The Jaffe Briefing - March 16, 2022
STATEWIDE – Your typical DoorDash driver is a kid with a car, a street address and a bag of Chipotle. But state lawmakers are mucking with that simple business model, with a proposed law requiring food delivery drivers to carry up to $1.5 million in both uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage, as well as death, bodily injury, and property damage coverage. Oh, jeez. Yes, it makes perfect sense that commercial drivers, like these kids delivering burgers in their free time, should have commercial insurance. But is it feasible? New Jersey Monitor reports from a feisty Senate Commerce Committee, where lawmakers questioned if an Uber Eats driver handing you a Shamrock Shake needs the same insurance as someone who transports people. Great summary from Sen. Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen): “There’s less risk when you’re transporting a sandwich versus transporting people.” Meanwhile, the bill advances.
STATEWIDE – Rep. Frank Pallone may now be known as “father time,” leading the charge in Congress to get rid of daylight saving time beginning next November. And how is a long-time Central Jersey politician getting such distinction? Because Pallone leads the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which apparently deals with this kind of stuff. He held a hearing on the issue last week, and now the U.S. Senate has jumped on board, too, voting unanimously to make daylight saving time permanent, CBS reports. Pallone also has popular support, with Monmouth University pollsters saying 61% of respondents are tired of all this “springing forward.” It all now goes to the House floor for a vote, followed by a presidential blessing. Why the push? Daylight saving time is woefully outdated, harking back to World War I in an effort to save coal-fired electricity.
ATLANTIC CITY – The latest effort to finally ban casino smoking is getting traction in the state Legislature. There’s now bipartisan support, with 11 new co-sponsors, and now 18 members of the Assembly on board, Politico reports. And, in the state Senate, around a third of the 40-member body has also signed on to a companion bill. Perhaps that dangling cigarette will finally be snuffed out, as casino workers and other gamblers yearn to breathe free.
BRIEFING BREATHER
A lightning strike can reach temperatures of up to 54,000 degrees Fahrenheit - six times hotter than the surface of the sun.
ON THE ROAD – NJ Transit is rightfully snubbing a bus company, unanimously voting on Monday to reject $48 million in contracts for Academy Bus, involved in accusations that it defrauded the transit agency out of more than $15 million from 2012-2018, the Record reports. Now, officially, Academy is saying it did nothing wrong, yet still decided to pay $20.5 million to settle the case. (That’s pretty standard; we always pay millions of dollars in fines without reason.) Instead, NJ Transit handed the lucrative deal to a very ecstatic Coach USA, which bid nearly $10 million higher. NJ Transit board member Bob Gordon sums up the reasoning: “Advancing policies that led to 50,000 missed trips over the years and keeping two sets of books raise questions about the moral integrity of the Academy organization.”
OFF THE RAILS – In other NJ Transit news, expect fare hikes. The transit agency is looking down the barrel at a $549 million budget deficit by 2025, under the latest fascinating budget projections. So, unless NJ Transit suddenly finds a half-billion or so, it will need to hit up riders, once again, as it is currently pulling $362 million annually from long-term maintenance funds to fund annual operating expenses, Politico reports. The thought was NJ Transit was going to be ok, infused with all the federal emergency aid from the CARES Act, totaling $4.406 billion. And the fact the governor pledged no fare hikes for the fifth consecutive year gave us all the false feeling that NJ Transit is back on track. For weary commuters, the common thinking is that you live in the suburbs to save money. Now, with the high cost of daily travel and the unpredictability of mass transit, perhaps it’s time to change that thinking.
IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS
WELLINGTON, New Zealand – The big dream: to discover the largest potato in the world. A local couple thought they hit paydirt, unearthing what they believed was the biggest potato ever in their small farm. But their dreams were mashed, fried and diced, after the Guinness world record folks determined what they submitted isn’t actually a potato. After months of submitting photos and paperwork, the couple got the bad news from Guinness in an email last week. “Dear Colin,” the email began, going on to say, “sadly the specimen is not a potato and is in fact the tuber of a type of gourd. For this reason we do unfortunately have to disqualify the application.” A gourd tuber?
THIS DAY IN HISTORY
It was this day in 2012 that North Korea announces the launch of a satellite that would be used to “study crops and natural resources,” as opposed to spying. No worries. Remember; you can always trust North Korean dictators-for-life.
WORD OF THE DAY
Intersperse – [in-ter-SPERSS] – verb
Definition: To place or insert something at intervals in or among other things.
Example: My NCAA bracket picks will include some brilliance, interspersed with some really stupid, senseless decisions.
WIT OF THE DAY
“In today's world, where we live, there is no longer someone else’s war. None of you can feel safe when there is a war in Ukraine, when there is a war in Europe."
-Volodymyr Zelensky
BIDEN BLURB
“We’re moving further to augment support to the brave people of Ukraine as they defend their country.”
-Joe Biden, after authorizing $13.6 billion in emergency aid yesterday
WEATHER IN A WORD
Delight