Stuff in the ‘Political Spending and Influence’ Category
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
Is the NJEA’s Super PAC Playing Fast and Loose with the Rules in Camden?
Posted On11/01/2019 byThere’s a hotly contested school board race going on in Camden on. News accounts have described it as a contest between two slates: “Camden Votes” backed by the NJEA-affiliate Camden Education Association, and “Education for Everyone” backed by the Camden County Democratic Committee. SPCNJ doesn’t typically get opine on local politics, but we have been…Read More
New Direction NJ Back at It with $2 Million TV Ad Campaign
Posted On10/22/2019 byAccording to InsiderNJ, formerly “dark money” group New Direction New Jersey (NDNJ) is back at it with a $2 million TV ad campaign leading up to the Assembly elections in November. It’s nice to have a lot of property tax dollars to spend. How much of the $2 million comes from the NJEA? Is this…Read More
NJLeftBehind: Who Is in the Driver’s Seat: NJEA Leaders or Phil Murphy?
Posted On10/09/2019 byWe re-post NJLeftBehind’s excellent piece on the continued and remarkable similarity between Governor Murphy’s policy agenda and the NJEA’s policy agenda: Who Is in the Driver’s Seat: NJEA Leaders or Phil Murphy? Two weeks ago Governor Phil Murphy was the guest speaker at Rider University’s Rebovich Institute for Politics’ “Governing New Jersey” series.* As reported…Read More