After passing both chambers of Congress, President Joe Biden will sign The Respect for Marriage Act today. Rep. Donald Payne, Jr. said he cast his vote to repeal the bigoted and unconstitutional “Defense of Marriage Act” (DOMA), upholds couples’ rights to equal protection under federal law and requires states to recognize and respect valid out-of-state marriages. “I proudly voted to ensure the federal government and states’ never again have the ability to stand in the way of any American and their rights to marry or be married to the person they love,” said Payne. “Justice Clarence Thomas’ outrageous and extremist Dobbs opinion paved the way for my Democratic colleagues and I to move forward with contingency legislation that protects Americans basic human rights.” North-JerseyNews.com
Inflation slowed more than expected in November, an encouraging sign for Federal Reserve officials as they gather in Washington this week to discuss the next steps in their policy campaign against rapid price increases. The Consumer Price Index measure climbed 7.1% in November compared to a year earlier, less than the 7.3% that economists had expected and a slowdown from 7.7% in the previous reading. Between October and November, prices also picked up more slowly than forecast. After stripping out food and fuel prices, which move around a lot, the index climbed by 6%—less than the 6.1 percent Bloomberg projection. Overall inflation has been decelerating on year-over-year basis since hitting a peak in June, a sign that price increases may be turning a corner after months of unexpected strength. The New York Times
Gov. Phil Murphy doesn’t have plans to reinstate any coronavirus restrictions in New Jersey as the number of cases continues to rise in the state and New York City health officials say people there should wear masks indoors again. “I think people should just use their commonsense and do the basic stuff like get vaccinated, get boosted, if you’re not feeling well — certainly if you test positive — take yourself off the field and that to me remains the right sensible, commonsense advice,” Murphy said Dec. 12. “We don’t want to mandate things that we can’t enforce and I don’t think the market is going to bear that. If it changes dramatically, we reserve the right, obviously. But I don’t foresee that happening.” NJ.com
Local government leaders and labor unions officials in New Jersey are now turning to the state Legislature for relief from double-digit rate hikes on state health benefit plans, holding a rally in Trenton Dec. 12 to promote a new proposal. A coalition of labor representatives, mayors and county officials unveiled a policy proposal that includes cost-saving measures and a one-time appropriation of $350 million to help offset the increases on local governments and their employees. NJ Spotlight News
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Congress needs more time to reach a deal on funding the government for the remainder of fiscal 2023, proposing a one-week spending bill to give negotiators room to complete an agreement. The government will partially shut down starting Dec. 17 if Congress doesn’t act to extend funding as government departments are currently funded through a so-called continuing resolution set to expire at the end of the week. While both sides have agreed on a military spending number, Republicans have balked at funding nondefense programs of $26 billion more on nondefense spending requested earlier this year by President Joe Biden, in part to cover additional costs for veterans’ healthcare. The Wall Street Journal
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was arrested in the Bahamas on Dec. 12 after U.S. prosecutors filed criminal charges. Prosecutors for the Southern District of New York confirmed that Bankman-Fried had been charged and said an indictment would be unsealed on Dec. 13. Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a statement that it had authorized charges “relating to Mr. Bankman-Fried’s violations of our securities laws.” The criminal charges against Bankman-Fried reportedly included wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering. The New York Times
Following the widely-publicized failure of a recent Taylor Swift ticket sale, Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. renewed the call for a federal probe of Ticketmaster. Pascrell led a coalition of 31 House Democrats in writing a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland, arguing that American consumers, artists, and independent venues continue to suffer from the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger. “There is overwhelming evidence that the merger between the world’s largest concert promoter and the largest ticket provider strangled competition for ticketing in the live entertainment marketplace. While the harm consumers and artists have endured for over a decade cannot be reversed, ticketing and venue competitors, fans, and local music communities would breathe a collective sigh of relief if the merger were undone,” Pascrell wrote. North-JerseyNews.com
A Republican and a Democratic lawmaker are proposing steps to force federal agencies to take the lead in preventing future supply chain shortfalls while better coordinating existing federal programs to build up domestic manufacturing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) plan to introduce legislation that would force leaders at cabinet-level agencies to identify weaknesses in U.S. supply chains that could hurt national security and domestic manufacturing growth. Leaders would be charged with periodically recommending ways that federal agencies can attract private investment and change federal financing programs to advance U.S. economic-development policies. The Wall Street Journal
New technology designed to improve the screening of cargo at the Port of Newark has not been approved by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, prompting complaints from Port Authority officials and members of Congress. The new system is able to inspect cargo that current X-rays cannot reach through what is known as muon technology, which is more deeply penetrating than X-ray technology, thus helping to prevent a terrorist from smuggling explosives into a New Jersey port and setting them off in one of the nation’s most densely populated areas. According to Rep. Donald Payne, Jr.’s office, federal officials say they didn’t have the money or the staff to buy and install the new equipment. NJ.com
An Assembly panel on Dec. 12 approved a new version of a bill that would revamp campaign finance laws. The measure (A4372), approved in an 8-1 vote with three abstentions, would double campaign contribution limits, bolster the state’s gubernatorial public financing program, and revise the state’s pay-to-play laws. Other portions of the bill, including a requirement to report contributions from high-dollar donors within 96 hours, were left on the cutting room floor over concerns about feasibility. New Jersey Monitor
The Assembly State and Local Government Committee approved a package of three bills that would shield the home addresses of elected officials and political candidates in New Jersey. The main bill, A4094, broadly prohibits the disclosure of the home addresses of elected officials and candidates, and two other bills remove requirements that elected officials reveal their home addresses in financial disclosure statements. The former passed through the Senate committee in October, while the latter two are both newer and had not come before legislators. Committee Chair Anthony Verrelli (D-15) said during the committee meeting that the bills, modeled after similar legislation protecting the home addresses of judges, are designed to keep lawmakers safe from potential attacks. New Jersey Globe
State environmental officials have dropped a plan that would have required industrial boilers in New Jersey to be electric starting in 2025. The Department of Environmental Protection said the final rule adopted Dec. 2 excluded the boiler-related portions from the original proposal. The proposal made last December led to a year of pushback from business interests who said shifting to the new boilers, including the retrofitting of buildings that would be required, would be prohibitively expensive. NJ1015.com
New Jersey’s black bear hunt was extended another four days after hunters came up short on harvest goals laid out by the state. A second hunt will be allowed from Dec. 14 to 17 in specific zones that include all or parts of Bergen, Hunterdon, Mercer, Morris, Passaic, Somerset, Sussex, and Warren counties. During four full days of hunting from Dec. 6 to 10, 92 bears were killed. The cumulative harvest rate across all days of hunting was 6%, well below the 20% goal the state said was necessary to avoid additional hunting. New Jersey Herald
New Jersey will receive nearly $25 million in grant funding as part of an ongoing initiative to incentivize mass transit use. The state is awarding 56 grants to 45 municipalities via the Safe Streets to Transit program, the Transit Village Initiative and the Bikeway Grant Program. The Daily Record
Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez, who represents the 32nd Legislative District, will seek local office in West New York next year. Jimenez has announced she will run on a ticket with West New York Commissioner of Public Affairs and mayoral candidate Cosmo Cirillo in the upcoming 2023 municipal election. Jimenez joins Commissioner of Revenue and Finance Margarita Guzman in running with Cirillo on the “Moving West New York Forward Team.” The Assemblywoman is the latest big name to enter the race for 2023 in the Hudson County town, one that will include retiring Rep. Albio Sires running for mayor. Hudson Reporter
A Haledon man who said earlier this year that he would pull his child out of a transgender teacher’s classroom will join the Board of Education after winning a write-in campaign by fewer than 10 votes. Michael Coletta was among a group of parents who questioned trustees about the new music teacher’s role at the K-8 school at a meeting in September. Coletta is scheduled to be sworn in at the school board’s reorganization meeting on Jan. 4, 2023. The Record
Madison has denied its first application for a medical marijuana dispensary after having approved medicinal sales earlier this year. The Morris County town council voted against the proposal from First Choice Health & Wellness to open a medical dispensary on Main Street after a large turnout of residents on both sides of the issue. An ordinance was passed that would prevent any recreational marijuana dispensaries from setting up in the community. Most council members cited a lack of information and preparedness on the applicant’s part as reasons for the plan’s rejection. News12 New Jersey
And finally…ESPN is pushing to reunite Mike Francesa with Chris Russo on Stephen A. Smith’s ‘First Take.’ New York Post
