The New Jersey Department of Treasury reported revenue collections for major taxes totaled $4.8 billion in December 2022, falling 12.3% from those collected in December 2021. The Treasury said the declines were anticipated and expected Fiscal Year 2023 collections growth to moderate in coming months. Revenue reported by casinos, racetracks, and their partners increased 12.5% to $458.8 million year-over-year in December 2022 and for the 32nd consecutive month, New Jersey added jobs to its economy. North-JerseyNews.com
The New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund got a green light to refinance old debt that could pump $95 million in savings back into the fund that bankrolls big highway and transit projects. The state legislature’s Joint Oversight Committee on Jan. 23 approved by a 6-0 vote the refinancing of debt from 2015 and 2019. State treasury department officials told the committee that refinancing the total $1.72 billion in debt and retiring another $1.65 billion in older bonds could save $95.4 million. The savings would go back to the transportation trust fund instead of the state general treasury, treasury officials said. NJ.com
Long COVID is having a significant effect on America’s workforce, preventing substantial numbers of people from going back to work while others continue needing medical care long after returning to their jobs, according to a new analysis of workers’ compensation claims in New York State. The study found that during the first two years of the pandemic, about 71% of people the fund classified as experiencing long COVID either required continuing medical treatment or were unable to work for six months or more. More than a year after contracting the coronavirus, 18% of long COVID patients had still not returned to work, more than three-fourths of them younger than 60. The New York Times
U.S. health officials want to make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the annual flu shot. The Food and Drug Administration on Jan. 23 proposed a simplified approach for future vaccination efforts, allowing most adults and children to get a once-a-year shot to protect against the mutating virus, meaning Americans would no longer have to keep track of how many shots they’ve received or how many months it’s been since their last booster. FDA scientists say many Americans now have “sufficient preexisting immunity” against the coronavirus because of vaccination, infection or a combination of the two. That baseline of protection should be enough to move to an annual booster against the latest strains in circulation and make COVID-19 vaccinations more like the yearly flu shot, according to the agency. NJ1015.com
Two state-run veterans homes that saw a high number of deaths related to COVID-19 would get mandatory upgrades under a new bill advanced in the Legislature’s lower chamber Jan. 23. The bill (A4923) would require the state veterans homes in Menlo Park and Paramus to convert at least one ward each to single occupancy rooms. Those rooms would be required to be equipped with ventilation systems that would prevent the spread of harmful airborne particles, and both homes would need to upgrade their heating and ventilation systems. Assemblywoman Cleopatra Tucker (D-28), prime sponsor of the bill, said the main goal of the legislation is to ensure the upgrades will be funded. New Jersey Monitor
State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11) has called on the state’s Attorney General to launch an immediate investigation into voting irregularities in last November’s election in Monmouth County. The Democratic lawmaker called for the probe after it was revealed that voting machines malfunctioned causing votes to be erroneously tabulated within at least six voting districts, resulting in at least one local election result being reversed. “Reversing the outcome of a race over two months after the election is completely unacceptable and creates an opening for questions about the integrity of elections in Monmouth County, and the state,” Gopal said. North-JerseyNews.com
A judge has scheduled a Feb. 1 hearing to decide if Monmouth County may recount and recheck votes in four municipalities where an Elections Systems & Software (ES&S) technician’s faulty programming of voting machines led to the double counting of votes in the last election. The Monmouth County Board of Elections and the Superintendent of Elections asked for a court-ordered recount on Jan. 20, three days after ES&S admitted a human error caused the election results to be certified incorrectly. In the meantime, Steve Clayton will remain on the Ocean Township Board of Education. Steve Clayton defeated incumbent Jeffrey Weinstein by 20 votes in November and took office earlier this month, but an informal retally now has Weinstein ahead by one vote. New Jersey Globe
The White House didn’t commit to providing information to House Republicans investigating how classified material wound up in President Joe Biden’s private home and former office. In a letter to House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY), White House counsel Stuart Delery said his office is reviewing Republicans’ requests for copies of documents that were found at Biden’s properties and internal communications about the issue. Delery said it was the White House’s goal to “accommodate legitimate oversight interests,” while also stressing the need to “protect the integrity and independence of law enforcement investigations.” He noted that the White House doesn’t have possession of the documents, which have been collected by the Justice Department and the National Archives. The Wall Street Journal
A jury on Jan, 23 found four more Oath Keepers members guilty of seditious conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, handing down the latest criminal convictions against the far-right group. In the latest trial, federal prosecutors secured convictions against all four defendants—Edward Vallejo, Roberto Minuta, Joseph Hackett and David Moerschel—on the seditious-conspiracy charge. The jury also found them guilty of conspiring to obstruct an official proceeding and of conspiring to destroy federal property. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ordered home detention for the defendants until their sentencing hearings, which haven’t been scheduled. The jury deliberated for about 12 hours over three days. The New York Times
A gunman killed seven people in two locations in Half Moon Bay, CA, on Jan. 23, a state still mourning another mass shooting just days before. The police arrested a 67-year-old man from the town in connection with the shootings after he was found in his car in the parking lot of a San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office substation in the town. Investigators believe he acted alone and have not established a motive. The local authorities were working with the F.B.I. and had not uncovered a criminal history or past incidents at either of the scenes. The Wall Street Journal
Trenton lawmakers in both chambers are moving forward with a bill that would make sextortion a crime in New Jersey. Passed by two State Senate committees last year, the bipartisan bill passed the Assembly Judiciary Committee on Jan. 19 that co-sponsor Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-25) said will ensure predators who engage in sexual extortion are punished to the fullest extent of the law. “New Jersey’s most vulnerable populations—children and adults with developmental disabilities —are targeted by sexual predators who go where they go, places like online gaming sites and popular social media platforms,” said Dunn. “Crimes have evolved in the digital age and New Jersey’s laws have to keep up. Sexual extortion is a growing threat that must be addressed.” North-JerseyNews.com
With music so loud it literally shakes the ground and rattles windows, the ‘boom car’ is being targeted by state lawmakers in New Jersey. Assemblyman William Spearman (D-5) is sponsoring a bill that would allow police to confiscate, and even destroy, what are described as giant boom boxes on wheels. Currently, all police can do is write a ticket for a noise violation, but Spearman’s bill (A4686) would classify boom cars as a ‘nuisance vehicle’ and give police the right to impound the vehicle. The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee voted unanimously on Jan. 23 to advance the bill for a full vote. NJ1015.com
Jersey City Councilwoman Amy DeGise came will make her first appearance in court in Newark Jan. 24 for not stopping after hitting a bicyclist last Summer. DeGise is facing charges of failure to report an incident and a hit-and-run after being caught on video hitting a bicyclist back in July 2022 at the intersection of Martin Luther King Drive and Forest Street in her SUV and continuing to drive without ever hitting her brakes. Six hours later, DeGise turned herself in to police. News12 New Jersey
The big six fundraising committees used to get people into elected office across New Jersey have larger-than-usual amounts of cash stockpiled this year as all 120 seats in the state Legislature will be on the ballot in November, according to the state’s Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). The two state political parties and four legislative leadership committees have a combined $2.8 million on hand, according to ELEC. It’s the largest reserve in a decade and 107% above average. NJ.com
The renewal of Newark school superintendent Roger León’s contract has led parents and education advocates to criticize the process for a lack of transparency. The automatic renewal happened in May 2022 because of language written into the contract in 2019, and approved at an August 2022 board meeting that added two years to Leon’s original five-year contract. NJ Spotlight News
The River Edge school district may reconfigure grades across its three elementary school buildings to address overcrowding and better integrate students with disabilities into the general population. The proposal has run into opposition, however, from residents who warned it would create instability for students in the pre-K to sixth grade district who are only now readjusting after the peak of COVID-19 disruptions. Attendees at a school board meeting last week said the plan would be a burden for working parents who would need to drop children off at two different schools instead of one. The Record
North Bergen middle-school students will finally have their own school starting this Fall, when the former High Tech High School on Tonnelle Avenue becomes the district’s first ever junior high school. Renovations and construction at the site are on track for a Fall opening that will unite all seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders in the district on one campus, which will be called North Bergen Junior High School West Campus. The Jersey Journal
Sens. Bob Menendez and Cory Booker on Jan, 23 announced a total of just under $11.3 million in federal transportation grants for two New Jersey ferry services through the Federal Transit Administration Passenger Ferry Grant program. The larger amount—$7.3 million— was awarded to repower the propulsion systems on four of NY Waterway’s older ferry vessels from traditionally diesel-driven units to hybrid technology eventually operating on pure electric. Additionally, $4 million has been allocated to make critical repairs and improvements to the Belford Ferry Terminal in Middletown in Monmouth County. ROI-NJ.com
And finally…The North Jersey snow drought could end this week with up to eight inches possible in some spots. New Jersey Herald
