without regard to how many victims die. “The number of fatalities caused by the accident is not an element of the second-degree offense codified” in state law, Fuentes wrote. “The statute’s plain language focuses on the driver’s response.” New Jersey Monitor
Hackensack has spent nearly $600,000 on attorneys’ fees in a lengthy legal battle to strip two city police officers of their jobs—on top of nearly a half-million dollars in back pay the city was ordered to pay the officers earlier this month. Over the past five years, city attorneys have argued the officers are no longer fit to serve after a warrantless search of a Prospect Avenue home in which they were accused of illegally entering the third-floor apartment, mishandling evidence and falsifying reports. All seven officers involved were suspended without pay, but Hackensack is focused on two officers who, after a prolonged fight for lesser penalties, were reinstated in December and are back on patrol. The Record
Voters in five states are casting ballots in primary elections on May 17, with several contests providing the latest tests of Donald Trump’s influence within the Republican Party and others offering Democrats a choice between their party’s liberal and centrist wings. The key races pundits are tracking include the governors and U.S. senate race in Pennsylvania as well as the GOP primary in North Carolina for the U.S. Senate and the seat held by Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC). The Wall Street Journal
And finally…Today is the last day to register to vote for the primaries in New Jersey set to be held June 7. New Jersey Herald
