Assembly members DeAnne DeFuccio and Robert Auth (R-39) want to roll back a law that Gov. Phil Murphy signed earlier this year that bans law enforcement from polling stations and ballot drop boxes on election days in the aftermath of the Uvalde school shooting. The GOP bill would amend current law to permit a district board, superintendent of elections, or a county clerk to request the assignment of a police officer to a polling place located at a public school to maintain order and provide security during an election. “Republicans knew limiting police from polls could prove dangerous, but now it is incredibly irresponsible to enforce this law in light of the mass shootings,” said DeFuccio. North-JerseyNews.com
Vote-by-mail ballots are already up 13% over the 2021 primary in New Jersey, with 246,622 mail-in ballots already cast, according to an analysis conducted by the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University. A total of 875,554 vote-by-mail ballots were mailed out by election officials for the primary. That brings the total returned ballots so far to 28% statewide. Both parties are returning mail-in ballots at roughly the same pace: 36% of Democrats and 33% of Republicans. New Jersey Globe
In the second year of early in-person voting in New Jersey, 20,230 residents took advantage of the three-day window prior to Tuesday’s primary elections, with the early voters able to cast ballots on machines at centralized polling sites within their counties. The figure represents just 0.3% of the state’s more than 6.4 million registered voters. It’s also a 90% decrease in early voting participation from last Fall, when the practice was first introduced to New Jerseyans for the gubernatorial election. In the first year of early in-person voting, 207,863 residents, or about 3.2% of the state’s registered voters, took advantage of the nine-day window prior to Election Day. NJ.com
Rep. Albio Sires has confirmed he expects to run for mayor of West New York next year, returning to a job he held before being elected to the House in 2006. The 8th Congressional District representative announced earlier this year that he would not run for another term in Washington. “I’m going to really consider running,” said Sires. “It’s a great place to end my years of service.” Current West New York Mayor Gabe Rodriguez will receive the party’s backing to run for the Assembly in the newly drawn 32nd Legislative District. North-JerseyNews.com
Gas prices in New Jersey broke another record today, now topping $5 a gallon. The average price per gallon in the Garden State is now $5.01 a gallon for regular unleaded. A week ago, it was $4.75, a month ago it was $4.42 and a year ago, $3.06 a gallon. The state is about 10 cents above the national average, which is $4.91—a record as well. News12 New Jersey
A measure cleared key committees in both houses of the New Jersey Legislature to revise the state’s popular “senior freeze” property-tax relief program to make sure those enrolled can remain eligible for benefits even if they move into a new home. A program enrollee who moves to a new home in New Jersey would use as their new base year the “first full tax year prior to the year during which the person resides in the new homestead,” according to the bill. And if they move into a new construction home, the bill says the base year “shall be deemed to be the first full tax year following completion of the new construction.” NJ Spotlight News
New Jersey’s economy is going to get worse as the year goes on, according to a survey conducted by the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants. Nearly 65% of the 441 CPAs surveyed expected the New Jersey economy to get worse during the second half of the year — with nearly three in four (73%) saying inflation was the biggest challenge businesses face. Additional challenges cited were the availability of skilled personnel (57%); state and fiscal policies that are unfriendly to businesses (42%); supply chain problems (35%); and regulatory requirements (27%). Over the next 12 months, the majority of respondents said the most helpful governmental steps for businesses would be inflation-fighting measures (74%); reducing burdensome regulations (65%); and keeping the corporate tax rate low (51%). ROI-NJ.com
The developers behind the American Dream mall and entertainment complex missed a June 1 deadline to make a payment on an $800 million municipal bond. Triple Five Group in Canada will have until a grace period ends on June 16 to make the interest payment or risk defaulting, according to a notice filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week by U.S. Bank NA, a trustee for bondholders. “The mall’s definitely in trouble, there’s no doubt in my mind,” said East Rutherford Mayor Jeffrey Lahullier. “I don’t think they can make ends meet.” The Record
Lawyers for Elon Musk alleged Twitter is “actively resisting and thwarting” rights as he attempts to complete a $44 billion deal to buy the social media service. The company was “refusing Mr. Musk’s data requests” to disclose the number of fake accounts on its platform, amounting to a “clear material breach” of the deal, that gives Musk the right to break off the agreement, according to the carmaker’s representatives. The letter was delivered to Twitter and filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The New York Times
European officials blamed Moscow for a looming global food crisis as Russia’s ongoing blockade of Ukrainian ports threatens the country’s grain exports. Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vasily Nebenzya, walked out of a Security Council meeting on June 6 after European Council President Charles Michel accused the Kremlin of weaponizing food supplies. European Union foreign-policy chief Josep Borrell cast doubt on Russia’s claims that it isn’t hindering the export of grain, citing reports that Moscow struck Ukraine’s second-biggest grain terminal in the southern port city of Mykolaiv over the weekend. The Wall Street Journal
A program that pairs plainclothes state troopers with mental health experts to better respond to mental health crises will expand to Elizabeth and Linden, Acting Attorney General Matt Platkin announced June 6. The program is intended to deescalate potentially volatile encounters between police and people in crisis from emotional distress or a mental health issue, while also ensuring that person gets treatment instead of incarceration, Platkin said. The program launched last year in Cumberland County and proved so successful—with no uses of force—that officials eventually aim to expand it statewide. The Record
Enrique Tarrio, the former chairman of the Proud Boys, and four other members of the far-right group were indicted on June 6 for seditious conspiracy in connection with the storming of the U.S. Capitol in January 2021, the most serious criminal charges to be brought in the Justice Department’s investigation of the assault. The sedition charges against Tarrio and his co-defendants—Joseph Biggs, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola—came in an amended indictment that was unsealed in Federal District Court in Washington. The men had already been charged in an earlier indictment filed in March with conspiring to obstruct the certification of the 2020 Presidential Election, which took place during a joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021. Another Proud Boy lieutenant who was originally charged with the men, Charles Donohoe, pleaded guilty in April and is cooperating with the government’s inquiry into the group. The New York Times
State Sen. Robert Singer (R-30) said a conference call held last week on pop-up parties by the attorney general with mayors and police chiefs of towns along the Shore didn’t result in a coordinated plan to address the issue. “Most Shore towns looked at what happened in Long Branch and are hoping they’re not next, but hope isn’t a plan,” Singer said. “That’s why they’re looking for help and guidance from the Murphy administration that so far has not been forthcoming.” Singer reiterated his call for the state to create a task force, which could include state, county and local law enforcement as well as NJ Transit, to prevent similar recurrences as well as a funding source to be identified to help pay for the cost of calling in extra police to respond to any pop-up parties. NJ1015.com
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection extended the deadline for applications to its $10 million public lakes management grants program to June 10. The projects would be designed to mitigate stormwater and runoff pollution, improve recreation, or enhance conservation efforts at public lakes across the state. New Jersey Senate Republicans applauded the extension. “This is an investment in preventing algae blooms that have impacted Lake Hopatcong, Greenwood Lake and other waters in the state,” added State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-26). North-JerseyNews.com
Closed parks, too few campgrounds and trails, as well as poorly maintained facilities are the symptoms of New Jersey’s failure to staff adequately and invest in state parks and historic sites, according to a group of environmental organizations. The Highlands Coalition, the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation and the NY NJ Trail Alliance want the state Department of Environmental Protection to hire more staff, spend more of New Jersey’s budget surplus on improving amenities and protecting public lands, and to be more willing to partner with volunteer groups in order to keep parks open and accessible. New Jersey Herald
Vaccine experts advising the Food and Drug Administration are set to scrutinize Novavax COVID-19 shot, after months of manufacturing-related delays and an agency review that found the shots effective but raised a safety concern. The FDA said the two-shot vaccine was 90%-effective against COVID-19 in its pivotal trial, but the study took place before the emergence of the Omicron variant that has been better able to elude other vaccines. The agency also flagged six “concerning” cases of heart-inflammation conditions known as myocarditis and pericarditis found among 40,000 shot recipients across multiple trials. The Wall Street Journal
New Jersey on June 6 reported two new COVID-19 deaths and 2,040 new confirmed cases. There were 876 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in 70 of the 71 state’s hospitals that reported. Of those hospitalized, 107 were in intensive care and 41 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 0.86 with the positivity rate at 10.1% for tests conducted on June 1. North-JerseyNews.com
The State Senate Health Committee unanimously approved bills to address a post-pandemic shortage of affordable childcare. Proposals include giving workers at licensed childcare centers and individuals registered as day care providers gross income tax credits of between $500 and $1,500, raise the income threshold for New Jersey’s child care assistance program from 200% to 300% of the federal poverty level, and establish a $22 million grant program to fund a 1,000-seat expansion of the state’s childcare industry. New Jersey Monitor
After getting the most votes in last month’s Paterson City Council election, Lilisa Mimms is looking to supplant one of the mayor’s current allies as president of the governing body. The current council president, Maritza Davila, finished second to Mimms in the May 10 election for three citywide council seats. The contest for president of the nine-member council could become something of a scrum, with 1st Ward Councilman Michael Jackson and 5th Ward Councilman Luis Velez saying they want the position. The Record
And finally…Princeton University is renaming a building to honor Laura Wooten, whose 79 years as an election poll worker was the longest in the nation prior to her death three years ago. NJ.com
