Democratic leadership announced a deal for Gov. Phil Murphy’s property tax relief plan he offered as part of his 2023 Financial Year budget, providing $2 billion worth of relief for two million New Jerseyans this year. Murphy made the announcement with State Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-22) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19) for the Affordable New Jersey Communities for Homeowners and Renters (ANCHOR) Tax Relief Program, increasing this investment from the nearly $900 million proposed in March to over $2 billion and will reduce property taxes for over 1.16 million homeowners and 900,000 renters. “It’s a big day, there is no other way to put it…up to $1,500 of direct property tax relief,” said Murphy. “Taking your property taxes bill back to the level they were a decade ago…days like that do not happen every day in New Jersey.” North-JerseyNews.com
The Federal Reserve approved the largest interest-rate increase since 1994 and signaled it would continue lifting rates this year at the most rapid pace in decades to fight inflation that is running at a 40-year high. Officials agreed to a 0.75-percentage-point rate rise at their two-day policy meeting that concluded June 15, which will increase the Fed’s benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 1.5% and 1.75%. New projections showed all 18 officials who participated in the meeting expect the Fed to raise rates to at least 3% this year, with at least half of all officials indicating the fed-funds rate might need to rise to around 3.375%. The New York Times
A rapid rise in American fuel exports this year has helped push gasoline prices to a record $5 a gallon and is pressuring U.S. prices of natural gas, which hit the highest levels in over a decade earlier this month. In recent months, companies and commodities traders have shipped more U.S. gasoline and diesel to Latin America and other foreign markets, reaping higher prices than the fuel could fetch domestically. They have also sent more liquefied natural gas to Europe after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The jumps in fuel shipments abroad are further draining U.S. inventories that were already languishing at low levels after output cuts during the worst of the pandemic. The Wall Street Journal
New Jersey’s Congressional Dem Representatives want better protection for Supreme Court Justices and their families, but argued the protections must be extended to more members of the federal bench. The delegation, including Reps. Mikie Sherrill, Josh Gottheimer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Albio Sires, Bill Pascrell, and Tom Malinowski, all voted no on the Supreme Court Police Parity Act, arguing the Daniel Anderl Judicial Security and Privacy Act would better protect all federal judges. “We fully support expanding security for Supreme Court Justices and their families. We also firmly believe that those expanded protections should apply to federal judges and their families, who face similar threats, with less protective resources,” said the representatives in a joint statement. North-JerseyNews.com
The Jan. 6 House Select Committee released surveillance video of a tour of parts of the Capitol complex conducted by Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) a day before the U.S. Capital riot. During the tour, which lasted several hours despite the complex being closed to the public at the time, Loudermilk is seen with the group entering three different office buildings and approaching the entrances to tunnels leading to the Capitol. Individuals on the tour photographed and recorded areas of the complex that are “not typically of interest to tourists, including hallways, staircases and security checkpoints,” the committee said. NJ.com
The third hearing by the House select committee will focus on a wide-ranging pressure campaign then-President Donald Trump put on his own vice president, Mike Pence, to disrupt the transfer of power that day. The hearing, scheduled for 1 p.m. start Thursday, will detail how Trump, over the course of several weeks leading up to Jan. 6, pushed Pence—who as vice president presided over the counting of Electoral College votes—to refuse to accept votes for Joe Biden from a handful of battleground states, throwing the election into chaos. The former president was following a playbook sketched out by lawyer John Eastman in a memo titled “January 6 scenario.” The Wall Street Journal
While New Jersey cities continue to send the most people to prison, some of its most rural counties have disproportionately high incarceration rates, according to a study by New Jersey Institute of Social Justice and the Prison Policy Initiative. About half of the people now imprisoned in New Jersey come from its cities — Newark, Camden, Paterson, Trenton, Jersey City, Atlantic City, and Elizabeth. But researchers found high incarceration rates in some of the state’s smallest counties, including Cumberland, Cape May, and Salem. New Jersey Monitor
The Biden Administration is reportedly weighing whether President Joe Biden can or should take a series of executive actions to help women in Republican-controlled states obtain abortions if the Supreme Court eliminates a woman’s right to end her pregnancy. Some of the ideas under consideration include declaring a national public health emergency, readying the Justice Department to fight any attempt by states to criminalize travel for the purpose of obtaining an abortion, and asserting that Food and Drug Administration regulations granting approval to abortion medications pre-empt any state bans. The New York Times
Andover leaders worry if the beleaguered Woodland Behavioral and Nursing Center is shut down, the township will lose its largest taxpayer, an essential source of funding for its schools and municipal services. In a letter sent to Gov. Phil Murphy by Rep. Josh Gottheimer and signed by 24th District’s State Sen. Steve Oroho and assemblymen Hal Wirths and Parker Space, they are seeking financial aid for the township if the facility, asking the state to use some of the $6.2 billion it received from the American Rescue Plan to help out the township. New Jersey Herald
Dr. Anthony Fauci has tested positive for the coronavirus. The 81-year-old Fauci, who is fully vaccinated and has received two booster shots, was experiencing mild COVID-19 symptoms after testing positive on a rapid antigen test. Official said Fauci has not recently been in close contact with President Joe Biden or other senior government officials and is following public health guidelines as well his doctor’s advice to self isolate. News12 New Jersey
New Jersey on June 15 reported 17 new COVID-19 deaths and 2,494 new confirmed cases. There were 790 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases in the 71 state hospitals that reported. Of those hospitalized, 91 were in intensive care and 34 were on ventilators. New Jersey’s statewide transmission rate was 0.89 with the positivity rate at 11.3% for tests conducted on June 10. North-JerseyNews.com
New Jersey commuters crossing the George Washington Bridge into New York City will go cashless starting July 10, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The Port Authority noted that an existing carpool discount plan will end with the launch of the new tolling technology due to the “impracticality of determining electronically the number of passengers in a vehicle.” Rep. Josh Gottheimer hit back at the decision, arguing “the technology exists and multiple other states are using similar technology right now. We must find solutions to preserve the lower carpool tolls, keep congestion down, and reduce emissions.” North-JerseyNews.com
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has told Weehawken it must let non-residents enter its swimming pool complex on the Hudson River waterfront. The state agency informed the town on June 8 that it expects nonresidents to be provided immediate access to the pool due to some of the funding for the $10.5 million project came from the state’s Green Acres program and that funds for ongoing projects in the community will not be released until the department has confirmation of pool access for nonresidents. The Jersey Journal
The Passaic County Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a paid holiday for county employees on the third Friday of June from this year on in recognition of Juneteenth. Commissioners declared Juneteenth a recognized county holiday in 2020 but declined at the time to make it a paid day off for government employees. Bruce James, the board director, said this week that “establishing Juneteenth as a paid holiday reaffirms our commitment to honoring and celebrating all our individual communities.” The Record
Three online promoters agreed to cancel a June 19 pop-up party in Long Branch after the city filed a lawsuit to prevent a repeat of a similar event last month that drew a crowd of about 5,000 people and led to arrests, fights, and the closings of local businesses. The organizers — Wavell Thompson of East Orange, Jayson Glasper of Tinton Falls, and Akeil Anderson – agreed to post a notice on all of their social media accounts calling off this weekend’s event, and any similar unpermitted ones like it in the future. New Jersey Globe
Police in Asbury Park are aware of and actively monitoring several social media posts promoting a “pop up party” to occur on the beachfront Saturday or Sunday. Authorities are probing the sources of the posts and are attempting to verify details at this time. Asbury Park, like Long Branch and Point Pleasant, is seeking a court order to block such parties without a permit and calling for organizers to pay for services and damages. News12 New Jersey
Toms River, saying its decision was prompted by resident complaints, has instituted a Summer curfew for the third consecutive year. It applies to children age 17 and under if unaccompanied by a parent or guardian and lasts from 11 p.m. until 5 a.m. daily, through Sept. 30 after authorities had received complaints following Memorial Day weekend from “residents of the barrier island beach communities within the Township’s borders of unruly behavior by juveniles.” NJ1015.com
Three additional stores began offering adult recreational weed on June 15 in Woodbridge, Eatontown and Union, bringing the total to 16 across New Jersey. The stores, which belonging to AYR Wellness, had been selling medical cannabis and are the latest to offer legal weed since New Jersey launched legalized recreational marijuana sales for adults 21 and over on April 21. NJ.com
While Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera wants his town to allow the sale of legalized recreational marijuana, council members are taking a wait and see approach. LaBarbiera believes the borough should allow recreational marijuana as their neighbor Rochelle Park has an Ascend facility that sells both medicinal and recreational marijuana. The mayor argued Paramus gets the traffic from the facility on Route 17, since it’s near the border of the two towns, but none of the revenue that could be up to $400,000 a year for his town. The Record
The Jersey City Cannabis Control Board has approved two cannabis retail applicants and tabled two others after various concerns were brought up. The two approved applicants, Decades Dispensary and Jersey Leaf, are looking to locate two recreational dispensaries in the Heights and the West Side respectively, while two others, Medusa NJ, which is also proposing the city’s first consumption lounge, and Local Modiv, were tabled. The Jersey Journal
And finally…FIFA officials are set to announce the host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup games today amid speculation that MetLife Stadium in the Meadowlands could be selected. NJ.com
