Good Friday morning!

There was so much stuff crammed into the Elections Transparency Act that the massive increases in campaign contribution limits felt like more of an afterthought as it was being rammed through the Legislature. And so far, it hasnt had such a massive effect.

Previously, individuals and companies used to be allowed to give a maximum of $25,000 to state and county political parties and legislative leadership committees. Now, they can give $75,000 to each and, in the case of the political parties, an additional $112,500 to legislative leadership accounts.

ELEC yesterday released an analysis of the last quarters fundraising for the Big Six committees the first quarter under the new law and found that the Big Six the state party committees and legislative leadership PACS raised $3,610,199, or about 12 percent above the average for the last 10 years. But if you compare it to 2011, which was the last year with a similar election in which the Senate and Assembly topped the ballot together, youll find that at this point in that cycle those committees had raised $3,684,467, or $4,980,303.39 adjusted for inflation.

Of course, 2011 was just a year after Citizens United, and super PACs flooded New Jersey politics with millions of dollars, much of which likely would have gone to the Big Six. Thats why ELEC actually supported higher contribution limits. And were just seeing the implementation of the new limits this year, so its just getting started. Well see whether it actually reduces the amount of dark money and super PAC spending in New Jersey politics.

One interesting thing ELECs analysis brought to light: A handful of people and organizations mostly labor unions gave the maximum donations to the committees. But just one person gave a state political party both the maximum $75,000 donation as well as the $37,500 for its housekeeping account. You may not be surprised to learn that was Bob Hugin, the chair of the Republican State Committee who made a fortune as a pharmaceutical executive. There were a handful of $75,000 donations, mostly from labor unions to Democrats. All in all, the committees have gotten $671,200 in contributions over the previous limits.

Read ELECs analysis here.

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QUOTE OF THE DAY: With knowledge of such easy money in the pipeline, the project has become a circus of excess and waste. A Senate Republican report on the Pompidou Center project in Jersey City, which so far has gotten $58 million in taxpayer funds.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Rob Andrews. Saturday for Tammy Murphy, Richard Lawton, Gary Chiusano, Amy Kuperinsky, Stephanie Doherty.

WHERES MURPHY? Joining a prayer call with Black clergy in the morning in remembrance of Sheila Oliver, then meeting with DCA employees. Holding a 1:30pm press conference in Trenton to talk about Olivers life.

SHEILA OLIVER Oliver to lie in state next week in three-day celebration of life, by POLITICOs Mia McCarthy: County Court House next week to honor the late lieutenant governor. It is part of a three-day Celebration of Life for Oliver, who died Tuesday at age 71, according to Gov. Phil Murphys office. Its an extreme rarity for a person to lie in state in New Jersey, and an honor that no recent former governor or state lawmakers has received after their death. Sheila was not only a distinguished public servant, but also our cherished daughter, sister, aunt, friend, and hero, the Oliver family said in a statement through Murphys office. She leaves behind a legacy of dedication, service, and inspiration. We will remember her commitment to the people of New Jersey and her tireless efforts to uplift the community. May her memory be a source of comfort and strength to all who knew her.

Murphy orders flags lowered for a month to honor Oliver

SEXUALLY ACTIVE RESIDENTS URGED TO TAKE CHILL PILL INSTEAD Murphy wanted to allow birth control pills without a prescription. Its running behind schedule, by POLITICOs Daniel Han: A New Jersey law to allow pharmacists to dispense self-administered hormonal birth control without a prescription is running months behind its statutory start date. Gov. Phil Murphy in January signed a bill into law allowing women to get such birth control including the pill, vaginal rings and diaphragms from pharmacists without a prescription, which he framed as the latest accomplishment for an administration which has been strongly supportive of reproductive rights. That is a shift from the normal practice of women needing a prescription from a health care provider. At the time, Murphy acknowledged that the law was not effective immediately but suggested it would be a priority.

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ANTISOCIAL MEDIA NJ plan to study social media impact on teens too slow to address crisis, advocates say, by The Records Mary Ann Koruth: While the states main stakeholders in public education have praised the creation of a new commission to assess and report in a year on the effects of social media usage on adolescents, some say a year is too long a wait to address an issue that has already claimed lives in New Jerseys schools. Ample research literature, government advisories and whistleblower testimonies already point to social medias negative impacts on youth, they note The state needs to create curriculum without delay to teach children how to protect themselves on social media, and one year is too long to wait, said Kara Alaimo, a Fairleigh Dickinson University expert on social media impacts on children and youth. It is wonderful that the state is looking into this, she said, but what I would also like to see happen is for the governor not to wait a year to implement social media curricula in schools.

GARDEN STATE EQUITY Gender-neutral equity code approved by State Board of Education draws attacks, by NJ Spotlight News Hanna Gross: The New Jersey State Board of Education narrowly voted to approve its equity code, as is required every seven years. The readoption vote passed 6-5, with board members agreeing Wednesday to several language changes, including using more gender-neutral terms, such as changing minority, female and male to all students. Many parents rights advocates packed into the meeting to express their discontent with the changes, urging board members to vote no on the readoption and threatening lawsuits after a majority ruled in favor. Board meeting minutes from March 2016, when the code, N.J.A.C. 6A:7, Managing for Equality and Equity in Education, last came up for readoption, did not list any votes in opposition. The governors office said in a statement that the changes are largely technical and are intended to clarify and streamline language.

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Snowflack Back to school in August

I SHOULDNT HAVE PLACED THAT BET ON HIM PLEADING GUILTY Trump pleads not guilty to charges that he conspired to overturn 2020 election, by POLITICOs Kyle Cheney and Betsy Woodruff Swan: Former President Donald Trump pleaded not guilty Thursday to federal charges accusing him of orchestrating a criminal conspiracy to try to derail the transfer of power after the 2020 election. A significant point of tension immediately emerged: How soon will he stand trial? Thomas Windom, the prosecutor helming the trial team for special counsel Jack Smith, said the case should move quickly. This case will benefit from normal order, including a speedy trial, Windom told the magistrate judge overseeing Trumps arraignment. But John Lauro, an attorney for the former president, said Trumps legal team might need a long time to go through the evidence that prosecutors are required to hand over to the defense.

JERSEY CITY SETTLEMENT 2 Jersey City MUA workers receiving $585k, 1 gets $10k raise, to settle racism claims, by Hudson County Views John Heinis: A Jersey City Municipal Utilities Authority (MUA) worker is receiving a $585,000 payout and one receiving a $10,000 raise to settle racism claims that included allegations of white supremacy. The Carters filed a lawsuit against the MUA, Executive Director Jose Cunha and mechanic Charles Schaadt with Tim Carter, who is Black, alleging that the latter displayed white supremacist ideology in his office Mr. Schaadt was so brazen in the JCMUA workplace concerning his white supremacist ideology that he screwed a photo of a white supremacist with a Nazi War Eagle tattoo and a tattoo of the Schutzstaffel Armanen rune (commonly referred to as the S.S. lightning bolt) under plastic in the window of the door between the West Side Plants garage and its cafeteria, the lawsuit alleged.

WESTWOODS NAME DEEMED CONTROVERSIAL BECAUSE OF ITS LATTER HALF Ten candidates will vie for four seats in Westwood school board race, by The Records Stephanie Noda: Ten people will be running for four seats this November on the board of the Westwood Regional School District, where disputes over sex, gender and the curriculum have sparked tense debates for months. The contenders apparently will not include current board President Michael Pontillo, whose name was not included on an unofficial list of candidates In recent months, critics have also turned out to protest the boards perceived slights against same-sex couples and a new district policy allowing only the American and state flags to fly on school grounds. That new policy led to the removal of an LGBTQ pride sign outside the district middle school, though such flags and banners are still allowed inside schools.

Westwoods controversial issues policy goes too far. Why hurt students?

INZELBUCKS Lakewood school board faces first major challenge since 2014, by The Asbury Park Press Joe Strupp: For the first time in nearly a decade, the current Lakewood Board of Education is being challenged at the ballot box. Seven candidates filed Monday to run for the three seats up for grabs in the November election, including four challengers. The board has not seen such a contested race since 2014 The increased election interest is occurring as the school district faces its most serious fiscal issues in years, with more than $125 million in state loan debt, a long-running lawsuit over state funding and the ongoing impact of the pandemic and so-called lost learning. It seems to me like a potentially hopeful sign, said Paul Tractenberg, founder of the Rutgers University Education Law Center and co-counsel for a 2014 lawsuit against the state seeking improved state funding for the district. I think anything that shakes it up, that brings greater openness and transparency and public input is for the public good. The salary of Board of Education Attorney Michael Inzelbuch has also been a concern An Asbury Park Press 2021 investigation found that he had earned more than $1 million in both the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. More recently that was reduced to $992,000 in calendar year 2021.

AND YET WE STILL HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT KARI LAKE N.J. county wants to drain 203-year-old lake amid ownership questions, pricey fixes, by NJ Bill Duhart for NJ.com: A 203-year-old lake is in danger of being drained because of a dispute over who owns, and is responsible for, the dam that formed it. The Ewan Lake Dam sits on the border between Harrison and Elk townships in Gloucester County. The ownership and responsibility for maintaining the dam to the specifications of the state Department of Environmental Protection is in question. The DEP has started to bring legal action to all parties to bring the dams up to code, Chad Bruner, the Gloucester County administrator, told NJ Advance Media this week in an email. The county is only one party to this action via the road near the dams. We have been on record that we do not own these dams or lakes and we are of the opinion that the best course of action on behalf of the county taxpayers is to decommission these dams/lakes as we cannot spend county taxpayer funds on privately owned lakes.

EXMART Last New Jersey Kmart to close as Westwood store will shut down in fall, by The Records Katie Sobko and Nancy Pascarella: Soon, Kmart will be just a memory in New Jersey, as the last location in the Garden State is expected to close this fall. The chains Westwood location, at 700 Broadway, will close in September or October and already has signs in the windows noting that everything must go. A location in Middlesex County closed last year, leaving the Bergen County store as the lone survivor in a chain that at one time had more than 2,000 locations around the country. In 2019, stores in Wayne, Trenton, Wall and Somers Point closed. Kearny and Belleville stores followed suit in 2021

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THE NEWS TERMINATOR AI-generated news has arrived in New Jersey, by The Center for Cooperative Medias Joe Adomitis: Which makes me wonder what LocalLens might look like in the near future once theyve expanded to cover whats happening in every community in America. Do the founders of LocalLens see themselves as something akin to a bot-driven version of Documenters that supplies much-needed notetaking and documentation of public meetings and records? Or will this eventually just become yet another good enough source of local news and information for residents in communities that have either lost or abandoned their own local news organizations? Im sure for most local journalists and publishers in New Jersey and elsewhere, the answers are obvious and probably somewhat troubling.

MANVILLE Hunterdon man charged in multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme, by MyCentralJerseys Mike Deak: A Hunterdon County man has been charged by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in connection with his role in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme that partially operated out of Manville. Christopher Anderson, of Readington, is one of six people charged with fraud in a civil action filed by the SEC in federal court in July. Anderson, however, was not included in criminal charges filed by U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger against the other people involved in the more than $35 million scheme. Among those facing criminal charges is Eliyahu Eli Weinstein.

I THOUGHT THE BAR ASSOCIATIONS ATLANTIC CITY CONVENTION WAS IN MAY Shark activity is up at the Jersey Shore this summer, by NJ 101.5s Jen Ursilio: There has been an uptick in near-shore shark sightings in New Jersey this year, and in the past few years, as well, said Rich Weddle, curator at SEA LIFE Aquarium at the American Dream in East Rutherford. Is the uptick in shark sightings related to the recent whale and dolphin deaths? Not necessarily. Weddle, who also has a degree in marine biology, said it is probably related to increasing ocean temperatures inshore and some of the protection that has been given to bunker, which is the bait fish that these sharks eat, he said.

Celebrity trainer from Teaneck dies by suicide amid child sex investigation

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