Gov. Phil Murphy declared a State of Emergency May 17 to help families having difficulties due to the nationwide baby formula shortage that includes activating state price gouging laws. Additionally, the order coordinates relief efforts and enables state agencies to take any emergency measures necessary to protect families from issues arising from the baby formula shortage. Murphy said during a television interview Tuesday that the price gouging law prevents retailers from charging more than 10% of the cost of formula and the moves were made to ensure everything in his administration’s power is being done to help residents access the formula they need. “It’s gonna be a tough situation here for a period of time and we want folks to know we’re here for them,” said the governor. North-JerseyNews.com
House Democrats unveiled a $28 million emergency spending bill May 17 to address the shortage of infant formula in the United States. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT), the chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said the money would increase Food and Drug Administration staffing to boost inspections of domestic and international suppliers, prevent fraudulent products from getting onto store shelves and acquire better data on the marketplace. The House is expected to take up the emergency spending measure later this week before lawmakers head back to their congressional districts for the next two weeks. New Jersey Monitor
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the predicted easing of supply chains issues were setback by world events and the central bank’s resolve in combating the highest inflation in 40 years shouldn’t be questioned. The Fed chair said the supply chain bottleneck forecasted earlier this year to ease was derailed by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February and rolling COVID-related lockdowns in China created new sources of inflationary pressure. “That is going to make it harder for inflation to come down, so it has added a degree of difficulty to what was already a challenging market,” he said. The Wall Street Journal
One of the most powerful lawmakers in New Jersey stated he will not pass a budget this year without tax relief for Garden State residents. Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin’s declaration came after both the State Senate and Assembly budget committees were told on May 16 that New Jersey’s tax revenues are about $7 billion over what Gov. Phil Murphy projected just two months ago. “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.” North-JerseyNews.com
Mayor Jimmy Davis and his slate of running mates have enough votes that a runoff election is not needed for the Bayonne 2022 nonpartisan municipal elections. Davis secured a third term after the counting of hundreds of provisional ballots from two wards on May 17 gave Davis the votes to avoid a runoff with his biggest opponent, City Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski. As of May 17 at 4 p.m., Davis finished with 5,048 votes or 50.94% of the vote, just enough to avoid another election this year. Two at-large council candidates on Davis’ slate, incumbent Juan Perez and newcomer Loyad Booker, won without a runoff as well. Hudson Reporter
Pennsylvania’s Republican Senate contest appears headed to a statewide recount to decide if the party’s nominee will be former hedge fund executive David McCormick or television host Dr. Mehmet Oz. The night delivered a split decision for former President Donald J. Trump, with his choice for Idaho governor falling well short, Dr. Oz in a virtual tie and his candidates for Senate in North Carolina and governor in Pennsylvania triumphant. On the Democratic side, voters pushed for change over consensus, nominating a left-leaning political brawler for Senate in Pennsylvania and nudging a leading moderate in the House closer to defeat in Oregon as votes were counted overnight. The New York Times
President Joe Biden said “White supremacy is a poison” and vowed “hate will not prevail” during a trip May 17 to Buffalo where he grieved with family members of 10 victims killed in a racially motivated mass shooting at a supermarket. “What happened here is simple, straightforward terrorism,” Biden said. “Domestic terrorism inflicted in the service of hate and a vicious thirst for power that defines one group of people being inherently inferior.” The President called on all Americans to reject the Great Replacement Theory and “those who spread the lie for power, political gain and for profit…We’ve now seen too many times the deadly, destructive violence this ideology unleashes.” New Jersey Herald
Most of the legislation sponsored by State Sen. Ed Durr (R-3) seeks to loosen some of the famously tight restrictions New Jersey places on gun owners and aligns with measures pro-gun advocates have long championed. Durr’s proposal include allocating $1 million for the state to pay for high schoolers to start gun clubs and teach about gun safety; decriminalizing the purchase, possession, and transfer of armor-piercing ammunition and firearms with sound and flash suppressors; eliminate a gun owner’s duty to retreat before resorting to deadly force in self-defense; and eliminate capacity limits on ammunition. Durr said he introduced the bills in part because of his own desire to get a concealed-carry permit as well as constituents and gun advocates pushed for it. New Jersey Monitor
Sen. Bob Menendez is taking exception to President Joe Biden’s new Cuba policies that ease travel restrictions, allow more more money to sent to families back home and new steps to reunify families in the U.S. Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Biden Administration’s decision to roll back former President Donald Trump’s Cuban policies “risks sending the wrong message to the wrong people, at the wrong time and for all the wrong reasons” while the Cuban government cracks down on those who engaged in pro-democracy demonstrations last year. “To be clear, those who still believe that increasing travel will breed democracy in Cuba are simply in a state of denial,” he said. NJ.com
U.S.-trained Afghan security forces said they were shocked at the U.S.’s abrupt withdrawal and were ill-equipped to defend Afghanistan against the Taliban, according to a government watchdog report released May 17. The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction concluded that the U.S.’s 20-year $90 billion training mission created a local security force that couldn’t operate on its own, but rather depended on the U.S. to pay troop salaries, on contractors to maintain their equipment, and on U.S. and allied airstrikes to combat the Taliban. At the same time, the U.S.-backed Afghan government had no national-security strategy when the U.S. said it had reached a deal with the Taliban to leave the country. The Wall Street Journal
U.S. regulators authorized a COVID-19 booster shot from Pfizer for 5- to 11-year-olds, hoping an extra vaccine dose will enhance their protection as infections once again creep upward. Pfizer’s shot is the only COVID-19 vaccine available for children of any age in the U.S. Those ages 5 to 11 receive one-third of the dose given to everyone 12 and older. News12 New Jersey
New Jersey on May 17 reported 18 new COVID-19 deaths and 3,590 new confirmed cases as hospitalizations surpassed 800 for the first time since February. There were 829 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases at 70 state’s 71 hospitals and of those hospitalized, 94 were in intensive care and 36 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 1.27 with the positivity rate was 13.5% for tests conducted on May 13. North-JerseyNews.com
The Justice Department has reportedly asked the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack for transcripts of interviews it is conducting behind closed doors, including some with associates of former President Donald Trump. The alleged move is further evidence of the wide-ranging nature of the department’s criminal inquiry into the events leading up to the assault on the Capitol and the role played by Trump and his allies as they sought to keep him in office after his defeat in the 2020 election. The New York Times
Sen. Bob Menendez didn’t mince words when he responded to Sen. Rand Paul’s decision to object to the passage of the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act of 2021, which would shield private information of federal judges. “It is a sad moment that, by not supporting this bill today, judges and their family members around the country will continue to be at risk from those who would do them harm. However, today’s objection reveals to the American people my colleagues’ unabashed hypocrisy,” Menendez said. “Using the security of judges as a political messaging tool is abhorrent.” North-JerseyNews.com
The state trooper who shot and killed an unarmed Maurice Gordon on the Garden State Parkway nearly two years ago will not face criminal charges. A state grand jury voted not to file any charges against New Jersey State Police Sgt. Randy Wetzel who fired six shots into Gordon’s torso during a confrontation after a traffic stop on the highway on the morning of May 23, 2020. His family has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit alleging the killing was a “racially-biased” incident. NJ.com
Paterson Police Chief Ibrahim “Mike” Baycora may be retiring soon, according to Mayor Andre Sayegh. “He’s ready to retire,” Sayegh said when a reporter asked about Baycora’s status May 17. “There’s a mutual understanding.” The mayor added “it’s possible” Baycora will leave before the Sayegh starts his second term in office on July 1. The Record
Montclair State University has pulled its proposal to manage the New Jersey School of Conservation at Stokes State Forest. The announcement was brought up during an Assembly hearing this week on a bill that would permanently transfer custody of the school to the nonprofit Friends of the New Jersey School of Conservation. The decision comes after critics question the university’s proposal to build a multimillion-dollar “green innovation center” in the rustic setting. New Jersey Herald
Plans were unveiled to build a major new motion picture and television production facility in Newark between Weequahic Park and Newark Airport. Great Point Studios, a studio investment and management business that specializes in film and television infrastructure, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center are partnering with a global content company Lionsgate on the project that will include production stages ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 square feet, offices, support space and parking for 400 cars and 65 trucks. The facility will offer a full set of production services on site, including grip and electric, equipment, props, set building, restaurants, location catering, cleaning service, and security. NJ1015.com
The New York Red Bulls soccer club presented an amended development plan for its proposed training facility on the former Honeywell campus in Morris Township. The complex plan shows four professional fields, three academy fields, a competition field, an agility training area, a youth field, an indoor half-field, a field house, pro/academy buildings, a groundskeeping building, various support buildings, academy dormitories, parking areas, equipment storage areas, lighting, buffering and other uses customarily found in training facilities. The Daily Record
Up to $17 million in tax credits may have been jeopardized by Saddle Brook’s Environmental Commission chairman when he sent a letter to the state Department of Environmental Protection on May 5 objecting to an affordable housing project approved by the Planning Board in January. Borough Attorney David Lafferty confirmed Tuesday that four members of the borough’s Environmental Commission have resigned since the letter was sent by Chairman Vincent Blehl in defiance of Lafferty’s written instruction to “cease and desist from all activities.” The Record
And finally…Breaking Bad co-stars Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul made an appearance at a Glen Rock liquor store to promote their new mezcal brand. NJ.com
