The Jaffe Briefing - June 16, 2022

TRENTON – After all the glorious debate about what to do with $9 billion in record tax revenue, New Jersey now has the answer: $2 billion in property tax relief. Gov. Phil Murphy and state legislative leaders unveiled the long-awaited plan yesterday, announcing that more than 2 million homeowners and renters will see some type of rebate, affecting 5.5 million people.  Average givebacks will be up to $1,150 for homeowners earning up to $250,000, while $250 checks will be handed to renters earning up to $100,000 - some welcomed cash at a time when consumer goods cost so much. And, at this rare, fleeting moment in history, the state can certainly afford it.

 TRENTON – Of course, when you give out $2 billion, there will be plenty of opinions. And while state leaders are considering yet even more ways to provide tax relief, others are noting this rebate is a big, fat check the state will have to write as the global economy falls off a cliff. Former Senate President Steve Sweeney’s think tank, comprised of budget experts and other officially-smart people, warn the state will lose billions over the next five years, as the flood of tax revenue will shrink to a trickle. The governor says, now-now, there is still plenty of surplus for the rainy-day fund, as the state is “battening down the hatches” and “expecting  we’re gonna be in tougher waters in the not-too-distant future.” Meanwhile, here’s $2 billion.

 TRENTON – And what about the state’s job creators? That’s all the small businesses that serve as the backbone of the state’s economy. Business owners say they pay about half of the state’s property taxes and are buried under four-decade-high inflation, crazy fuel costs and the ongoing shortage of good, qualified labor. And now the feds just announced the biggest interest rate hike in 28 years. Sheesh.  Murphy promises there will be a treat or two for small business at some point, perhaps in the fiscal ’23 budget. Making sure there is no increase in unemployment taxes would be a very good place to start. Handing out $2 billion, yet giving nothing to the people who somehow managed to keep New Jerseyans employed during the pandemic, isn’t the right message.

 BRIEFING BREATHER

 Hunting unicorns is legal in Michigan

 ON THE RAILS – Yes, there are more people than ever working from home, with some saying the number has quadrupled since the pandemic. With the price of gas and tolls, can you really blame anyone?  But the New York Times reports that the trains and buses into Manhattan will soon be full of commuters, more than ever. There are already more riders piling onto trains and buses to cross the Hudson on some weekdays than in 2019. Transit planners anticipate a more than 10% increase in ridership by 2030. It may not seem like a huge jump. But you may be forgetting how the transit network is already jammed and prone to maddening breakdowns and delays, with miserable commuters standing shoulder-to-shoulder when they finally squeeze into Penn Station and the Port Authority. Yeah, more demand is a big deal. Luckily, there will be the $30 billion Gateway project, featuring another tunnel to get commuters under the Hudson, anticipated to open in a decade or so. In a region with 25 million people, many pray it’s the solution.

STATEWIDE – New Jersey’s teachers certainly share the enthusiasm, as the school calendar ticks down on good ol’ 2021-22.  And many are already fretting September, when the state’s new sex ed regulations will be enacted. Oh, boy. The Philadelphia Inquirer reports three big changes: lessons that discuss gender identity by the end of second grade; puberty and masturbation by the end of fifth grade; and understanding the types of intercourse (anal, oral, etc.) by eighth grade. Now, before you go crazy and picket a school board, these performance expectations from the state are mere “suggestions” and not requirements. And some school districts like Garwood have already voted to ignore them, while Moorestown refuses to discuss “romantic and sexual feelings or masturbation.” “Will it be surprising? Will it be things that kids haven’t heard? Absolutely,” the Cherry Hill schools chief tells the Inquirer. Perhaps the state’s entire sex ed curriculum can be amended to this: “Go ask your parents; they obviously know.”

IN OTHER IMPORTANT NEWS

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Call it a case of the hungries. And now a bus driver is facing 38 counts of reckless endangerment after blacking out behind the wheel. Why? Those gummies he was eating were infused with THC, putting 38 passengers heading to the Mohegan Sun Casino in peril on March 13. On the side of Interstate 95 in Stratford, police found the driver slumped unconscious in the driver’s seat, next to an open package of what was called “Smokies Edibles Cannabis Infused Fruit Chews,” Hearst Connecticut Media reports. Toxicology tests showed enormous levels of THC in the driver’s bloodstream. On Tuesday, the driver pleaded his innocence before the judge. His argument? Thought it was just candy.

THIS DAY IN HISTORY

Bruce Springsteen picked up plenty of new topics for songs about lost love on this day in 1988, when he and Juliette Phillips separated.

WORD OF THE DAY

Anfractuous – [an-FRAK-chuh-wus] – adjective

Definition: Full of windings and intricate turnings, torture

Example: Playing “Pole Position,” the road always winds an anfractuous course.

WIT OF THE DAY

“Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.”

- Malcolm Forbes

BIDEN BLURB

“You want to know whether we're better off? I've got a little bumper sticker for you: Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive.”

-Joe Biden 

WEATHER IN A WORD

Mud