Gov. Phil Murphy believes the current banking crisis will have effects on U.S. monetary policy and the economy this year. “My gut tells me this lessens the likelihood of the (Federal Reserve) not raising rates at all next week or lessens the scale of those rate increases,” Murphy said March 13 at an unrelated event held in Newark. “It also increases the chance the nation and, we are not immune to this, a tougher economy in the six to 12 months ahead. I am hoping for the best but prepared for the worst.” Murphy’s comments were the first remarks the day after the state announced a $35 million support package for New Jersey entrepreneurs affected by the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) crisis. North-JerseyNews.com
Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell promised “a thorough, transparent and swift review” about the regulation and supervision of Silicon Valley Bank that would be completed by May 1. Adrienne A. Harris, New York State’s superintendent of financial services, said the decision to close Signature Bank was made with federal regulators. They worked with the bank’s executives to try and shore up its liquidity amid a rising number of withdrawal requests, but it wasn’t enough to support letting the bank open for business on March 13. The New York Times
Regulators are reportedly planning to take another crack at auctioning Silicon Valley Bank after they were unable to find a buyer for the firm over the weekend. Officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. told Senate Republicans on March 13 that they had additional flexibility to sell the firm now that regulators had declared its failure a threat to the financial system. By declaring the firm systemic, regulators can cover all depositors at the failed bank, including those with deposits above a typical $250,000 insurance cap and gives regulators the ability to offer would-be buyers deal sweeteners such as loss-sharing agreements. The Wall Street Journal
Inflation cooled slightly on an annual basis, with the Consumer Price Index climbing 6% in the year through February, down from 6.4% in January, and matched the slowdown than economists expected. But digging under the surface, inflation looks firmer. The price index climbed 0.5% from the previous month after stripping out food and fuel—both of which bounce around a lot—to get a sense of underlying price pressures. That was up from 0.4% in January and it was more than economists had forecast. The New York Times
Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed $53.1 billion budget for the 2024 fiscal year will leave the Garden State’s economy worse off in the long term, according to a recent survey conducted by the New Jersey Society of CPAs (NJCPA). The survey found nearly 60% of those interviewed said Murphy’s proposed budget would leave the state either marginally or significantly worse off over the long haul. More than 20% believing the economy would stay the same, with little or no significant change, while another 20% felt that the economy would be marginally or significantly better. “We are disappointed that this budget does little to address the affordability issue facing small businesses,” said Ralph Albert Thomas, executive director at the NJCPA. North-JerseyNews.com
New Jersey experienced higher employment growth over the past two years than first reported, with 34,000 additional jobs gained, according to updated data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released March 13. The over-the-year (December 2021 to December 2022) change in total nonfarm jobs was revised to a gain of 129,700, a smaller increase from the previously reported gain of 148,900. However, including higher revisions made for 2021, the two-year job gain now stands at 395,300 — 34,000 more jobs than originally estimated. ROI-NJ.com
NJ Transit’s board of directors voted to begin sending $19 million payments to the Gateway Development Commission, which is overseeing design and construction of two new Hudson River rail tunnels between New Jersey and New York. The board unanimously approved the funding agreement March 13 that would send funding from the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to the GDC under an agreement approved by that authority last December. Technically, NJ Transit is conveying the $19.4 million in Turnpike funds to the Gateway Development Commission from the state Department of the Treasury. NJ.com
Republicans are targeting the cuts proposed by Gov. Phil Murphy that will potentially increase property taxes across the state. State Senate Minority Leader Steve Oroho pointed to millions of dollars in budget cuts to Open Space PILOT Aid he sees driving property tax increases in more than 100 towns across New Jersey. “Small rural communities that are home to state lands are given Open Space PILOT aid to offset the impact of those properties being taken off their tax rolls,” said Oroho (R-24). North-JerseyNews.com
About 293,000 New Jersey residents are expected to be among those who lose Medicaid coverage they received during the pandemic, about 13% of the state’s caseload. Beginning in April, New Jersey — like every other state in the country — must verify whether all Medicaid recipients remain eligible. The massive undertaking, ominously called “the unwinding,” is expected to eliminate 5.3 million to 14.2 million people from the 91 million on the Medicaid rolls when it is done 14 months from now, according to Kaiser Family Foundation estimates. NJ.com
The Winter Termination Program that has prevented electric, gas and water utilities in New Jersey from cutting most people off for nonpayment since November ends March 15. Board of Public Utilities President Joseph Fiordaliso said the best way to avoid service shut-off is to call your supplier as “whether it’s your water utility, your electric utility, your gas utility…they are willing to help. They are willing to set up a payment plan. They are willing to steer you in the direction where you can get assistance, if you qualify.” NJ Spotlight News
A Newark-based social justice group is calling for federal authorities to investigate the Paterson Police Department in light of the Najee Seabrooks killing. The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice sent the U.S. Attorney General’s Office a letter March 13 asking for a federal probe, citing the FBI investigation that resulted in eight convictions of city cops as well as pending criminal cases and civil lawsuits accusing Paterson police officers of misconduct. “Mr. Seabrooks desperately needed and deserved treatment, which was available to him, not a death sentence imposed upon him by PPD,” the letter said. The Record
President Joe Biden will announce an executive order aimed at reducing gun violence, including increasing background checks, while visiting the area of a January mass shooting in Monterey Park, CA. President Biden will mandate that his cabinet work on a plan to better structure the government to support communities suffering from gun violence, call on Attorney General Merrick Garland to shore up the rules for federally licensed gun dealers so they know they are required to do background checks as part of the license, mandate better reporting of ballistics data from federal law enforcement for a clearinghouse that allows federal, state and local law enforcement to match shell casings to guns and task the Federal Trade Commission to issue a public report analyzing how gun manufacturers market to minors and use military images to market to the general public. The Wall Street Journal
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) stated defending Ukraine against Russia’s invasion is not a vital U.S. interest and that policymakers should instead focus attention at home. “While the U.S. has many vital national interests—securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness with our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural and military power of the Chinese Communist Party—becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them,” DeSantis said in a statement that read on Fox News by Tucker Carlson. “The Biden administration’s virtual ‘blank-check’ funding of this conflict for ‘as long as it takes,’ without any defined objectives or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges.” The New York Times
Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr., an 86-year-old Democratic congressman from Paterson, announced March 13 that he will definitely seek re-election to a fifteenth term in 2024. “No question about it,” Pascrell told a crowd at his annual St. Patrick’s Day event at the Brownstone, suggesting that he was hearing murmurs that he was too old to run again, and used his speech to make his intentions clear. New Jersey Globe
The State Senate Judiciary Committee advanced the nominations of six people to the New Jersey Superior Court March 13, among them a Bergen County mayor who was acquitted of corruption charges nearly 13 years ago. The panel’s vote clears Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez and the five other would-be judges for full votes before the Senate on March 20. Suarez’s past legal saga received scant attention from the committee, whose members instead praised his legal acumen. Other Superior Court nominees from Bergen County who advanced include Amy Lefkowitz of Fair Lawn, Nicholas Ostuni of Oradell and Marc Ramundo of Ho-Ho-Kus. New Jersey Monitor
Former Assemblyman Jamel Holley is running for mayor of Roselle. Holley is a former Roselle Mayor who served in the Legislature representing the 20th District from 2015 to 2022. This political season he intends to challenge incumbent Mayor Donald Shaw, Roselle’s former recreation director and a prior Holley ally. InsiderNJ.com
Lorraine Pellegrine, a longtime Democratic councilwoman in Elmwood Park, is switching parties and will seek re-election as a Republican after being denied party support for re-election. Pellegrine will run with Robert Colletti, the Republican who defeated her in the 2019 mayoral election by 148 votes, 52%-48%. Also running on the GOP slate is Pamela Troisi, who lost a council race last year by 19 votes. New Jersey Globe
And finally…Gov. Phil Murphy announced the inaugural ‘North 2 Shore’ arts festival this June that will feature over 100 acts in Atlantic City, Asbury Park and Newark. NJ.com
Comments 1