Sunlight Blog
Quid Pro Quo: SEIU Joins the NJEA in Endorsing “Enthusiastically Pro Union” Gov. Murphy
Posted On05/26/2021 byTo no one’s surprise, public union SEIU endorsed Gov. Murphy for re-election, following in train of NJ’s most powerful public union, the NJEA. In doing so, they describe Murphy as a “enthusiastically pro union governor, who has “enacted policies that significantly improved the lives” of public employees. This sounds a lot like what NJEA Secretary…Read More
NJ Citizens Will Pay More Lifetime Taxes than Any Other State – By Far
Posted On05/24/2021 byWell, you don’t have to take Sunlight’s word for it. While agenda-driven “think-tanks” like NJ Policy Perspective insist that NJ’s tax burden is not so high, the federal government’s data says otherwise: over a lifetime, NJ has the highest tax burden of any state — by far. According to a study by financial technology company…Read More
New Direction Spent $13.2 Million Boosting Gov. Murphy, with $10.5 Million from the Taxpayer-Funded NJEA
Posted On05/20/2021 byPolitico’s Matt Friedman reported in his New Jersey Playbook that NJEA-funded Super PAC New Direction New Jersey(NDNJ) has spent nearly $13.2 million over the past three years to boost Gov. Murphy. Friedman points out that the $13.2 million is almost as much as the $15.6 million the governor would be permitted to spend if he…Read More
NTU President Abeigon Tries to Rewrite History after Sunlight’s Billboard Calls the NTU Out
Posted On05/18/2021 byNewark Teachers’ Union head John Abeigon issued a response to Sunlight’s billboard, one of several around the state that blames the NTU and the NJEA for keeping students out of the classroom and contributing to large-scale learning loss for Newark kids. Unfortunately, Abeigon does not stick to the facts about the matter and attempts to…Read More
More Shoddy Research from NJ Policy Perspective: the Fate of Camden Students Be Damned
Posted On05/14/2021 byThe scholars at New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) have done it again: they have published shoddy, substandard “research” in the service of their NJEA patrons. Their new report revolves around the spurious and unsupported claim that there is “no evidence” that the state takeover of Camden schools has improved student learning. Once again, NJPP’s own report…Read More
America’s CEOs See NJ as One of the Worst States To Do Business. Again.
Posted On05/10/2021 byChief Executive Magazine came out with its 2021 “Best and Worst States for Business,” and New Jersey did not fare well. Again. Obviously, it’s important what CEOs think about a state because when corporations are making decisions about expanding or shrinking their corporate footprint, CEOs have a lot of say in the matter. In this…Read More
Star-Ledger Publishes Sunlight Op-Ed: Teachers Need To Be Told the Truth About Their Pensions
Posted On05/05/2021 byN.J. teachers need to be told the truth: Their pensions are in jeopardy | Opinion Today 9:37 AM as of June 30, 2020, New Jersey had less than 25 cents set aside for every dollar it owed for teachers’ pensions. With such a low funded-level, Brookings makes clear that this amounts to throwing billions of…Read More
US Census: NJ Keeps Its House Seats but Still Could Be Losing Wealth and College Grads to Other States
Posted On04/29/2021 byThe Census Bureau came out with its decennial census count, and it looks like NJ did much better than expected. Contrary to fears that NJ might lose another congressional seat, NJ kept its 12 House seats (down from 15 in 1970). All in all, NJ population grew 5.7% to 9.3 million. This is good news…Read More
NJ Policy Perspective’s “Blueprint” for NJ Aligns with the NJEA and Its Vast Network of Allies
Posted On04/27/2021 byProgressive think-tank New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) released its policy blueprint for NJ. Sunlight is not going to delve into all the policy proposals. Readers can do that at their leisure. Sunlight highlights two facts about the report: NJPP states that it worked in “close collaboration” with many other NJ progressive groups who make up…Read More
Montclair Parent on Mayor Spiller: “It Doesn’t Take a Rocket Scientist to See the Intense Conflict of Interest”
Posted On04/23/2021 byNorthJersey.com had an excellent news story today describing the efforts of Montclair citizens to change from a mayor-appointed school board to an elected school board. As Sunlight readers know, the catalyst for this grassroots groundswell is the massive and judicially recognized conflict of interest embodied in NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller, whose appointees now constitute…Read More