State Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho (R-24) said that Gov. Phil Murphy’s State of the State speech did not address the concerns that New Jerseyans have, a theme expected to be used this election year by the GOP. “After five years of the Murphy administration and two decades of full Democrat control of the Legislature, the outlook for New Jersey continues to get worse,” said Oroho. “We have the highest taxes, the most debt, and the worst business climate in the nation. Every year when national rankings come out, New Jersey is dead last….New Jersey may be on the wrong track for now, but we’re showing it doesn’t have to stay that way.” North-JerseyNews.com
Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro (D-33), one of the political casualties of Democratic maneuverings in Hudson County this year, definitively said she won’t run for re-election. “No, I’m not going to run for Assembly,” Chaparro said. “I can be very clear on that, I’m not going to run. I’m going to support what the line wants to do—that’s fine, that’s the decision they made, and I’m okay with that.” Assemblyman Pedro Mejia (D-32) declined to comment on his own plans today despite losing county party support for his seat. New Jersey Globe
A bitter election controversy in Mendham Township is heading to court next week, with both Democrats and Republicans alleging that illegal mail-in ballots were cast by non-residents in a race that flipped a local seat from red to blue last year. Now, according to legal briefs filed in Morristown, the conflict has grown to include allegations of improper voting by two children of the township’s most famous resident: former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Former Deputy Mayor Thomas Baio filed a lawsuit last month to contest a three-vote loss to Democrat Lauren Spirig that cost the incumbent Republican his seat on the Township Committee. The Daily Record
New Jerseyans under the age of 30 may tend to be more politically progressive but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are more likely to be Democratic than older voters in the state, a new poll found. A recently released survey from Fairleigh Dickinson University showed that although young adults tend to have an interest in issues such as abortion, climate change and universal healthcare, they are generally distrustful of political parties, as well as democracy as an institution. North-JerseyNews.com
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Jan. 12 named a special counsel to examine why classified documents were found at President Joe Biden’s home and office, intensifying scrutiny of President Biden’s actions after he left the vice presidency in 2017. The appointment of Robert Hur, a former U.S. attorney during the Trump administration, came after Biden’s lawyer said aides found classified records, likely dating from his time as vice president, at his Wilmington, DE, garage and at an office he used at a Washington-based think tank that bears his name. “I strongly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity. But under the regulations, the extraordinary circumstances here require the appointment of a special counsel for this matter,” Garland said. The Wall Street Journal
In their opening statement at the seditious conspiracy trial of the five Proud Boys, federal prosecutors sought not only to place the extremist group at the center of the riot at the Capitol, but to tie it directly to former President Donald J. Trump— a figure whom the organization has revered for years. Encouraged by Trump, five members of the Proud Boys led scores of others in the far-right group in a coordinated attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, using violence at key moments during the assault to disrupt what prosecutors described on Jan. 12 as “the heart of our democracy”: the lawful transfer of presidential power, according to prosecutors. The New York Times
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) wrapped up his first week in the role by saying that House Republicans would keep up a rapid pace as they move to control spending and investigate the Biden administration. “We don’t want to put any fiscal problems through our economy and we won’t,” he said, while also warning that fiscal problems would arise from “continuing to do business as usual.” He said that agreements to cap spending as part of a deal to raise the borrowing limit had been used in the past and indicated that he had broached such issues with President Joe Biden. The Wall Street Journal
Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy made it clear that he had no intention of barring Rep. George Santos (R-NY) from congressional committees or otherwise penalizing him for winning election under false pretenses. “The voters of his district have elected him,” Speaker McCarthy said. “He is seated. He is part of the Republican conference.” He added that Santos would face the House Ethics Committee, which considers allegations of misconduct by members. The New York Times
An anti-vaccine group is pressing ahead with a lawsuit against Rutgers University for mandating the COVID-19 vaccine and booster shots for students. The non-profit Children’s Health Defense is appealing the dismissal of an earlier suit challenging the university’s legal authority to mandate what they call “an experimental vaccine that poses risk of serious harm.” A federal judge upheld Rutgers’ vaccine mandate last year. It was announced this week that students returning to Rutgers for the Spring semester would have to upload proof of vaccination and booster shots before returning to the schools New Jersey campuses. NJ1015.com
State Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-25) said a federal judge’s ruling that temporarily blocked New Jersey’s new concealed carry gun law as unconstitutional could have been averted if Dems had worked to produce a better bill. “To my Democrat colleagues, I hate to say, ‘I told you so,’ but I told you so,” Bucco added. “Maybe now they’ll be willing to work with us on sensible solutions to ensure that the legal concealed carry of firearms can be practiced in a safe manner in accordance with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bruen.” North-JerseyNews.com
The State Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee unanimously approved legislation that would extend tax breaks to certain prospective homeowners on Jan. 12. The bill (S335) would create a new type of savings account shielding deposits and withdrawals used for a home purchase from New Jersey’s income tax and offer an annual income tax credit measured against deposits into the fund. The bill would allow eligible homeowners to deposit up to $15,000 annually into homebuyer savings accounts, up to an aggregate cap of $75,000. They would receive an income tax credit equal to 5% of deposits made in a given tax year. New Jersey Monitor
The opening of Newark Liberty airport’s new Terminal A Jan. 12 morning hit some speed bumps, Port Authority officials said. The problems included “a couple of security breaches on some folks who wanted to bypass the (security) check-in, which caused a little bit of a slowdown,” said Kevin O’Toole, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey board chairman. “We had a power outage that caused a significant delay. We had two security breaches where everything had to be shut down.” The Record
It was the loud boom allegedly heard all over northern New Jersey, but a day later the source of the disconcerting noise remains a mystery. Numerous residents posted vivid accounts to Facebook groups and elsewhere about hearing something that sounded like an explosion around 12:30 p.m. Jan. 11. The unconfirmed reports ranged from Mahwah in Bergen County to the Poconos in Pennsylvania. NJ.com
And finally…The Mega Millions jackpot soars to $1.35 billion for Friday the 13th drawing. NJ1015.com
