By Fred Snowflack | June 2, 2021

Insider NJ

HACKENSACK – “Florio Free in ’93” was the Republican war cry 28 years ago this fall.

Times certainly have changed, but with the 2021 gubernatorial campaign upon us, Jack Ciattarelli has a catch phrase of his own.

“One and done in ’21,” the presumed GOP candidate proclaimed Wednesday night to a happy and hopeful group of Bergen County Republicans.

Recent history is something state Republicans enjoy bringing up. It has, of course, been more than 40 years since a Democratic governor was re-elected.

LILO H. STAINTON, HEALTH CARE WRITER | JUNE 3, 2021

NJ Spotlight News

Gov. Phil Murphy regularly used his briefings on the pandemic to explain his related executive orders.

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New Jersey’s public health emergency could soon end — at least on paper —  under revised legislation that protects some of Gov. Phil Murphy’s pandemic-related power but also gives lawmakers more say in the dwindling elements of the state’s COVID-19 response.

Democratic legislative leaders unveiled the new draft Wednesday, a day before it is scheduled for a final vote in both the Senate and Assembly. It comes during a week when New Jersey plans to start winding down some of the pandemic-related programs and takes additional steps to reopen its economy.

The legislation — first introduced in mid-May — would allow most of Murphy’s executive orders tied to the outbreak to expire within a month, while protecting about a dozen of these measures until the end of 2021. But unlike the first draft, this gives lawmakers some say over COVID-19 orders issued by state departments and agencies and ties future mask mandates and social-distancing restrictions to federal benchmarks.

By MARIANNE LEVINE

06/02/2021

Politico

Sen. Cory Booker says he’s at “a strange moment in my life” where he can finally count close ties to Joe Biden’s team, good relationships throughout the Senate, and a personal friend-plus-former colleague in Vice President Kamala Harris. |

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Cory Booker can still vividly recall the first time a police officer drew a gun on him.

Growing up in suburban New Jersey, he had his share of negative experiences with the police — an unfortunate rite of passage for many Black Americans. But he describes his college years in the wealthy and mostly white Northern California enclave of Palo Alto as the period where “the fear was at its highest in my life.” In one terrifying moment, Booker said the police stopped him and accused him of stealing his own car.

“It seemed like half the police force came out and they kept me, sitting in my car, screaming at me commands," the New Jersey senator recounted in a recent interview in his Capitol office. "And ultimately the only excuse they gave me was that I fit the description of somebody that they were looking for.”

JOHN REITMEYER, BUDGET/FINANCE WRITER | JUNE 2, 2021 

NJ Spotlight News

New Jersey has received more than $6 billion in federal COVID-19 relief funding, and like other federal aid programs, there’s a long list of things the money can and cannot be spent on.

Gov. Phil Murphy has yet to say exactly how the state plans to use its share of funding from the American Rescue Plan Act within those rules.

But the governor has said recently that he’s been having “good conversations” with lawmakers, who’ve already signaled they want a role in appropriating the latest tranche of federal aid.

The discussions are underway as Murphy and fellow Democrats who control both houses of the state Legislature gear up to also negotiate the next annual budget in the run-up to the July 1 start of the state’s fiscal year.

Posted Jun 01, 2021

By Jonathan D. Salant | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, shown here addressing the 2020 New Jersey Chamber of Commerce congressional dinner, is organizing a coalition of Black and Jewish senators in Washington.

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JEFF PILLETS | JUNE 2, 2021 

NJ Spotlight News

A sample ballot from Camden for the upcoming primary election shows the party line for Democrats in Column 1.

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In late April, the members of Camden County’s Democratic Committee got together via Zoom to review and endorse candidates running in the primary. The meeting lasted a grand total of seven minutes.

Kate Delaney, a teacher from Collingswood who wanted to be mayor, was at the meeting waiting to make her best argument to land her party’s endorsement. She never got the chance.

“I was completely cut off,” Delaney said in a recent interview. “I was told the endorsements were already made  by the party chairman. No room for argument. No room for debate. There wasn’t even a process.’”

LILO H. STAINTON, HEALTH CARE WRITER | JUNE 1, 2021 

NJ Spotlight News

May 28, 2021: COVID-19 vaccination site at at the Asbury Park Senior Center

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For eight months, Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration has focused on what seemed at times like an insurmountable achievement: vaccinating 4.7 million residents — or 70% of eligible adults — against the coronavirus.

As that goal nears, with more than 4 million residents fully vaccinated, some experts said the state should keep its foot on the gas, pushing forward until as many people as possible are immunized against COVID-19.

“There is no magic number,” said Dr. Martin Blaser, a professor at Rutgers’ Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS), in New Brunswick, and director of the university’s Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine.

By MATT FRIEDMAN

05/31/2021 

Politico

Gov. Phil Murphy pauses during a press briefing. 

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy spent his first term delivering win after win for liberal activists. He raised taxes on millionaires. He secured drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants. And he went to war with much of the Democratic establishment, making an enemy of George Norcross, the state’s most feared political power broker.

Now, Murphy — seeking reelection to a second term — has broken with his progressive base as they’ve turned their attention to an institutional foe: That same boss-dominated power structure Murphy had shunned.

The governor has made peace with Norcross and is embracing New Jersey‘s unusual primary ballot system, which gives prominent placement to party-endorsed candidates awarded the party's "line" on the ballot, shunting go-it-alone challengers to far-flung positions.

Posted May 30, 2021

By Star-Ledger Editorial Board

Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Hirsh Singh and Jack Ciattarelli.

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Posted May 29, 2021

By Sophie Nieto-Munoz | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Acme in Milltown displays their new mask policy and a "Now Hiring" sign. 

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