| | | | |  | | By Jonathan Custodio | Presented by the NJ Board of Public Utilities | This will be quite a production. Gov. Phil Murphy and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka announced this afternoon that a $100-plus million television and production hub will replace an abandoned housing complex in Newark. The story was first reported by The New York Times' Tracey Tully. Lionsgate Newark will occupy a 15-acre lot after most of Seth Boyden Court was demolished earlier this year. The new venture could generate an estimated 600 jobs and a slew of new business opportunities to the city, according to one study. The hub will be built by Great Point Studios and will feature six large soundstages, along with space for set building, postproduction editing, crew trucks and catering services. Soundstages have also opened in Jersey City and Bayonne's planning board approved a major production facility to occupy what was formerly a Texaco oil refinery. "One of my administration's priorities has been to enhance New Jersey's film industry and create new revenue streams for our State," Murphy said in a press release. "With the addition of the Lionsgate Newark Studio, New Jersey will cement its position as a hub for television and film production with its proximity to all forms of transportation and access to more than 14,000 qualified union members in the region." Last year, film and television pumped $441 million into the economy, according to the state's Motion Picture and Television Commission. Thanks to state tax breaks, that figure is a far cry from the $48 million spent in 2017. However, Bill Good, a senior organizer with the Greater Newark HUD Tenants Coalition, noted that preserving low-income housing is just as significant as the development, slated for a March 2024 launch, or the projected jobs. "Newark is in desperate need of low-income housing," Good told The New York Times. "It should be [a] one-for-one replacement." | | | | A message from the NJ Board of Public Utilities: New Jersey is on its way toward its goal of 100% clean energy by 2050. And you can help. Find out how New Jersey's Clean Energy Program can help businesses save energy and money with commercial clean energy incentives. High-value incentives and rebates on energy efficient improvements and appliances are also available from your utility company. You'll be saving more than money—you'll be helping to make the Garden State the Greenest State. Visit njcleanenergy.com. | | |
HAPPY TUESDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I'm Jonathan Custodio, your Playbook PM author. You can send photos of your favorite New Jersey parks 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 | |
HERE COMES THE MONEY — New Jersey lawmakers are eyeing more tax relief after officials from the Treasury and Office of Legislative Services predicted higher than projected tax collections for the state, reports New Jersey Monitor's Nikita Biryukov. Projections for the current and coming fiscal year are $6.9 billion higher than April estimates from the Treasury department and $3.8 billion more than those from the legislative office that same month.
Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said he wanted historic tax relief on Monday and Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), who chairs the Senate Budget Committee, suggested raising the state's cash reserves to $7 billion or $8 billion. Left-leaning think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective called for investments in several areas, including establishing a child tax credit and raising award levels for the earned income tax credit. COVID NUMBERS — New Jersey reported 3,590 confirmed positive Covid-19 tests and 18 deaths from the virus today, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized the Pfizer-Biotech vaccine for healthy children ages 5 to 11. The state's seven-day case average was up 34 percent from a week ago and 129 percent from a month ago. | | ON THE BEATS | |
ALIENS — Reports of UFOs and "unidentified aerial phenomena" are becoming more frequent, officials told Congress today and a new New Jersey bill could put Garden State students to work studying them. A measure proposed for introduction in the state Assembly this week, NJ A4060 (22R), would create a $250,000 scholarship program for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers studying unidentified aerial phenomenon and extraterrestrial technological signatures. The bill's text was not available as of this afternoon and there does not yet appear to be a Senate counterpart. — Carly Sitrin
JOB MOVES — Nicole Rodriguez is set to lead New Jersey Policy Perspective. The organization's board of trustees decided that elevating Rodriguez, who serves as research director, would be the best move towards its mission of driving policy change that advances economic, social, and racial justice. "I'm honored to take on the role of President of NJPP, an organization with a legacy of not only getting things done but doing so in a way that puts people first in the policy-making process," Rodriguez said. | | | | A message from the NJ Board of Public Utilities:   | | |
| | Around New Jersey | |
MENENDEZ BREAKS WITH BIDEN OVER CUBA — N.J. Advance Media's Jonathan D. Salant: "U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, whose parents emigrated from Cuba, took exception to President Joe Biden's new policies toward the communist country.
Menendez, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the Biden administration was wrong to increase travel to Cuba, saying it 'risks sending the wrong message to the wrong people, at the wrong time and for all the wrong reasons' while the Cuban government cracks down on those who engaged in pro-democracy demonstrations last year." NORCROSS ENDS LAWSUIT AGAINST REPUBLIC FIRST — New Jersey Globe's Joey Fox: "South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross and two allies, his brother Philip and former TD Bank U.S. CEO Greg Braca, said today that they are withdrawing their lawsuits against Republic First Bancorp and its now-former chairman, Vernon Hill, now that Hill has been deposed as chairman. Norcross, who has a long personal and professional history with Hill, launched a bid in January to increase his stature at Philadelphia-based Republic First and unseat Hill, its chairman and CEO. The Norcross-Braca coalition wrote a letter calling results at the bank 'so poor as to suggest an immediate reevaluation of strategy,' and insisting that Hill be replaced by Braca. In the months following the release of the letter, the trio filed two lawsuits: one against Hill and his allies on the board of directors alleging 'unlawful actions' to keep Hill entrenched in power, and another compelling the bank to release its books and records." GROUP CRITICIZES USE OF CREDIT SCORES, OTHER FACTORS IN SETTING CAR INSURANCE RATES — Gothamist's Karen Yi: "A group of New Jersey advocates is urging the state to prohibit auto insurance companies from using a person's job, education or credit score to determine pricing. They say the practice results in low-wage drivers paying higher premiums than wealthier motorists. 'You can have a doctor or a lawyer or some other kind of professional who has a worse driving record, even a DUI sometimes, who are paying lower rates than someone in a low wage occupation with bad credit or fair credit,' Renee Koubiadis, the anti-poverty program director at New Jersey Citizen Action, said in an interview. 'That's taking away income from them to be able to save up, to buy a house or send a child to college, or even, from day-to-day, from putting more food on the table or getting needed medications or other medical care.'" | | Odds and ends | |
— Preservation New Jersey is out with its annual list of the 10 most-endangered historic sites in the state.
— It's official now: Jimmy Davis has won reelection as mayor of Bayonne. — Parks advocates are calling on lawmakers and the governor to spend more on the Garden State's green spaces. — Today is the last day to register to vote if you want to participate in primaries on June 7. — Free bike pods will be installed at the Harrison PATH station this summer. | | | | A message from the NJ Board of Public Utilities: New Jersey is at the forefront of the clean energy revolution. Thanks to the enthusiastic participation of businesses, residents, local government, and many others across the state, New Jersey is well on its way toward reaching Governor Phil Murphy's ambitious goal of 100% clean energy by 2050. But there is still more to be done. Find out how New Jersey's Clean Energy Program can help you save energy and money. Visit njcleanenergy.com to learn about the available commercial and residential clean energy incentives, local government energy audits, and ways to save with high-value incentives and rebates from your local utility company on energy efficient improvements and appliances. You'll be doing a lot more than saving money on your energy bills—you'll be helping to make New Jersey the greenest state on the planet. Start saving right away—visit njcleanenergy.com today! | | | | | | | 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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