Abortion-rights supporters derail abortion amendment

From: POLITICO New Jersey Playbook - Monday Nov 21,2022 11:56 am

Nov 21, 2022

Good Monday morning!

The effort to get an abortion rights constitutional amendment is over.

Abortion-rights supporters generally opposed the proposed amendment in favor of legislation that actually expands access to abortion in New Jersey. Democratic legislative leaders weren't able to agree on language for the amendment by Friday. And without anything approaching firm language, it was hard to sell the caucus on it. The effort finally collapsed over the weekend.

“While we were open to advancing a new ballot question on reproductive rights before the end of the year, advocacy groups like Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have asked us to hold off for the time being, particularly with battles occurring in other states where reproductive rights are at immediate risk,” Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said in a Sunday night statement.

For the time being? Maybe. But to get this on the ballot in 2023, the Legislature would have almost certainly needed to pass it with simple majorities two years in a row. Otherwise, they’ll need to pass it next year with a three-fifths majority. And because there’s a mandatory 20-day waiting period from introducing the amendment to voting on it, legislative leaders didn’t have much time.

“Ballot measures are a step we should only take if we need to — and right now, we don’t,” Jackie Cornell of Planned Parenthood said in a statement last night.

Ultimately, this question seemed more like a way to bolster Democrats politically than something that would actually result in substantial changes. This year, pro-abortion rights ballot questions in other states passed while restrictions failed , in blue states sand red states.

DAYS SINCE MURPHY REFUSED TO SAY WHETHER HIS WIFE’S NON-PROFIT SHOULD DISCLOSE DONORS: 288

TIPS? FEEDBACK? HATE MAIL? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Joey Gurrentz, Melissa Hayes, Matthew Montekio, Dan Zwillenberg

WHERE’S MURPHY? — No public schedule

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “I believe that Ms. Holmes has within her a sincere desire to help others, to be of meaningful service, and possesses the capacity to redeem herself.” — Sen. Cory Booker’s letter to the court for Elizabeth Holmes ahead of her sentencing. She got 11 years .

PROGRAMMING NOTE — I’ll be off for Thanksgiving this Thursday and Friday but back to the normal schedule on Monday, Nov. 28.

WHAT TRENTON MADE

PHIL MORRIS — Murphy releases details on $4.9M in income for 2021 , by POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife, Tammy, reported income of $4.9 million last year, much of which came from capital gains, dividends and interest, largely products of a strong stock market. Murphy, a multimillionaire, made a fortune as an executive at Goldman Sachs, similar to former New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine. Since Murphy became governor, the couple's income has largely come from investments.

His $175,000 salary as governor is roughly 3 percent of the couple’s reported income. The couple’s stock trades are made through a blind trust run by Stephen Snyder, Tammy Murphy’s brother. The arrangement was approved by the state ethics commission. The list of stocks that were traded resembles a broad and well balanced portfolio. Nonetheless, the trades include companies that seek to do business with the state, do business with the state, are regulated by the state or have political sensitivities attached, including Caesars, Dow, Dupont, Exxon Mobil, MGM Resorts, Moderna, NextEra, PSEG, Pfizer and Philip Morris, among others.

WAY TO GO, MERCER COUNTY — “ Major vote counting issues on Election Day will push back N.J. municipal run-off elections ,” by NJ Advance Media’s Ted Sherman: “Election Day problems that delayed tabulating the vote in Mercer County will also mean a delay in several New Jersey municipal run-off elections, to give officials have enough time to prepare for those runoffs and print the ballots that will be needed. Under an executive order signed Friday by Acting Governor Sheila Oliver, those run-off municipal elections will be postponed and rescheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 13.”

HAL TO BECOME SENTIENT COMPUTER ON SPACE SHIP — Assemblymember Hal Wirths won't seek reelection , by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: Hal Wirths, an assemblymember and former state labor commissioner, will retire at the end of his term, he announced Friday. The 57-year-old conservative Republican from Sussex County, who’s in the middle of his third term, cited family reasons. … Wirths’ Assembly running mate, Parker Space (R-Sussex), announced his retirement earlier this year, opening up both seats in New Jersey's 24th Legislative District, one of the most conservative districts in the state.

BWI: NOT JUST AN AIRPORT — ” State commission probes law on bicycle DWIs ,” by New Jersey Monitor’s Nikita Biryukov: “A state commission will consider whether New Jerseyans who ride bicycles, electric bikes or scooters, and similar vehicles while drunk should face criminal penalties. The New Jersey Law Revision Commission on Thursday weighed a memorandum proposing an examination of the state’s driving while intoxicated statute to determine whether inebriated residents riding bicycles could be charged with a crime.”

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N.J. POLITICIANS TO FACE FIFA OFFICIALS IN WORLD CORRUPTION CUP FINALS — “ Will NJ taxpayers have to help foot the bill for World Cup at MetLife? ” by NJ Advance Media’s Ted Sherman: “It’s a party that still has no price tag. This past week, New Jersey put up a $1.1 million down payment on the 2026 World Cup toward the cost of preparing MetLife Stadium for its role in the global sporting event — a planned $14.2 million makeover of the field for soccer play that organizers hope will ultimately be paid for by sponsors. But just how much the World Cup will cost the region remains a game in progress. And if those sponsorships do not materialize — or come up short of expectations — the state could end up footing more of the bill, officials acknowledge, as the state and the city of New York begin preparing even now for the world’s biggest sporting event.”

—“ Temp workers’ bill of rights expected to face senators again Monday ”

—“ Can $16B Gateway costs be lowered? GDC makes case as it seeks OK from feds for next phase ”

— Bipartisan bill would require high schoolers to learn about grief

—“ More than 68,000 low income NJ families will get $500 this month as part of stimulus aid ”

— ” Port Authority blames inflation, revenue losses for toll hikes ”

—“ NJ lawmakers call for overhaul of state veterans homes in wake of report, COVID deaths ”

—“ Bring back virtual learning for N.J. kids, these parents say as they rev up fight for remote option ”

—Mulshine: “ Gov. Murphy’s argument for bringing back the bear hunt has the Ring of truth to it”

—“ New Jersey’s low-paid temp workers face physical dangers with no health benefits. The Senate can fix this. | Opinion”

—“ Billions of plastic bags kept out of circulation by NJ ban ”

—“ N.J. corrections officer admits assaulting inmates at state prison, officials say ”

R.I.P. — “ George Callas, Senate Democratic executive director in 1970s, dies at 90 ”

BIDEN TIME

MENENDEZ INQUIRY — “ Wife of Sen. Bob Menendez draws scrutiny in federal probe ,”by The Wall Street Journal’s Coinne Ramey and James Fanielli: “Federal prosecutors investigating U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez are examining whether his wife received gifts or services from individuals who sought favors from the New Jersey politician, according to people familiar with the matter. The U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York has subpoenaed associates of Mr. Menendez’s wife, Nadine Arslanian, whom he married in 2020, the people said … The probe dates back to at least 2019."

ATTEMPTS TO OVERTURN FREE ELECTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES — “ Pollster: The 2022 midterm election in New Jersey was not about policy. It was about Trump ,” by Patrick Murray for The Star-Ledger: “In 2021, an influx of Republican voters motivated by national issues and the Trump agenda — particularly in South Jersey — contributed to a much narrower than expected margin of victory for Gov. Phil Murphy. We saw these voters come out again this year in certain spots, such as picking up seats in Cumberland and Salem counties. But 2021 also showed a bright spot for Democrats.

"Murphy actually did better in formerly Republican suburbs that had swung firmly Democratic in the past five years. Like Malinowski, Murphy had narrowed his deficit in Hunterdon county compared to his first run in 2017 and actually won Somerset, a county he narrowly lost four years earlier. That pattern held again this year. In fact, Somerset Democrats, who were resigned to seeing their newfound lock on county government broken in a predicted 'red wave,' held onto all their seats by comfortable margins."

—" Three more N.J. residents arrested for involvement in Jan. 6 attack on U.S. Capitol "

—“ Booker, Menendez ask FTC to investigate Twitter for ‘willful disregard for the safety’ of its users ”

—“ Republican takeover of U.S. House to cost N.J. much of its clout in Washington ”

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LOCAL

LAKEWOOD SCHOOLS —“ Lakewood BOE meetings are the only still not in-person locally, making parents get creative ,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Juan Carlos Castillo: “ Lakewood remains the only district in the Asbury Park Press coverage area that has not returned to in-person board meetings since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.”

MEDLAM — “ Two-vote bedlam in Mendham ,” by InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack: “Have Democrats gained another foothold in this traditionally Republican town? Perhaps. On Tuesday, Amalia Duarte, who is both the Morris County Democratic chair and a township committeewoman, happily dispatched a message highlighting the fact that the counting of all remaining mail-in and provisional ballots had put Democrat Lauren Spirig in office. This was no landslide. Spirig is up by two votes. The county clerk’s office has Spirig with 1,473 votes and Republican Thomas Baio with 1,471. Another Republican, Tracey Moreen, was top vote-getter … Laura Ali, the county Republican chair, says in a statement issued Thursday that the game isn’t over yet. She notes that the election has not yet been certified and that the county GOP wants a recount.”

—“ Hunterdon County imposes spending freeze to combat inflation ”

—“ Gov Murphy: Major national event is coming to Atlantic City, NJ ”

—“ [Newark] still has a rent freeze. Why are tenants getting hit with rent hikes? ”

—“ Hoboken OKs redevelopment plan for southeast area that includes police HQ ”

—“ Groups push back on helicopter flights over Liberty State Park ”

—“ Jersey City BOE Trustee Barkouch goes on offense against city over tax bill criticisms ”

EVERYTHING ELSE

N.J. STILL RULED BY GEORGE III — “ How a Draft of the Constitution Ended Up in a Drawer in Trenton, N.J. ,” by Kevin Coyne for The New York Times: “New Jersey is a dense, forgetful state that has paved over, knocked over or simply passed over much of its rich revolutionary history …. Stored in the same drawer in the vault is a companion to the royal commission: the original, ink-blotched, handwritten state constitution signed on July 2, 1776, declaring New Jersey’s independence from Great Britain and rejecting the authority of Governor Franklin, who had already been arrested … But with so many riches, why doesn’t New Jersey treat its history with the same reverence as, say, Massachusetts? ‘Or Pennsylvania, or Delaware, or Maryland, or New York?’ Mark Lender asked. An emeritus history professor at Kean University in Union, N.J., he ‘lived in the archives,’ he said, when he was a doctoral student at Rutgers University …

"‘More of the war was fought in New Jersey than in any other state — some 600, maybe more, military incidents between 1775 and 1783,’ Professor Lender said. ‘Consider that you had the de facto rebel capital in Philadelphia and the chief British garrison in New York: The only way these guys could get at each other was to go through New Jersey. Something was going on somewhere every week, and you could never tell when it was going to hit you.’”

—“ A U.S. President died at the Jersey Shore but small marker is all that’s left to remember it ”

THE ANTONIN SCALIA/SAM ALITO TRENTON NATIONAL AIRPORT — “ Hughes says no name change for Trenton-Mercer Airport ,” by The Trentonian’s L.A. Parker: “Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes said people have attempted to influence a name change for the Trenton-Mercer Airport. ‘But there’s no way the airport is going to have Trenton removed. It’s definitely not going to be the Ewing-Mercer Airport. Trenton deserves to have its name on the airport,’ Hughes said.”

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