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NJ GOP - Weekly Rundown - September 8, 2023
Please see below for some of the trending topics and messaging suggestions in the Garden State from NJGOP for your use. - Alex
NJ DEMOCRATS & YOU: UNAFFORDABLE TOGETHER
Top Line: New Jerseyans are already struggling with the state’s high cost of living, and Murphy’s electric vehicle mandate is set to become yet another financial albatross on the backs of taxpayers.
NJBIA, saying EV mandate will hurt economy and perpetuate income inequality, launches campaign to stop Murphy mandate
ROI-NJ
“While we can all work to reduce carbon emissions, the ban of gas-powered cars in such an expedited time frame will put a heavy strain on the limited resources of families, businesses, government and our utilities,” Cantor said. “Electric vehicles and hybrids are much more expensive than gas-powered cars up front, without even mentioning the added costs of home charging stations and volatile electricity prices. Federal and state subsidies don’t make up for those added costs, and they will not be around forever. These increases unfairly target our most vulnerable residents who need reliable transportation. “This mandate cannot and should not cripple our communities and businesses, exacerbate income inequality in our state and remove our basic freedoms of choice for a proposal where the disadvantages outweigh any potential or perceived benefits.”
MURPHY’S TWISTED PRIORITIES IN EDUCATION
Top Line: For Democrats who are apparently so “concerned” with the latest vote from the Board of Education or otherwise silent on Murphy suing school districts, a special session in Trenton is their last opportunity to stand up for parents and kids before the November elections.
Assemblyman DiMaio calls for special session to protect parental rights
WRNJ Radio
“This is nothing less than state-sanctioned lying by omission. If schools can withhold information about some students from their parents, they can withhold information about all students,” DiMaio (R-Warren) said…“The aggressive stance the Murphy administration has taken on keeping information from parents about their own children should concern everyone,” DiMaio said. “Fathers, mothers and guardians must be protected from this gross government overreach and be free to do what is best for their own children. Except in the worst of circumstances where true harm may occur and proper investigations have been completed, no government bureaucrat should be making such decisions on behalf of any child.”
DEMOCRATS CONTINUE TO WHITEWASH WHALES WASHING ASHORE
Top Line: As long as Orsted keeps greasing the palms of Trenton Democrats, our pristine shoreline will become a thing of the past. Only a Republican check on one-party rule this November can stop them.
Revealed! This is what the NJ windfarms may look like from the beach
NJ 101.5
The windfarm developer and advocates of the renewable energy plan say such a sight will be minimal and rare. But officials representing residents along the the Jersey Shore, many of whom are fighting the proposed developments in the courts of law and public opinion, say proponents are downplaying how the massive project might mar one of the most beautiful sights of the Garden State.
Orsted’s offshore wind farm plans in New Jersey still moving forward despite financial tumble
KYW Newsradio
Orsted officials noted, however, that they have not paused or delayed any of their plans in New Jersey. Construction on Ocean Wind 1 is still set to ramp up early next year.
Bucco: State should pause Murphy’s Energy Master Plan projects
ROI-NJ
“Ørsted’s recent announcement makes it abundantly clear that the offshore wind projects were rushed, based on political talking points,” Bucco (R-Denville) said. “Not only did Gov. Murphy disregard concerns about the environmental impact of offshore wind surveys, but he also showed no concern about the practical costs of implementing the project long-term.
Alex Wilkes
alex@njgop.org
Communications Director, NJGOP
Alex Wilkes | Communications Director
New Jersey Republican State Committee
14th District Republicans call to move up start date of StayNJ plan, say residents need relief now
By Ricky Suta, August 21 2023 11:48 am
The Republicans in the 14th legislative district unveiled their “StayNJ Today” plan, which would move the existing StayNJ plan’s start date from 2026 to 2024.
A 2026 start isn’t soon enough for State Senate candidate Patricia Johnson and Assembly candidates Adam Elias and Skye Gilmartin.
The plan, approved by the legislature and signed by Gov. Phil Murphy in June with bipartisan support, provides a 50% property tax credit for qualifying seniors, with accommodations to renters. Until StayNJ kicks in, the $250 tax rebate under the ANCHOR program remains in effect.
“The voters need representatives committed to taking action now while we have a $10 billion surplus, rather than making promises for a day that may never come,” Johnson said.
Although all but two Republicans in the legislature voted to pass the StayNJ plan, the delay in the program’s start date has been a concern among Republicans in the legislature since the legislation was first introduced.
“Republicans in both the Senate and Assembly moved to amend the bill to take effect now, and the Democrats rejected the amendment because they were never serious about helping our seniors in the first place,” said Elias.
State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) and Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) voted for the StayNJ plan and will headline a town hall on the tax relief program this Wednesday in Monroe.
Recent Articles
Tricks of the Trade: The Trenton Tax Trap | Elias
July 8, 2023 Adam J. Elias Taxes 0
From its inception, the senior tax credit plan introduced earlier this month by Democrats in the Legislature has been called several things, from reverse robin hood, to smoke and mirrors, election year politics at its worst, or simply nothing more than a trick to give Trenton lawmakers a victory lap in their districts as they recess for summer and campaign for reelection in November.
Reasonable minds can differ on whether the plan is good policy, but here is a question worth asking our representatives: is the plan even enforceable? Not at all.
The New Jersey Constitution limits the powers of the Governor and State Legislature to spend our tax dollars in two ways: The Appropriations Clause and the Debt Limitation Clause. The Appropriations Clause allows the Legislature to submit an appropriations bill to the Governor reflecting a “negotiated” budget for the upcoming fiscal year, with a balance of enough revenue to cover the wish list of expenses outlined in the bill. Our government cannot set aside a specific dollar amount for future budget years and tie the hands of future legislators who may find themselves dealing with unanticipated economic setbacks like a recession, or a pandemic.
The Debt Limitation Clause requires any newly proposed state debt amounting to more than 1% of the year’s budget to be submitted directly to the voters by referendum. By applying both of these principles to the Democrat StayNJ plan, specifically how the plan is supposed to be funded with annual increasing sums of hundreds of millions of dollars set aside in a “lockbox,” it is clear that the tax relief plan is nothing more than a pinky promise to set aside money “subject to” the State Treasurer’s approval and can be broken as early as next year’s budget season, well before the delayed start date of January 2026 as the next Governor is getting settled in at Drumthwacket.
This is the same reason why many state workers will never see their pensions, or at least as much of it as anticipated. In 1997, Governor Whitman suspended the State’s contribution to the pension funds in exchange for granting public employees a “non-forfeitable” right to their pensions, which was meaningless.
After Democrat Governors McGreevey, Codey and Corzine continued to suspend these payments with the blessing of a Democrat-controlled Legislature, Chapter 78 was enacted in 2011, phasing in the State’s obligation to fund the pensions for the first time in 15 years. While beach bum Chris Christie is often blamed for “screwing public workers” and taking more out of their pockets, voters should remember that it was the Democrat-controlled Legislature—the same folks promising senior tax relief—that voted to increase employee contributions in exchange for a “contractual right” to the State funding their pensions.
The New Jersey Supreme Court later ruled in 2015 that any such contract would violate both the Appropriations Clause and the Debt Limitation Clause and likewise amounts to another pinky promise by Democrats.
Herein lies the Trenton tax trap. Governor Murphy has followed through on that promise for the past six years. But for how long (if ever) can the State deliver on promises to our public employees AND our seniors? It is unsustainable, that is, without breaking another promise to the rest of New Jersey: more taxes.
It may be worthwhile to start considering whether the “Next New Jersey” needs the next New Jersey Constitutional Convention to overhaul the status quo. A Constitution that lays out protections for public employee pension benefits and/or senior property tax cuts, both of which can already be found in other states. A Constitution that restructures our State obligations and ties school funding to alternative, more equitable revenue sources like income taxes, as proposed every year for the past five years by Republican lawmakers. Most importantly, a Constitution that provides for a full-time legislature subject to reasonable term limits, spending its time wisely solving our State’s ever worsening problems rather than staving off retirement until the next pay raise.
In the meantime, with just four months left to go for an election with all 120 seats in the Legislature on the ballot, voters must give major consideration to a desperately needed overhaul of the Statehouse roster.
Testa obliterates Ørsted bailout on ‘Fox & Friends’
Testa obliterates Ørsted bailout on ‘Fox & Friends’ (savejersey.com)
A $2 billion wind farm bailout cleared the New Jersey legislature last week, one which isn’t only corrupt but guaranteed to increase energy costs rather than lower them.
On Wednesday, State Senator Mike Testa Jr. (R-1) joined Fox & Friends to explain why throwing billions at a foreign company is an indefensibly stupid idea.
Pappas Says Zwicker Overreaches on
State Control of Local Libraries
Urges Age-appropriate Books
Decided Locally with Parental Involvement
May 22, 2023
Branchburg – Mike Pappas, candidate for New Jersey State Senate, today offered comments regarding Sen. Andrew Zwicker’s sponsorship of legislation that would directly connect State funding for public libraries and School District libraries to traditionally local decision making.
“Andrew Zwicker wants to sensationalize this into a conversation about book banning. I am not advocating banning books. However, there should be age-appropriate standards that are decided locally with the vital input from parents. The legitimate concerns of many parents, local educators and librarians could be summarily dismissed if Andrew Zwicker has his way. He seems to have determined that parents and local communities are incapable of making decisions that are in the best interests of their children and students,” said Pappas.
“The public policy advocated by a national library organization has been offered as the leading authority to be followed. I am sure this group has important professional perspectives but parental responsibility and parental rights should be supported and not negated,” stated Pappas.
“Parents should be given every opportunity to be involved in the education of their children and the State government should not take the heavy-handed approach that Mr. Zwicker wants. He is trying to confuse the issue and divert attention away from his extreme position that places greater control in the hands of State government that is insulated from parents and communities,” said Pappas.
“I urge Andrew Zwicker to step forward and join me in respecting and supporting parental responsibility. I urge him to support age-appropriate books and educational materials for school-age children. Grammar school-age children, such as first and second graders, are not taught algebra or geometry, they are taught basic arithmetic such as addition and subtraction. This should hold true for all educational materials,” concluded Pappas.
# # #
Michael Pappas
Candidate for New Jersey State Senate
P.O. Box 5016, North Branch, NJ 08876
District 16
Pappas Highlights $13 Million Impact to South Brunswick School District Due to Andrew Zwicker’s Inaction
May 15, 2023
Branchburg – Mike Pappas, candidate for New Jersey State Senate, today issued the following statement concerning impact to the South Brunswick School District:
“When Andrew Zwicker was given the chance to vote to restore full funding for school districts due to the S2 school funding formulas, he abstained from voting – twice! When given the chance to vote to use some of the State’s $10 billion budget surplus, his decisions to abstain on March 10 and 30, 2023, are prompting these scenarios in school districts throughout New Jersey.
The South Brunswick School District, his hometown, is reported to expect a $13 million shortfall,” said Pappas.
See attached article from South Brunswick Patch
south brunswick schools could be in financial jeopardy in 2024-25, saynofficials - Search (bing.com)
“When it mattered to his constituents, Andrew Zwicker was absent. He chose to ignore the needs of the people he actually represents in Trenton,” concluded Pappas.
# # #
Michael Pappas
Candidate for New Jersey State Senate
P.O. Box 5016, North Branch, NJ 08876
District 16
Governor Murphy: Do Your Damn Job and End the Rutgers Strike
April 13, 2023, 9:24 pm
New Jersey’s 14th legislative district is situated in close proximity to Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus. Consequently, the current strike by Rutgers University employees is having a disproportionate impact on many families in the district with students just a few weeks away from concluding the spring semester or graduating college.
Today, Adam J. Elias, candidate for the General Assembly in the 14th legislative district, called on Governor Murphy to take more deliberate steps to end the strike and get faculty back to work with their students.
https://www.insidernj.com/press-release/governor-murphy-do-your-damn-job-and-end-the-rutgers-strike/
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Young Republicans in Hamilton Helping Bob Healey on November 6
Young Republicans in Hamilton Helping Bob Healey on November 6
Young Republicans in Hamilton Helping Bob Healey on November 6
Great Day in Hamilton, Bob Healey greeting large group of Young Republicans helping get the word out
Young Republicans in Hamilton Helping Bob Healey on November 6
Young Republicans in Hamilton Helping Bob Healey on November 6
Jack Ciattarelli joined the group at their lunch break.
Lisa Richford, Chair
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