Murphy calls on Congress to act on abortion rights

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May 03, 2022 View in browser   By Jonathan Custodio Gov. Phil Murphy is calling on Congress to act on abortion rights as they face their most serious challenge in nearly 50 years, reports POLITICO's Matt Friedman and Daniel Han. Murphy and Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) blasted a "right-wing" Supreme Court that appears on the verge of overturning Roe v. Wade. POLITICO published a draft opinion indicating that the high court has voted to strike down the decision. "If this Congress won't protect reproductive freedom , America needs to elect a Congress in November, including Tom Malinowski, that will," Murphy said today in Lambertville at an unrelated press conference about flood control which included Malinowski. He faces a tough reelection battle in November, when his Republican opponent could be former state Sen. Tom Kean Jr., who voted against the state's recent abortion law while supporting the practice along with certain restrictions. Kean himself is facing several primary opponents for the right to challenge Malinowski in the fall. New Jersey passed the Freedom of Reproductive Choice Act in January. While Murphy stated he is "open-minded" to beefing up abortion access, he did not commit to any new legislation and spokespeople for Senate President Nick Scutari did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a written statement released this afternoon, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said he "remained committed to protecting access." "As a Legislature, we will keep working to maintain confidence in a woman's right to safe and accessible reproductive healthcare," Coughlin said. The draft opinion, the authenticity of which was confirmed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts after he announced an investigation into its release, was written by New Jersey native Justice Samuel Alito. Alito, who was born in Trenton and once served as U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, has raised alarm bells about his view of Roe v. Wade before — at least for one U.S. senator, as NJ Advance Media's Ted Sherman notes. "I am unsettled he is not willing to say Roe is settled law," Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) said after meeting Alito when he was nominated to the high court in 2006. 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 AFFORDABLE HOUSING — Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen) is backing Murphy's plan to fund 100 percent affordable housing developments throughout the state using Covid-19 federal relief money, reports NJ Spotlight News' Colleen O'Dea . The Senate Budget Committee chair said during a hearing last Thursday that the state needs to revise how and where affordable housing is built. The process, he said, is "outdated. ... We need to do a better job." O'Dea notes his comments are the first time in years that a Democrat has tried to reshape the allocation process currently handled through the state court system, an issue state Republican lawmakers have been hammering on for years. COVID NUMBERS — New Jersey reported 1,923 confirmed positive Covid-19 tests and 11 deaths from the virus on Tuesday. The state's seven-day average is at the highest it's been since Feb. 8, up 18 percent from a week ago and 134 percent from a month ago. ON THE BEATS HIGHER ED — College presidents and representatives from Murphy's administration testified in front of the Senate Budget and Appropriations committee today, largely reiterating their calls for more college operating aid and defending their increases in student aid respectively. One interesting exchange between Sen. Declan O'Scanlon (R-Monmouth) and David Socolow, executive director of the state's Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, revealed that legislators may be seriously considering adding additional funding or language in their budget to expand the state's Tuition Aid Grant program to cover summer courses. — Carly Sitrin ENVIRONMENT — Murphy announced new investments in flood protection today, invoking the memory of the devastation that remnants of Hurricane Ida caused in the state last year. Speaking in Lambertville, Murphy said the Federal Emergency Management Agency has committed an additional $50 million investment in the Blue Acres homeowner buyout program for Ida-impacted communities, and $10 million in community stormwater assistance grants. "No New Jerseyan should have to see their life's work washed away by devastating rain and floodwaters. As New Jersey continues to experience more extreme weather events, we must become proactive in our approach to protect the communities and businesses that continue to bear the brunt of flooding and damage from these storms," Murphy said in a statement. — Carly Sitrin Around New Jersey "GOP lawmakers aim to increase punishment for car thieves," by New Jersey Monitor's Dana Difilippo: "Two Monmouth County Republicans plan to introduce legislation this week to toughen penalties against some car thieves, saying 'liberal, failed policies' have 'tied police hands' and led to rising rates of car theft. Assemblywoman Vicky Flynn and Assemblyman Gerard Scharfenberger announced their plans after acting Attorney General Matt Platkin announced Friday the state is reversing a new policy that had barred police from initiating pursuits of suspected car thieves. Flynn and Scharfenberger sent Platkin a letter about two weeks ago objecting to the old pursuit policy and asking for a meeting. In an interview with the New Jersey Monitor, they also complained that bail reform 'puts criminals out on the street before the ink is dry on the police report.'" "'We were overlooked': Charity says its meals for homeless threatened by NJ plastic bag ban," by The Record's Scott Fallon: "Since the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago, volunteers for the longtime charity Family Promise of Bergen County have been handing out 150 hot meals in plastic bags each day to the hungry who were no longer able to eat at the county homeless shelter. But the charity's organizers say the program is in jeopardy after they were denied an exemption by the state Department of Environmental Protection to a statewide plastic bag ban that begins Wednesday. They instead received a six-month extension and are now scrambling to lobby lawmakers to write a new bill that would exclude charities such as theirs." "Cops can't undermine Miranda rights, court rules," by NJ Spotlight News' Colleen O'Dea: "Police and prosecutors who minimize the impact of statements a suspect makes after receiving a Miranda warning run the risk of having those statements suppressed, as the New Jersey Supreme Court ordered Monday in a case involving a man who pled guilty to endangering the welfare of a child. Statements made by a defendant regarding allegations he had inappropriately touched a minor over a two-year period must be suppressed because the state could not prove the defendant had voluntarily waived his right to self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, the court ruled unanimously. "The ruling, which upheld a lower court decision, reaffirmed that suspects must be told they have the right to remain silent and that anything they say 'can and will be used against them,' part of the warning that all police must give as a result of a 1966 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in an Arizona case involving a man named Ernesto Miranda. The New Jersey case marks the first time the state's highest court has ruled in a matter involving an adult defendant that police cannot undermine the warnings during an interrogation." Odds and ends — Wildlife officials in Sussex County are looking for a bear with a chicken feeder stuck on its head.  — A lawsuit charges that police raided the wrong address in Gloucester City. — Schools in Toms River will pay bus drivers $29 an hour in hopes of recruiting more workers.  —  A third Piscataway police officer has filed a lawsuit against the department's chief.    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

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