Masks off on state's mass transit

Your afternoon must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Jerseyans.

Apr 19, 2022 View in browser   By Jonathan Custodio New Jersey commuters are not required to wear masks anymore. Gov. Phil Murphy announced via Twitter today that masking will no longer be required on NJ Transit and by the South Jersey Transportation Authority, though riders can still choose to wear them, reports POLITICO's Daniel Han. Murphy's announcement comes after a Florida judge ruled against the federal mask mandate on public transportation. The judge said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had overstepped its authority, leaving the onus on states and municipalities to now maintain or revise their mask mandates. Meanwhile, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the PATH system, is maintaining its mask mandate "as we continue to consult with the state public health authorities," according to a spokesperson. Several airlines that operate out of Newark Liberty International Airport, including United Airlines, Delta, American, Southwest, and Jet Blue, have announced that they will not require masks for domestic flights. HAPPY TUESDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I'm Jonathan Custodio, your Playbook PM author. You can send eastern goldfinch photos to jcustodio@politico.com. We're here with the latest from Trenton and elsewhere as New Jersey moves ahead in the budget process and the Legislature conducts hearings on Gov. Phil Murphy's spending plan. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY THE PRICE ISN'T RIGHT — State Senate President Nick Scutari said New Jersey Democrats paid a political price for straying too far from the "mainstream," reports POLITICO's Matt Friedman. "I think whenever a political party gets too off mainstream, they pay a price for it," Scutari said during an event at Rowan University on Monday night. "I thought that the campaign in New Jersey was almost a primary election that was run instead of the general election. I think that was reflected at the polls. A much closer election than we had anticipated." Election Day, 2021, saw then-Senate President Steve Sweeney go down to defeat in a shocking upset, while Murphy barely managed to put aside Republican Jack Ciattarelli. Some Democrats blamed the result on Murphy's unabashed progressivism. COVID NUMBERS — Two new omicron subvariants have been detected in New Jersey as the state reported 11 Covid-19 deaths and 1,357 confirmed positive tests today. The state's seven-day average was up 14 percent from a week ago and 157 percent from a month ago. ON THE BEATS GUN CONTROL — Murphy renewed his call for state lawmakers to vote on a gun safety legislative package at Paterson's Saint Luke Baptist Church today. "These bills, with all due respect, are the definition of common sense," Murphy said, joined by Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), Democratic state Sens. Nellie Pou and Joe Cryan, and Assemblymember Benjie Wimberly, along with Paterson Mayor Andre Sayegh, gun safety advocates, and faith leaders. The governor's package of bills include requiring completion of a certification safety course to register a firearm, closing the loophole that allows people moving into the state to avoid standards applied to residents in purchasing or obtaining firearms, requiring guns not in use to be placed in a lockbox or safe, and equipping all handguns with microstamp technology that can be traced by law enforcement. They would also require electronic record-keeping of all ammunition sold, ban the sale of 50-caliber firearms, and enact legislation to hold gun manufacturers and distributors liable for damage caused by firearms. "Every one of these bills deserves a vote," Murphy said. "This isn't doctoral calculus. This is basic stuff, right?" Around New Jersey "Clark residents condemn mayor, Township Council, over racist recordings," by NJ Advance Media's S.P. Sullivan and Riley Yates: "Clark residents on Monday night condemned Mayor Sal Bonaccorso and the Township Council, bristling over their decision to quietly pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to a whistleblower to conceal recordings that captured the mayor and police brass using racial slurs. About 60 people turned out during the first formal council meeting since the explosive recordings came to light. Some demanded Bonaccorso's resignation and blasted the township's attempt to cover up the accusations, saying town leaders have damaged Clark's reputation and abused taxpayer money. As residents lambasted them, Bonaccorso and Clark's seven council members offered no explanation to the public, following the advice of Township Attorney Mark Dugan, who instructed them not to discuss a scandal that has reverberated through their community." "Marianne Williamson swoops into N.J. politics with endorsement of Ocampo Grajales," by New Jersey Globe's Joey Fox: "Marianne Williamson, the motivational author whose eccentric 2020 presidential bid briefly captivated the national political scene, announced yesterday that she is endorsing David Ocampo Grajales for Congress in the 8th congressional district. 'He's a fearless progressive taking on a machine and exactly the champion we need in Congress,' Williamson said of Ocampo Grajales on Twitter. The endorsement is Williamson's second in New Jersey this cycle; earlier this year, she declared her support for Imani Oakley's campaign in the 10th district. Both Ocampo Grajales and Oakley are running against candidates strongly backed by the local Democratic establishment: Port Authority Commissioner Rob Menendez in the 8th district and incumbent Rep. Donald Payne Jr. (D-Newark) in the 10th." "For Black nurses, COVID and racism have meant facing a 'dual pandemic,'" by The Record's Lindy Washburn: "The first time Charlotte Thomas-Hawkins, an associate dean at the Rutgers School of Nursing, walked into a patient's room as a new nurse, the patient asked her to get the nurse — as if a young Black woman could not possibly hold that position. … In a recently published study, she looked at nurses' emotional distress from caring for patients during the pandemic while also experiencing racist microaggressions and hospital policies they perceived as discriminatory. Her study is one of the first to quantify the effects of racism on a segment of the health care workforce. Thomas-Hawkins concluded that the combined impact of the two major news events of 2020 — the sickness and death caused by COVID and the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis — exacted a heavier toll on the emotional well-being of non-white nurses than white nurses. This effect was especially striking for Black nurses." "Murphy's budget would give higher education an extra $100M," by NJ Spotlight News' Katie Crist: "Gov. Phil Murphy has proposed an increase of more than $100 million in state spending on New Jersey higher education, a boost that might seem like welcome news to schools that have not always received such support from Trenton. But the funding, part of his budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, is instead drawing questions and worries from some college officials unhappy with the way Murphy is reallocating funds. The amount spent in support of higher education would go from $2.79 billion to $2.89 billion." Odds and ends — Another lawsuit has been filed against a North Jersey Dunkin' because of hot spilled coffee.  — Reports of domestic violence continue to spike across the state.  — The Casino Reinvestment Development Authority is considering a weed store on Pacific Avenue in Atlantic City. — Asian American students are pushing the College Board for more AAPI history in class curricula.   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  California Playbook PM  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  New York Playbook PM View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

To change your alert settings, please log in at https://www.politico.com/_login?base=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.politico.com/settings This email was sent to rouf@idiot.cloudns.cc by: POLITICO, LLC 1000 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA, 22209, USA Please click here and follow the steps to unsubscribe.