Assembly panel OKs revision to mail-in voting

Presented by the NJ Board of Public Utilities: Your afternoon must-read briefing informing the daily conversation among knowledgeable New Jerseyans.

Jun 09, 2022 View in browser   By Jonathan Custodio Presented by the NJ Board of Public Utilities Voters who forgo casting their ballots in person may need to mail them earlier than usual. The Assembly Judiciary Committee passed a bill today that would revise deadlines for sending, submitting and counting mail-in ballots. Assemblymembers John McKeon (D-Essex), Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-Mercer), and Committee Chair Raj Mukherji (D-Hudson) all voted in favor of the bill, while Vice Chair Carol Murphy (D-Burlington) and Assemblymember Robert Auth (R-Bergen) abstained. Under the legislation, sponsored by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, counties would begin mailing ballots to voters 38 days before an election instead of 45 days, the number of ballots received and counted must be posted on county boards of elections and Division of Elections websites, and counties can determine pickup schedules for ballots that are deposited in ballot drop boxes. While there was agreement on a provision that allows for the opening and counting of mail-in ballots up to five days before the election, voting rights advocates pushed back on a provision that would reduce the deadline for mail-ballots to be accepted to four days after an election from the current six days. "We can't support any effort to curtail voting," Henal Patel, director of the Democracy and Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, testified.   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 THURSDAY AFTERNOON — Hi there, I'm Jonathan Custodio, your Playbook PM author. We're adding New Jersey political trivia to this newsletter and will shout out one person who correctly answers the question in the following day's edition. Kudos to Rob Browne for knowing that four attorneys general served under former Gov. Tom Kean. Today's question: Prior to the state Constitutional Convention of 1966, how many members were in the New Jersey Legislature? Send answers and tips 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 ALL ABOARD — Officials in New York, New Jersey and the nation's largest passenger rail service are finally all on board for Penn Station's long-delayed redevelopment, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced today as she formally kicked off the bidding process for the busy transit hub's anticipated multi-billion-dollar facelift. Hochul was joined by New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Gov. Phil Murphy and leadership from Amtrak to announce that New York is officially accepting bids from architectural and engineering firms to redesign the midtown Manhattan nerve center linking commuters to the Garden State and Long Island. As a hub for two commuter rail systems and the city's subway system — each with varying needs — Penn Station has long been one of the most difficult infrastructure projects for elected leaders to strike agreement on. But they displayed a united front in the effort to redesign North America's busiest rail terminal. "This was jammed up for a very long time , simply because there could not be consensus between New York and New Jersey and Amtrak," Hochul said to reporters after the press conference in Moynihan Train Hall. … "Having a brand-new Penn Station doesn't mean much if we can't ensure that the trains heading here can get here on time," Murphy said. "And having a brand-new tunnel… doesn't mean much if we continue to require passengers to feel herded into an uninviting and obsolete Penn Station. This is a moment where the whole will be truly better than the sum of its parts." — Danielle Muoio Dunn COVID NUMBERS — New Jersey reported 3,120 confirmed positive Covid-19 tests and 11 deaths from the virus on Thursday. The state's seven-day average was down 4 percent from a week ago and up 6 percent from a month ago. ON THE BEATS CHILD LABOR — New Jersey's child labor laws could be getting their first major update in decades under a fast-tracked bill that advocates hope to pass early in the summer tourist season. The Assembly Labor Committee today unanimously approved legislation, NJ A4222 (22R) , that would allow minors to work longer hours, eliminate parental consent requirements and reduce paperwork. The state's laws restricting the hours minors can work date back to 1940 and, according to advocates, hasn't been meaningfully updated since. … In response to the labor shortage brought on by the pandemic, New Jersey last summer temporarily expanded the hours 16- and 17-year-olds could work from 40 hours per week to 50 hours per week during the summer. The bill the Labor Committee advanced today would make that change permanent. Parental consent would not be required for minors to work, though the state would be required to provide parents with an opt-out form for extended summer hours. School districts would no longer play a role in issuing working papers for minors. Instead, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development would set up a database to register minors and their employers. Work permits would never have to be renewed and minors could work up to six hours straight before taking a break, up from five. The bill is sponsored by Assemblymember Roy Freiman (D-Somerset). — Matt Friedman   A message from the NJ Board of Public Utilities:   Around New Jersey NJ SECRETARY OF STATE REJECTS NEW PARTY BID — New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein: "The acting New Jersey Secretary of State has rejected a bid by Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) to run as a Democratic candidate for Congress while at the same time running as the candidate of the newly-formed Moderate Party, a move that is widely expected to prompt a court challenge to a state law banning fusion voting. 'No candidate shall sign an acceptance of nomination on a General Election petition for nomination for an office if the candidate has signed an acceptance of nomination on a petition for the Primary Election nomination for the same office,' Tahesha Way, the state's top election official, said in a letter to Malinowski. Way said state election law prohibits Malinowski, the likely Democratic nominee – he won Tuesday's primary against perennial candidate Roger Bacon — to file an independent petition." PRESERVATION ADVOCATES PUSH HERITAGE TOURISM — New Jersey Monitor's Dana DiFilippo: "Mention Princeton and the Revolutionary War likely isn't what springs to mind. But the town best known for its Ivy League university played a pivotal role in American independence, with one of the war's most influential battles won there. Preservationists are working to make the Princeton Battlefield State Park as big a draw as Valley Forge, Independence Hall, and other more nationally known Revolutionary War sites — and they have a deadline, with the nation's 250th anniversary approaching and the tsunami of tourists they hope it'll bring. They face an uphill battle. Public funding for state parks has flatlined for years, and New Jersey doesn't tend to or tout its historic sites the way states like Massachusetts and Virginia do, critics say." SOME OFFICIALS SKEPTICAL OF WORLD CUP WINDFALL — NorthJersey.com's Daniel Munoz — "Within days, we should know whether MetLife Stadium will take center stage in what's arguably the most beloved sporting event on the planet. On Thursday, FIFA, the international soccer federation, plans to announce the host of the 2026 men's World Cup, the quadrennial tournament that draws hundreds of thousands of spectators to more than 60 matches, including a final expected to draw more than 1 billion television viewers. The 83,000-seat stadium in the Meadowlands is among the favorites, and Gov. Phil Murphy and other proponents have touted a potential $500 million windfall for New York and New Jersey, which have submitted a joint bid. But economists and some local officials aren't so sure." Odds and ends — It appears as though a tornado touched down in Camden County this morning.  — The George Washington Bridge will go to cashless tolling next month. — Two brothers drowned in a pool in Bayonne's Lincoln Community School last night.  — A Long Beach Island man was sentenced to two years in prison for throwing explosives at Pittsburgh police while protesting the death of George Floyd in 2020.    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

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.