The Jaffe Briefing - January 31, 2022

TRENTON – Property taxes are going down in New Jersey! Well, no, that would be ridiculous. But the state Legislature is pushing along six bills that are supposed to squarely address why it is so darn expensive to live here. The strategy focuses on throwing some funding here, and some more over there. For example, one bill would give towns more money from the Energy Tax fund for tax relief. Another bill increases income tax deductions for renters, while others are designed to ease regulatory burdens for businesses and to promote more economic development. Unclear if these ingredients are a recipe for any real, needle-moving success, but kudos to the latest round of lawmakers for giving it a go.

WARREN – There’s a terrific story of an undeterred underdog, a local mom taking on a mattress industry and its powerful lobbyists to do what is right. Joyce Davis, who lost her infant when he suffocated on a play yard supplemental mattress, petitioned the federal Consumer Products Safety Commission in 2015, demanding that the industry no longer sell such dangerous products that have continually proven fatal. There’s a lot of money in this business; these horrid products are sold to Amazon and all the other mega-retailers, no matter the risk or the number of babies who have suffocated over the years. Last week, the CPSC voted unanimously to approve the mom’s petition, after years of hand-wringing and delays, on behalf of her non-profit Keeping Babies Safe. Shooting a dart directly into the baby mattress business, Davis says she did it for her son and the many other young families now safeguarded from facing the same tragedy. Bet you want to learn more. Visit KeepingBabiesSafe.org.

DOWN THE SHORE – Sure, the thought of enjoying a Shore beach is the farthest thing from your mind, but the bulldozers are busy this morning dredging sand and replenishing beaches way before our glorious Memorial Day return. Speaking of dredging, New Jersey Monitor is pulling up the age-old argument: Should we be spending billions in public money so millionaires have even better views from their oceanfront mansions? Some call it welfare for the wealthy, but government continues to side with environmentalists who say the coastline's natural defense system would vanish without these mega restoration projects. Moreover, tourism would be washed up. So, as the feds prepare to throw another $30 million to replenish beaches between the Manasquan and Barnegat inlets, we should all remain grateful.

BRIEFING BREATHER

A chicken once lived without a head for 18 months.

STATEWIDE — Let’s say you own one of New Jersey’s gazillion pizzerias and your new delivery man has gone missing. Your cussing customers keep calling because your hot, delicious cheesy pies never showed up. Whatever you do, don’t use the GPS in your delivery vehicles to find out in which parking lot your driver is dozing. Gov. Phil Murphy just signed a new law that makes it illegal for any employer to use GPS, or any other tracking devices, to monitor their workers’ whereabouts. Employers can face 18 months in jail and $10,000 fines for being so darn nosy. Meanwhile, workers can vanish with impunity, as that pizza cheese turns into a cold, hardened shell.

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Bette Midler tweeted that West Virginians are “poor, illiterate and strung out.” So, in response, Gov. Jim Justice made sure to act “poor, illiterate and strung out” by ending his televised State of the State address Thursday night by lifting up his English bulldog and showcasing its anus to the TV cameras. “Babydog tells Bette Midler and all those out there: Kiss her heinie,” Justice said, as the crowd, acting “poor, illiterate and strung out,” gave their silly leader a standing ovation. That included a high school girls’ basketball team Justice coaches, getting a memorable lesson in classy West Virginian politics. Now get on back to the holler, ya hear?

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

It was this day in 1990 that McDonald’s opened its very first franchise in Moscow. McBorscht comrade? Eh?

WORD OF THE DAY

Stola – [STOH-luh] – noun

Definition: A long, draped robe worn by women of ancient Rome

Example: I hear there’s a big sale on stolas at the Menlo Park Mall.

WIT OF THE DAY

“Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she marries him and what she thinks of him a year afterward, and you will have the truth about him.”

- H. L. Mencken

BIDEN BLURB

“We have to ask: Are you on the side of truth or lies; fact or fiction; justice or injustice; democracy or autocracy?”

-Joe Biden

WEATHER IN A WORD

So-So