| | | | |  | | By Jonathan Custodio | A $4.7 billion plan to expand eight miles of highway leading to the Holland Tunnel is drawing criticism from New Jersey environmental groups, reports POLITICO's Ry Rivard. The New Jersey Turnpike Authority aims to replace the aging Newark Bay Bridge between Newark and Bayonne with two new spans that would double the number of lanes to four in each direction. Expansion of lanes and stretches of roadway would also be targeted through Bayonne and Jersey City approaching the tunnel. While the agency maintains that the project will alleviate traffic in the tunnel, including truck traffic to the port in Bayonne, critics assert that the additional lanes will jam traffic up even further. Environmental groups say expanding roads for cars and trucks — by far the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the state — contradicts the climate goals of Gov. Phil Murphy's administration, including a 50 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. "The Murphy administration has no plan to achieve the goal of reducing greenhouses by 50 percent by 2030 — that's the big picture," said John Reichman, an attorney who filed the petitions on behalf of EmpowerNJ, a coalition of advocacy groups, including Environment New Jersey and Safe Streets Jersey City. Murphy's office did not explicitly defend the Turnpike project nor did it distance itself from the authority's plans but defended the governor's environmental agenda, citing plans to promote electric vehicles and raise funding for public transit. "Our state's aging infrastructure demands considerable investments, and all New Jerseyans deserve commutes that are as safe and efficient as possible," Murphy spokesperson Bailey Lawrence said in a statement. "As we proactively upgrade our roads, bridges, and tunnels to support increased demand in the future, we will also continue to incentivize vehicle electrification in order to significantly mitigate the environmental strain imposed by automobiles and trucks." HAPPY WEDNESDAY 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. Today's shout out goes to Karen Jezierny for correctly answering that Deborah Poritz was New Jersey's first female Attorney General. Several of you were quick to note she was also the first woman to serve as chief justice on the New Jersey State Supreme Court. Today's question: What was the first year in which women made up more than 30 percent of the state 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 Murphy's spending plan. |  | WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY | |
THIS SCHOOL YEAR ISN'T EVEN OVER YET — In a further sign budget negotiations appear to be going smoothly, Murphy and legislative leaders announced today that the state will be instituting a so-called back-to-school tax holiday later this summer as part of the overall budget agreement.
The 10-day sales tax exemption will apply to school supplies, some computers and other educational technology, and sports equipment. It will last from Aug. 27 to Sept. 5. "A back-to-school tax holiday has been talked about for a long time," Murphy said during an event in Red Bank, where he was accompanied by Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Senate President Nick Scutari. "As inflation — I need not say but I'll repeat — is a central worry around all of our state's kitchen tables, now is the time to do it. We can more than afford to give our families and students this tax break." The agreement comes with accompanying legislation, sponsored by Sen. Fred Madden and Assemblymember Paul Moriarty (both D-Gloucester) that will be adopted as part of the Legislature's fiscal 2023 budget proposal. Murphy said the holiday will cost about $75 million. Exempted from the 6.625 percent sales tax will be: — School supplies (pens and pencils, notebooks, and binders) — Art supplies (paints and paintbrushes, clay and glazes) — Instructional materials (maps, globes, reference books, and workbooks) — Computers with a sale price less than $3,000 — Computer supplies (computer storage equipment, printers, and personal digital assistants, with a sales price of less than $1,000 per item) — Sports or recreational equipment (dance shoes, baseball and hockey gloves, athletic cleats, mouth guards, roller and ice skates, and bike and motorcycle helmets) — Carly Sitrin COVID NUMBERS — New Jersey reported 2,111 confirmed positive Covid-19 tests and 20 deaths from the virus today. The state's seven-day average was down 11 percent from a week ago and 47 percent from a month ago. | | ON THE BEATS | |
PARKS AND REC — After more than an hour of public testimony, the Assembly State and Local Government Committee voted unanimously to release bill NJ A4264 (22R), which would establish a task force to redesign Liberty State Park in Jersey City.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Angela McKnight (D-Hudson) would redo the park, which overlooks the Statue of Liberty and the Manhattan skyline — a proposal complicated by the involvement of billionaire Reebok CEO Paul Fireman, who supports expanding his privately owned golf course onto the park's grounds. Representatives from the Liberty State Park for All Coalition, as well as the People's Park Foundation, which is funded in part by Fireman, spoke in favor of the bill, arguing that new sports facilities and park improvements would be important to the Jersey City community. Meanwhile, members of the Sierra Club and local activists said they agreed that improvements were necessary but argued in favor of amendments to ensure limited private development of the park, as well as protection of wildlife at Caven Point, an undeveloped parcel abutting Fireman's golf course. James Solomon, a Jersey City Council member, spoke in opposition to the bill in its current form, pointing out that most of those speaking on either side shared a similar vision for the park — a vision that the proposed amendments prohibiting large-scale privatization would not block. "Assemblywoman McKnight, Commissioner [Jerry] Walker, they both stood here and said they don't want privatization. So, what is stopping us from putting those protections in the bill?" Solomon said before the committee. "You have an extraordinary opportunity to be the heroes and heroines of Jersey City with these simple amendments, but you can produce a bill that will unite all of us sitting here." Committee members said the bill was still a "work in progress." — Daniel O'Connor GUN SAFETY — The state Senate's Law and Public Safety Committee on Thursday plans to take up several of the long-stalled gun control bills Murphy is pushing, POLITICO has learned. The hearing does not yet appear on the Senate's agenda but is expected to be announced later today, according to two sources with knowledge of the plans. The soon-to-be-scheduled committee hearing signals a breakthrough in negotiations between Murphy and Scutari and comes as the governor and Legislature negotiate the state budget ahead of the June 30 deadline — a process that typically involves deals reached on legislation unrelated to the spending package. — Matt Friedman | | Around New Jersey | | ADVOCATES PUSH FOR FARM LABOR PROTECTIONS — NorthJersey.com's Lauren Sforza: "Jannet G. commutes about two hours every day to plant and harvest crops at a farm in New Jersey to support her three children and partner at home in Pennsylvania. … Jannet's story is a common tale among farm workers across the country, where many of these workers are paid low wages, work long hours in the heat and face deportation risks if they are undocumented. About half of the farm labor is done by undocumented immigrants, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service. The United Farm Workers Foundation, an organization that advocates for the rights of farm workers, has been pushing lawmakers to pass new safety regulations and protections for farm workers, like implementing a national heat standard, banning pesticides that harm people and creating an accessible path to citizenship." STATE'S 'SORE LOSER' LAW TO BE TESTED — New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein: "New Jersey's Sore Loser Law prohibiting the loser of a primary from running as an independent in the general election will get tested in court next month. Joseph Abutel, who mounted an unsuccessful write-in campaign for the Colts Neck Township Committee in the June Republican primary, now wants to get on the ballot as an independent. But the Monmouth County Clerk, Christine Hanlon, finding clear evidence that Abutel had actively sought the Republican nomination, rejected Abutel's nominating petition — filed before the polls closed on June 7 — for the fall election." | | Odds and ends | |
— Hudson County Community College is the latest school to add cannabis to the curriculum.
— A Lakewood police officer is under investigation after allegedly punching an opponent during a softball game. — NY Waterway will resume ferry service from Port Liberte. It has been suspended since the start of the pandemic. — New legislation would require college students and employees in New Jersey to be vaccinated against Covid-19 in order to attend in-person classes or events.
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