Stuff in the ‘Political Spending and Influence’ Category
Gov. Murphy and the NJEA: Quid Pro Quo
Posted OnOctober 12, 2021 byJohn Reitmeyer’s piece for NJSpotlight says it all. Gov. Murphy has increased spending by 30% since he entered office, and “much of the big increase in spending is helping fund increases in aid to K-12 schools and record-high public-worker pension contributions …” In order to do so, Murphy increased taxes on the wealthy and corporations, both…Read More
Fact check: Despite Stellar Investment Returns, NJ’s Public Pensions Are Still in Crisis
Posted OnAugust 13, 2021 byThere’s lots of happy talk coming out of Trenton about the state of New Jersey’s public pensions. This plays very nicely into Gov. Murphy’s hands by providing a seemingly rational basis for Murphy’s decision to drop a whopping $6.9 billion (15% of the entire state budget) into public pensions. Unfortunately, the reality is that despite…Read More
Does NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Spiller’s Pricey Fundraiser Portend a Run for Governor?
Posted OnAugust 10, 2021 bySunlight has been active on social media about NJEA President-elect/Montclair Mayor Sean Spiller’s fundraiser for his dark-money Super PAC. We highlighted the pricey levels of sponsorship that are clearly meant to extract maximum dollars from deep-pocketed supporters as well as the use of a non-union facility for an event that was putatively honoring union leaders….Read More
Federal Money Shores Up NJ’s Budget, But Gov. Murphy Opts for Election-Year Spending Rather than a Sustainable Path
Posted OnJuly 21, 2021 byThe gusher of federal money has certainly been a boon to New Jersey as well as other states. This has had a number of positive ramifications, most importantly filling state coffers so that even perpetually in-deficit state governments like NJ’s are now running budgetary surpluses. This has allowed NJ to increase spending (in an election…Read More
NJEdReport: Gov. Murphy Takes Care of His NJEA Pals Over Kids in Poor School Districts. Where Is Mark Weber and NJPP?
Posted OnJuly 15, 2021 byNJ Ed Report published an excellent report today about how the NJEA’s Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) is sending unqualified teachers to teach in high-poverty, Abbott districts. Thankfully, NJ Ed Report is a trusted outlet for NJ Department of Education (DOE) whistleblowers who blew the whistle on teachers being allowed to teach all-important physics classes…Read More
NJEA’s Beatty: Gov. Murphy Is Best in the Nation When It Comes to Collaborating with Public Unions – and This Year’s Budget Proves It
Posted OnJuly 6, 2021 bySunlight could not have said it better. Supporting the NJEA’s early endorsement of Gov. Murphy, NJEA Vice President-elect Steve Beatty said: “There is no governor in the nation who has worked as closely and collaboratively with public employee unions than Gov. Murphy.” (June NJEA Review, p. 16). Just so. The record $46.3 billion budget Murphy just signed…Read More
The Special Interests Win Again: New Legislation Would Increase Public Union Power … and Property Taxes
Posted OnJune 29, 2021 byThe Press of Atlantic City reports that Senate President Steve Sweeney is sponsoring a bill that would broaden public employee bargaining rights. Both the NJ Association of Counties and League of Municipalities oppose the bill because it would expand collective bargaining to issues that had previously been non-negotiable, such as personnel transfers and assignments. Proponents…Read More
Does the NJEA Care About Learning Loss for Minority and Low-Income Students?
Posted OnJune 21, 2021 byRemote learning during the pandemic has indeed taken its toll on NJ students. The New Jersey Globe reported that based on interim tests 37% of NJ students were below grade level in language arts and math. What is even more alarming is that more than half of Black and Hispanic students were below grade level…Read More
Because It Can, the NJEA Spends $198,000 in Support of Republican Betty Lou DeCroce
Posted OnJune 17, 2021 bySunlight must admit that this came as quite a surprise: it appears that ASW Betty Lou DeCroce, Republican Assemblywoman from the 26th legislative district, received massive support from the NJEA for her 2021 Republican primary election campaign. All told, the NJEA’s Super PAC, Garden State Forward spent $198,000 on mailings and digital ads in LD26…Read More
Quid Pro Quo: SEIU Joins the NJEA in Endorsing “Enthusiastically Pro Union” Gov. Murphy
Posted OnMay 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