Stuff in the ‘Political Spending and Influence’ Category
NJ Debt Worst in America (Again), but Gov. Murphy Is Borrowing $4.5 billion More
Posted On09/23/2020 byTruth in Accounting came out with its “Financial State of the States 2020,” an annual report on how much debt-per-taxpayer each state owes. New Jersey once again ranked DEAD LAST in the nation for the SEVENTH STRAIGHT YEAR. Each NJ taxpayer owes a jaw-dropping $57,900 – which is $5,900 more than broke Illinois, the state…Read More
Thanks, Governor! NJEA-Funded New Direction Repays the Favors with a $1.25 Million Ad Campaign
Posted On09/22/2020 byNJLeftBehind nails it. In a timely piece today, Laura Waters makes the connection between the NJEA going 7-for-7 on Gov. Murphy’s budget and recently signed legislation and a $1.25 million TV campaign by New Direction New Jersey, the Super PAC that is 70%-funded by the NJEA. There’s a whole lot of back-scratching going on between…Read More
New Jersey Governance in the Middle of a Pandemic: Run by and for Special Interests
Posted On09/16/2020 byThe NJEA’s investments are paying off. New Jersey’s most powerful special interest has had a great recent run with Governor Murphy. As is well known, the NJEA was “all-in” for Phil Murphy when he ran for governor and strongly boosted his candidacy. Since Murphy’s election, the NJEA and its public-sector union allies have pumped…Read More
The NJEA Hits the Trifecta with Murphy’s Budget; the Rest of NJ, Not So Much
Posted On08/26/2020 byGovernor Murphy presented a nine-month FY2021 budget yesterday that props up state government spending by issuing bonds and raising taxes. As analyzed by NJ Spotlight’s Jon Reitmeyer, there is virtually no state government belt-tightening: state spending will “still top $40 billion for a traditional 12-month fiscal year … even as he is projecting steep revenue…Read More
Record’s Stile Rightly Eyes New Direction but Misses Murphy’s Active Role, Conflict of Interest
Posted On08/19/2020 byThe Record’s Charles Stile wrote and op-ed entitled “How Murphy’s ‘dark money’ allies allow governor to play good cop/bad cop with Trump,” which rightly focused on the cozy relationship between the dark money Super PAC New Direction New Jersey (NDNJ) and Governor Murphy. Stile deserves credit for previously scrutinizing NDNJ and recognizing that 70% of…Read More
Success of New Healthcare Law Depends on Persuading Teachers: Will the NJEA Deliver?
Posted On07/02/2020 byAfter months of behind-the-scenes negotiation and to widespread acclaim, Governor Murphy signed into law S-2273/A-20, a healthcare reform bill that promises to reduce the cost of health benefits for both teachers and taxpayers. This widely praised new law aims to reduce school district (and thus taxpayer) costs by $640 million per year and teacher costs…Read More
Your Property Tax Dollars at Work: NJEA Crushes the Lobbying Competition
Posted On03/10/2020 byNew Jersey citizens, your highest-in-the-nation property taxes are at work … helping the NJEA to stay the most powerful special interest in NJ’s special-interest-dominated political system. Led by the NJEA, 2019 special interest lobbying expenses topped $100 million for the first time. According to the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), the NJEA crushed the competition…Read More
Will the NJEA/Sweeney Healthcare Deal End the Out-of-Network Payments Scandal?
Posted On03/10/2020 byThe NJEA and Senator Sweeney claim the new deal will save $1 billion. SPCNJ hopes these savings are real but like everyone else we will have to wait for a detailed breakdown before passing judgment. But SPCNJ will ask one question: will out-of-network payments be capped (like CWA’s were) or will the $500 million scandal…Read More
More of the Same: The Governor’s (Special-Interest-Dominated) Status Quo Budget
Posted On02/26/2020 byGovernor Murphy’s budget is more of the same: more taxes and more spending for his special-interest patrons. There may be other reasons why Governor Murphy supports these policies, but we know for certain that they align with the most powerful special interest in the state’s (the NJEA) priorities: Millionaires’ tax: this has long been a…Read More
Sen. Sweeney Speaks Truth to (Special Interest) Power
Posted On02/19/2020 byBloomberg News quoted state Senate President Steve Sweeney as declaring New Jersey “in worse shape” than any other state. Sweeney is not exaggerating. The facts are sobering (drawn from Sunlight Policy’s report “Beware the Downward Spiral“): NJ has the worst funded public pensions in the nation at 38%, which means that the state owes future…Read More