The Jaffe Briefing - January 10, 2022
STATEWIDE – You click your mouse; suddenly there’s a box on your porch with such crucial items as hand soap and toenail clippers. Sure, it is crazy convenient, but New Jersey is paying the price with all these mega-warehouses being constructed along our highways as online retailers zip stuff from here to there. NJ.com reports about some fed-up people in South Jersey, fighting plans for warehouses in Salem and Camden counties, replacing farms with millions of square feet of space. Residents say mega-warehouses are ruining the character of their towns, just like McMansions ate through bucolic sections of the state in the 1990s. The current problem: online retailers are desperate to find places to store their goods, and local government is desperate to tax someone other than voters. The inevitable result: More and more warehouses.
STATEWIDE – New Jersey’s college savings plan is finally getting somewhat competitive with other states, offering an income tax deduction for some families who participate, NJ.com reports. But “NJBEST” is still not best. Nowhere close. First, the deduction of up to $20,000 per married couple earning less than $200,000 a year may seem generous. But it isn’t. Many families in the state earn more, so the benefit is meaningless. And New Jersey’s higher investment fees than most states are the big deal-breaker. Any parent who spends seven seconds on Google, and quickly stumbles on SavingsforCollege.com, will see that. For example, New Jersey charges fees of $1,013 on investments compared with only $160 under Michigan’s plan. If New Jersey is really serious about being competitive, expand the income tax deduction and lower fees. If not, just rebrand the plan as “NJBLAH.”
STATEWIDE – This morning, New Jersey awakens to a pool of only 18,440 substitute teachers for the entire state. Knock out those who are sick, those who refuse to work, those who overslept after watching the Raiders beat the Chargers in overtime and others who can’t be reached by frantic school secretaries, the available pool is much, much less. Some school districts are forced to entice the subs to show up, such as the Wayne Public Schools offering $250 a day to certified subs who are willing to take a long-term role. State lawmakers are well aware of the problem, the Record reports, with the Legislature passing a bill to allow college students to work as subs, and considering allowing out-of-state subs to work in Jersey classrooms. More ingenuity is sorely needed; subs know they are finally as popular as the cool kid.
BRIEFING BREATHER
A swarm of 20,000 bees followed a car for two days because their queen was stuck inside.
STATEWIDE – Others in big demand? School bus drivers. One reason for the lack of certified drivers is a wack-a-doodle law that requires them to be “mechanical experts.” Yes, that little lady who can barely see over that giant steering wheel needs to know the power and torque of her diesel engine before she can pick up your little cherubs. Finally, the feds are offering some relief. NJ 101.5 reports the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is now allowing states to waive the stipulation for applicants to identify “under the hood” engine parts, such as discerning a fuel injector from a fuel pump. New Jersey has pounced on the offer, saying applicants can skip the nonsense through March 31. But these nascent drivers still need to safely navigate a neighborhood. That, for the moment, is a non-starter.
MILLTOWN – This is a “friendly community.” It says so on every street sign leading into this small Middlesex County borough. But, it has not been too friendly to Egnita Pardo, a mother of six who ran a shoestring write-in campaign that convinced 908 voters to elect her to the Board of Education last fall. The school board, however, is prohibiting Pardo from being sworn-in. It says there are “unresolved” issues still rattling around from a 2017 lawsuit she filed against the school district, TAPinto reports. An administrative law judge backed the board’s ban, ruling Pardo would get unfettered access to confidential info about her own case if she was sworn in. Pardo withdrew her old legal complaint in December, but the district hasn’t acknowledged it’s over. So, it looks like there’s more unfriendly litigation ahead.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
NEWBERRY, Pa. — Yeah, deer are all over. But in the hatchback of a car? Local cops pulled over a suspected drunken driver on Thursday, discovering a small, live deer that had apparently been hit and then heaved in the back. The driver explained that he had hit the deer, but it seemed sorta ok, so he kinda just, um, took him for a ride? Cops told the passenger to get the deer out of the car and carry it across the road to freedom, while charging the 19-year-old driver with suspected stupidity and other glaring infractions. And, yes, we have the dash cam footage for you.
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2013 that an asteroid called 99942 Apophis passes uncomfortably close to Earth. Hmm, a plot for a Netflix movie?
WORD OF THE DAY
Layman – [LAY-mun] – noun
Definition: A person who belongs to a religion but is a not a member of its clergy
Example: Let a layman collect the books after the service.
WIT OF THE DAY
“I grew up around people of strong values, even if they rarely talked about them. They loved their country, worshipped God, never shunned hard work, and never asked for special favors.”
-Harry Reid
BIDEN BLURB
“That’s Harry. That’s America. Here is someone Mark Twain himself would’ve written about as a defining character in America’s story had he known Harry.”
-Joe Biden
WEATHER IN A WORD
Frigid