Political Spending and Influence

In politics, money is power. The NJEA automatically takes in over $120 million in property tax dollars and teachers dues every year. According to the state’s elections watchdog, the NJEA is by far the leader in reported political spending, but due to reporting loopholes and clever disguise, what is reported is only a fraction of what the NJEA really spends. The SPCNJ estimates that the modern NJEA – with its Executive Office dominated by political operatives – spends about $65 million a year on politics at the state and local level. This makes the NJEA the dominant political force in the state – as it has been for decades. Over the years, the NJEA’s unmatched political clout has allowed it to rig the political system for its benefit and fight attempts at reform, all to the detriment of New Jersey citizens.

Political Spending

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Research Reports

Follow The Money: What The NJEA Really Spends On Politics

According to New Jersey’s elections watchdog, the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), when it comes to political spending that is officially reported to ELEC, the NJEA is by far the dominant player at both the state and local levels. As will be shown later in this report, the NJEA’s reported political spending is dwarfed by the amount of its actual political spending, most of which is covert and unreported.

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Money Equals Power: How The NJEA Dominates New Jersey Politics

“The powerhouse” of New Jersey politics – that’s how the NJEA describes itself. And the facts back them up.

For more than 50 years, the NJEA has dominated New Jersey politics.

In fact, the modern era of New Jersey politics has been one continuous saga of the NJEA wielding extraordinary influence to serve its own interests. It has constructed a system that automatically and annually generates tens of millions of taxpayer dollars— presently $129 million—funneled directly into its coffers. It spends far more of these tax dollars on political action than is reported or generally known. The SPCNJ estimates that the NJEA spends about $65 million a year on political action at the state and local levels, which dwarfs all other political spenders.

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Issue Updates

Issue Updates on this issue to follow.

SHINING A LIGHT ON NEW DIRECTION’S DARK MONEY REVEALS SOME DARK TRUTHS ABOUT NEW JERSEY POLITICS

Posted September 17, 2019

“Dark money” group New Direction New Jersey (NDNJ) is no longer quite so dark. Some nine months after promising to disclose its donors, NDNJ finally did last week. But only after the Sunlight Policy Center…

BuryPensions goes where Jay Lassiter won’t: Look where the NJEA spends teachers’ dues.

Posted August 14, 2019

InsiderNJ’s Jay Lassiter wrote a column this morning about the influence of special interests over New Jersey politicians. Lassiter rightly questions who these pols are working for. But he curiously failed to mention the most…

InsiderNJ’s Lassiter decries special interest influence on politicians but leaves out the biggest one.