Marijuana Legalization Stalled In Trenton

Senate President Steve Sweeney announced that the proposed legislation to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey does not have the 21 votes need to pass in the Senate and will not be put to a vote today as planned.

BREAKING: No pot today. pic.twitter.com/T28UGcEpXm

— Matt Arco (@MatthewArco) March 25, 2019

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Rep. Chris Smith’s remarks on the Mueller Report

Congressman Chris Smith issued the following statement regarding the Mueller report:

“After almost two years of vigorous investigation, Special Counsel Robert Mueller—aided by 19 lawyers, about 40 FBI agents, intelligence analysts, forensic accountants and others—has found that there was no collusion whatsoever by President Trump (or anyone associated with his campaign) with the Russians to influence the 2016 election.  This vindication is good news for America, not so good for the credibility of those who insisted on an almost daily basis that there was ample evidence which demonstrated that the President was guilty of collusion. In the end, Mueller’s Report proves that the truth matters. False charges should have no place in American politics.”

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The Murphys and Bon Jovis Holding Cory2020 Fundraiser This Weekend

Governor Phil Murphy and First Lady Tammy Murphy will be joined by Dorothea and Jon Bon Jovi in headlining a high dollar fundraiser for Senator Cory Booker’s 2020 presidential campaign on Sunday, according to a copy of the invitation to the event obtained by MMM.

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O’Scanlon blasts Murphy for not budgeting for minimum wage increase

Senator Declan O’Scanlon

Governor Phil Murphy and his team apparently failed to account for the impact on the minimum wage increase he signed into law earlier this year will have on his own State Budget.   Senator Declan O’Scanlon called this omission a “shocking failure.”

“Just a month ago the Governor patted himself on the back as he signed the minimum wage increase bill. During today’s Senate Budget hearing, we learned that incredibly, while he was preparing this budget, the Governor failed to provide the very funding necessary to meet the increased spending obligations triggered by his new minimum wage policy,” O’Scanlon said.  Read the rest of this entry »

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Marlboro’s Proposed Budget Reduces Property Taxes

Marlboro Township Township’s governing body introduced their 2019 Municipal Budget with a plan to reduce property taxes, Mayor Jonathan Hornik announced.  Scheduled for passaged at the April 11 Council meeting, the budget as proposed will lower the municipal portion Marlboro property taxpayers annual bill. For average household valued at an estimated $494,605, the cost for all municipal services such as police, parks, public works, and road improvements will be $1,867.

“The challenge of managing the extreme weather conditions of the last several years continues to drive the Township’s cost of operations. Our budgets have had to absorb the increased costs of snow removal, in particular, which has increased more than 300% since 2007,” said Mayor Jonathan Hornik. “We also continue to grapple with State mandates including an 11% increase in our New Jersey Pension System contribution. Despite these pressures, we continue to deliver and expand the services our residents expect while remaining $1.95 million below the State levy cap and $1.24 million below the State spending cap.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Monmouth Freeholders’ 2019 Budget Is $44 million Less Than 2010

2019 Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders: Sue Kiley, Pat Impreveduto (Deputy Director), Tom Arnone (Director), Lillian Burry and Gerry Scharfenberger

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders recently adopted their final budget of the decade.  In the ten years since the 2010 budget, annual spending for county government as declined by $43.8 million, 8.9%, according to an announcement by Freeholder Director Tom Arnone.

2010 was the year Arnone was first elected to the Freeholder Board and the year the GOP took back control of county government after two years of Democrat control. Read the rest of this entry »

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Steinhardt: We owe it to New Jersey’s next generation to leave them with opportunity and not debt.

By Doug Steinhardt

NJ GOP Doug Steinhardt

Winston Churchill said, “An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last.” In New Jersey, as long as we keep electing politicians who feed the State’s bloated budget, none of us are safe.

Phil Murphy calls New Jersey a high tax for high value state. But Democrats are squeezing out what little value is left. Our schools are failing, NJ Transit deteriorating, jobs leaving, and taxes rising. Policies passed to appease progressives instead of provide solutions are chasing businesses and families away.

Last year, Phil Murphy and New Jersey Democrats set the bar for their income ”success tax” at $5 million. One year later, they redefined “success” as a family making $1 million or more. That’s an 80 percent drop. Take 20 percent of that and by 2020 a family earning $200,000 would pay more taxes. By 2021, a family earning just $40,000 could be the next, New Jersey “success”. It sounds crazy, but it’s not. The middle class is next, because government is out of control. Read the rest of this entry »

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Congressman Smith Announces Service Academy Info Night On April 18

Class of 2022 Service Academy Students from CD-4 were recognized by Rep Chris Smith and Capt. Pierre A. Fuller in a ceremony in Neptune last June

WASHINGTON, D.C.— High school and college students from the Fourth Congressional District who are interested in attending a United States Service Academy are invited to Congressman Chris Smith’s Service Academy Information Night, to be held Thursday, April 18, 2019.

The event will be held from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at Naval Weapons Station Earle, 201 Highway 34 in Colts Neck, NJ. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. Students, as well as parents, counselors and educators, who wish to learn about competing for a nomination to one of the Service Academies, are invited to attend. Read the rest of this entry »

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Congressman Smith: Joint Base Projects Are Safe From Cuts For Border Wall Funding

Congressman Chris Smith today announced that the $101.57 million in funding for projects scheduled at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst this year is safe from being diverted to fund the southern border security projects covered by President Donald Trump’s Emergency Declaration of February 15.

“These projects are not at risk,” Smith said after having been assured by the Department of Defense that awards for anticipated construction at the Joint Base are on schedule to be awarded in the current fiscal year. “Nothing at the Joint Base will be cut.”

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Pot Legalizaton Passes in Senate and Assembly Committees

After hours of delays for last minute amendments which caused the suspension of testimony and debate  a legislation that legalizes and establishes a regulatory structure of recreation marijuana passed the Assembly Appropriates Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday night, according to reports on Politico, InsiderNJ and NJGlobe.

Legislation to expunge marijuana convictions, including felony convictions for selling over 5 lbs of pot, passed the committees.  The felony expungement provisions prompted a strong reaction from Republican Senators Kip Bateman (Somerset), Michael Doherty (Warren) and Gerald Cardinale (Bergen).  Bateman said the bill contained “evil.”  Doherty said that the bill is a “deal with the devil.”  Cardinale suggested calling the bill, “the Drug Pusher’s Friend Act.” 

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