NJ SEED

Legislative Update(report on bills of interest to members)

A-850:  Establishes “Community Broadband Study Commission. January 28, substituted for S2846 and passed by the Senate with amendments. Next scheduled action March 1, Assembly concurrence.

A-4671:  Requires public and local utilities to provide notice to residential customers of available relief measures during coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. January 28, substituted for S3326 and passed by the Senate with amendments. Next scheduled action March 1, Assembly concurrence.

S-3033:  Establishes School and Small Business Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program in BPU. February 24 favorably reported by Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee. Next action: vote by full Assembly, TBA

A-4569: Requires electric power suppliers and gas suppliers to receive written signature from person prior to switching provision of electric generation service or gas supply service. February 24 favorably reported from Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee. Next action: vote by full Assembly, TBA.

Murphy Unveils $44.8B N.J. Budget with No Tax Hikes, Big Money for Pensions, $500 Rebates. Here’s What You Need to Know.

February 23, 2021 | nj.com

Gov. Phil Murphy on Tuesday (2/23) released a proposed $44.8 billion state budget that’s unlike any other in decades.

Without raising or adding any taxes or fees, the New Jersey would make its first full contribution to the public pension system in a quarter century, while boosting aid to schools and providing income tax rebates to hundreds of thousands of low- and middle-income families.

NJ SEED: Clearly an election-year budget proposal.

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They Warned NJ Needed to Borrow Billions. Now There’s a Booming Surplus. What Happened?

February 26, 2021 | njspotlight.com

They warned “winter is coming” and said then-President Donald Trump’s administration deserved “shame” for not sending New Jersey more robust federal aid.

Democrats who control both houses of the state Legislature last year said they needed an emergency borrowing issue — bypassing the constitutional mandate for voter approval — as a “last resort” to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Their goal: address what Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration was calling a “historic fiscal crisis.”

But now the state’s fortunes are nowhere near as dire as predicted. A revenue collapse that at one point was being forecast by Murphy to be on par with the Great Depression has not fully materialized.

NJ SEED: The article goes on to say, “After Murphy and lawmakers went ahead with the emergency borrowing last year and also hiked several taxes to bring in more cash, his administration is in the midst of amassing what should be a record state-budget surplus.” Whether by Republicans or Democrats, all policy decisions are dominated by political considerations.

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Fracking Banned in Delaware River Basin, but Commission Stops Short on Water Transfers

February 26, 2021 | njspotlight.com

The Delaware River Basin Commission voted Thursday to permanently ban fracking for natural gas in the basin but deferred a decision on whether to also ban the transfer of fracking-related water into and out of the region it covers.

Four of the commissioners — the governors of New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware — voted in favor of a resolution that formalizes a decade-long de facto ban on the controversial method of harvesting natural gas. A fifth commissioner, representing the federal government, abstained.

NJ SEED: The decision of the Commissioners is consistent with Governor Murphy’s pledge for NJ to be fossil fuel free. The votes of the four governors should come as no surprise.

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Business Report: Unemployment in NJ and Other Items

February 26, 2021 | njspotlight.com

New Jersey’s unemployment situation continues to improve. The number of workers filing new unemployment claims with the state fell again in the latest week, dropping to the lowest weekly total in nearly a year. Meantime, the clock is ticking toward the mid-March expiration of expanded federal unemployment benefits. But the COVID-19 relief bill working its way through Congress would keep paying out benefits through the end of August, at $400 a week.

NJ SEED: A number of encouraging signs that NJ is on the road to economic recovery.

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