COLLEEN O'DEA | JUNE 7, 2019

NJ Spotlight

Sen. Cory Booker on the campaign trail

---

Drawing at least in part on lessons from his home state of New Jersey, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker has unveiled a multi-pronged national plan, centered on a renters’ tax credit, for making housing more affordable, as part of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for president.

Saying America has a “housing affordability crisis,” Booker’s proposal also seeks to end restrictive zoning laws that keep low-cost housing out of many communities across the country, provide funds to build more affordable homes, help tenants fight eviction proceedings and eliminate housing discrimination and homelessness. Several of the provisions are part of the Housing, Opportunity, Mobility and Equality Act Booker introduced in the Senate last August.

The centerpiece of his proposal would be a refundable credit for those spending more than 30 percent of their pre-tax income on rent. The credit would cover the difference between 30 percent of an individual’s income and housing expenses, capped at the neighborhood fair-market value as enumerated by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. There would be no income cap, so the credit would help more than just those with low incomes.

Posted Jun 5, 2019

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com and Ted Sherman | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Gov. Phil Murphy speaks Wednesday at 1776 in Cherry Hill Mall.

---

BEVERLY BROWN RUGGIA AND STEPHAN LALLY | JUNE 5, 2019

NJ Spotlight

Stephan Lally and Beverly Brown Ruggia

---

Last month 400 extremely fortunate Morehouse College graduates flipped their tassels to the amazing revelation that they would be starting their post-college careers without student debt. Richard Smith, an incredibly generous billionaire from Texas, has pledged to pay off all of their student loans.

Smith’s gesture is noble, but unfortunately most other college graduates can’t count on the generosity of billionaires to pay off their loans. His gesture won’t cover the $1.5 trillion that 44 million Americans owe in student debt or the even $43 billion that 1.1 million New Jersey student-loan borrowers owe.

This debt crisis puts too many New Jersey graduates on a destructive cycle of damaged credit, limited career paths and missed economic opportunities. Students are unknowingly signing away their lives by taking out loans to pay for college. Lenders won’t approve 18-year-olds for a mortgage or small business loan, but will approve a student loan totaling tens of thousands of dollars. Many of these students have amassed debt from predatory for-profit college loans that left them without a valuable degree or the ability to get a better job.

JOHN REITMEYER | JUNE 4, 2019

NJ Spotlight

Gov. Phil Murphy discussing his property-tax relief proposal in Hackensack.

---

More than 2 million New Jersey residents would each get another $125 in property-tax relief next year under a proposal Gov. Phil Murphy detailed for the first time yesterday. But whether the Legislature ends up going along with his plan remains to be seen. Indeed, it may not even be considered.

Speaking at a morning news conference in Hackensack, Murphy said he’s pushing lawmakers to adopt legislation that would increase state spending on direct property-tax relief by $250 million.

The extra funding would let his administration establish a new income-tax credit to help offset property taxes paid by homeowners and renters who make up to $250,000 annually, Murphy said.

Updated Jun 3, 2019

By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com and Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Gov. Phil Murphy and Katie Brennan.

---

Updated May 31, 2019

By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Gov. Phil Murphy (left) and state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (right).

---

COLLEEN O'DEA | MAY 29, 2019

NJ Spotlight

New Direction New Jersey, an organization that supports Gov. Phil Murphy’s agenda, is mounting a new ad campaign that has raised concerns about the group’s lack of transparency and renewed calls for overriding Murphy’s recent conditional veto of a bill that would require groups like this one to disclose their contributors.

Last week, New Direction announced a $1 million campaign on cable and digital media, along with an online petition New Jerseyans can sign to support Murphy’s budget plan, including a millionaires tax. The first ad of the campaign, “Let’s Talk,” is already running and has angered the Democratic leaders of both houses of the Legislature.

The new ad follows close on the heels of Murphy’s conditional veto of a bill that would require politically active nonprofits like New Direction — social welfare groups organized under the 501(c)(4) section of the Internal Revenue Code — to disclose their contributors. These “dark money” groups have no obligation to report their donors and limited requirements for reporting their spending.

JOHN REITMEYER | MAY 28, 2019

NJ Spotlight

L to R: Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, Gov. Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney

---

The post-Memorial Day push for a new state budget begins this week in Trenton. This year, there’s added suspense given that Gov. Phil Murphy and lawmakers have yet to work out several difficult issues. The clock is ticking since they have only until June 30 to do so — and to avoid a government shutdown. Here are the five biggest issues they must resolve:

Millionaire's tax

Murphy, a Democrat, has remained adamant that the Democratic-controlled Legislature needs to raise the income-tax rate on earnings over $1 million; he maintains that’s necessary to raise more revenue to sustain spending. A 10.75 percent wealth surcharge was established last year on income over $5 million; his proposal calls for the surcharge to be applied to all earnings over $1 million.

But Murphy’s proposal has received heavy pushback from Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex), who are reluctant to raise any taxes even if this policy change would impact just a small slice of the state’s 9 million residents. If they don’t back down, lawmakers will have to remove $536 million in spending from Murphy’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2020 or find other ways of raising revenue to keep spending balanced.

Posted May 27, 2019

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex)

---