The Morning Briefing - January 12, 2016
TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie continues his short break from the campaign trail – he needs to be back in New Hampshire tomorrow morning – to deliver his sixth “State of the State” address at 3 p.m. today. Sure, the state is a mess. But there are a few victories the governor will take credit for, like the unemployment rate falling to 5.3 percent from 9.8 percent when he took office. Or that the state has apparently added 224,000 jobs since 2010, when he was sworn in. Christie is expected to be talking today about some new conservative-friendly initiatives in education, health care and drug treatment. But if Christie’s presidential campaign picks up more steam, expect him to have zero interest in ramming such initiatives through the Democratic-controlled Legislature – already measuring the drapes in the governor’s office for 2017.
TRENTON – When Gov. Chris Christie touts the cut in unemployment and job growth under his laser-focused stewardship of the state, he simply needs to point down West State Street, as business, government and restaurant industry officials today cut the ribbon on a new café at 128 West State Street, or, as all the cool Trenton insiders call it, “Café 128.”
TRENTON – OK, lots happened in Trenton yesterday, with the final day of the legislative session. We’ll leave the punditry to the pundits to argue “who won” and “who lost.” Here is the quickest summary out there: The governor signed 50 bills, rejected 20. Voters will be asked if the state should be forced to provide quarterly payments to shore up the state’s depleted pension fund, and if a fuel tax should be used to shore up the state’s depleted transportation fund. Lawmakers want two casinos in North Jersey; the state may takeover Atlantic City. Other stuff happened, too.
TRENTON – Sure, there is still plenty of debate about critical issues ailing the state. But our lawmakers were able to rise to the occasion yesterday not once, not twice, but three times by supporting New Jersey butterflies, Politico reports. It all began with Gov. Chris Christie declaring the black swallowtail butterfly the official butterfly of the state. Later in the day, two butterfly bills sponsored by Assemblyman Tim Eustace clinched unanimous bipartisan support. The first promotes milkweed habitats, favored by monarch butterflies, as we all obviously know. The second bill creates a monarch butterfly waystation program, which we all know is desperately needed. Both measures passed, 74-0.
STATEWIDE – Curious to know why pollsters keep asking New Jerseyans about the governor’s job performance. He isn’t seeking re-election, and has not seemed fazed with his disapproval ratings hovering around an all-time high. But we figure someone cares about the latest poll, so here it goes: FDU is now giving Gov. Chris Christie a 31 percent job approval rating, with a 59 percent disapproval rating, the highest ever recorded in an FDU poll. But does this really matter anymore?
TRENTON — Lame-duck legislative sessions always have winners and losers, but Rosemarie D’Alessandro should not have lost her eight-year fight to ensure that parole is automatically denied to anyone convicted of killing a child under 18 during a sexual assault. As it stands now, “Joan's Law” only applies to criminals convicted of such a crime if the victim is under 14. Sadly, a bipartisan bill to raise that age to 18 never made it out of Assembly or Senate committees, the Record says. Joan's Law, enacted in 1997, is named for D’Alessandro's 7-year-old daughter who was abducted, raped and murdered in 1973. D’Alessandro hoped to spare other parents from enduring parole hearings for their child's killer as she has done three times. Now, the bill must be reintroduced. (Editor’s Note: We had the opportunity to interview D’Alessandro in the mid-1990s as she battled for Joan’s Law. A very sweet woman who has waited long enough.)
CHERRY HILL – There’s a big victory for the transgender community in Cherry Hill, where the local school district will soon be allowing transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms associated with their gender identity. There’s also a gender neutral bathroom they can use, as well as alternative changing areas. What does this all mean? It means kids can focus on their education – the purpose of them being in the building – as opposed to worrying about the bathrooms and locker rooms. The policy goes into place next month.
NEWARK - In yesterday's mailbag included a nice, polite letter from Newark Council President Mildred Crump, asking us to correct the record. We wrote the Newark City Council isn't exactly applauding Mayor Ras Baraka's call to limit charter school growth in the city. Ms. Crump noted that neither she nor South Ward Councilman John James signed the letter that seven council members sent to state Education Commissioner David Hespe supporting charter schools growth in the city. So, rather than a unanimous letter; it was only seven of the nine members not applauding Baraka's call to limit charter school growth.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
BAY CITY, Mich. – Never mind that the engagement ring was bought at Walmart for $29; some people just don’t have the scratch to drop thousands of dollars to prove their love. Or never mind that the groom decided to pop the big question in the Walmart, in front of employees and shoppers; some people want to have a ready-made audience for the big moment. But what got authorities miffed was what happened next, with the groom caught shoplifting an edible thong and sex toy from a nearby store, the Bay City Times reports. The couple is now spending its magical time together in court, rather than among the friendly folk at Walmart.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
Plenty of Congress members went to bed without a home-cooked meal on this day in 1915, rejecting a proposal that would have given women the right to vote.
WORD OF THE DAY
Glockenspiel – noun
Definition: Glocken is bells; Spiel is play. That makes the glockenspiel one great piece of percussion. It is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes.
Example: Think any colleges offer scholarships to those who master the Glockenspiel? Football just isn’t my thing.