NJ Government Shutdown Likely

Governor Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin were unable to agree on how much pain to impose on New Jersey taxpayers after four hours of negotiating today, meaning that New Jersey’s state government will very likely shutdown at midnight tomorrow.

InsiderNJ is reporting that Sweeney and Coughlin cancelled the legislative sessions that were to have occurred on Saturday, and schedule session for Monday.  Senator Declan O’Scanlon told MMM that he had not yet been informed of a schedule change. Read the rest of this entry »

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Democrats Budget Compromise Talks Stall

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Governor Phil Murphy. NJGlobe photo by NIKITA BIRYUKOV

The Democrat debate in Trenton over which taxes to raise on New Jersey residents and by how much ended last evening with no deal.  Voting sessions scheduled for today in the Assembly and the Senate where cancelled.  Legislators were told to report to Trenton on Saturday.

If Governor Phil Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin do not make a deal that is approved by the legislature by midnight on Saturday, New Jersey’s state government will shutdown for the second consecutive year.

Governor Murphy wants to increase income taxes on millionaires and the sales tax on everybody.  Sweeney and Coughlin want to raise taxes on businesses to the highest in the nation, expand the sales tax to internet purchases, real estate sales, and impose a new tax on vacation rental homes and Airbnb rentals.

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O’Scanlon and DiMaso: Don’t tax summer rentals

As part of their compromise with Governor Phil Murphy over how many taxes to raise and by how much in the new state budget, the Democrat leaders of the legislature have proposed taxing seasonal rentals of vacation homes and Airbnb rentals.

Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso came out against a seasonal rental tax, which will have a disproportionate impact on Jersey Shore property owners, in a statement issued this afternoon.

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Supreme Court Decision Changes New Jersey’s Political Landscape

Today’s U.S. Supreme Court decision in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees, Council 31 is a game changer nationally and particularly in New Jersey where teachers and government workers pay checks are dinged significantly for union dues that ends up paying seven figure salaries to union executives and for political campaigns supporting politicians who do not deliver. (More on those lying politicians next week when the NJ School Funding Formula is finalized)

SCOTUS decided, 5-4, that public sector employees cannot be forced to pay union dues or fees that support union activity.
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Greg’s List: Things to Do in Monmouth County This Weekend, June 29-July 1, 2018

By Greg Kelly

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Friday, June 29

• SharkFest ‘18 (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• Jersey Shore Greek Festival (Ocean Twp.) – MORE INFO
• “Summer at the Jersey Shore” Exhibit (Freehold) – MORE INFO
• Mercy by NJ Repertory Company (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• Wall Twp. Fair ’18 – MORE INFO
• Songbird at Two River Theater (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• “The Fantasticks” at Monmouth U. (WLB) – MORE INFO
• The Great St. Mary’s Fair (Middletown) – MORE INFO
• Art + Autism at Monmouth U. (WLB) – MORE INFO

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Art G and Tommy G talk Jersey Politics this afternoon

Will the State government shutdown this weekend?   How much will your taxes go up?  Will New Jersey elect Bob Hugin, a Republican, to the United States Senate or send disgraced Senator Bob Menendez back to Washington for six more years? Why are Democrat congressional candidates running away from Nancy Pelosi and Republicans equivocating on their support of President Trump?

Tune in to The Tommy G Show this afternoon at 4:06 to hear Tommy and MMM publisher Art Gallagher banter about the shenanigans in Trenton and Washington.

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A Very Special High School Graduation: Sean Goldman Graduates From Holmdel High School

By Art Gallagher

David and Sean Goldman celebrate Sean’s graduation from Holmdel High School

This time of year thousands of New Jersey families, millions throughout the nation, are celebrating a major milestone in the lives of their teen aged children as they graduate from high school.

Twice this week, Sean Goldman’s graduation from Holmdel High School was described to me as a miracle.

It’s not that Sean overcame a disability or extreme hardship–miracles that should be celebrated.  Sean was abducted by his mother, Bruna Bianchi, 14 years ago and taken to Brazil. Bianchi took Sean on what she said was a two week vacation to visit her family in Brazil, but once there, she divorced Sean’s father, David Goldman, and kept the four year old boy from his father.  A Brazilian Court granted Bianchi a divorce. A New Jersey Court granted David custody of his son.

When Bianchi died during childbirth four years later, the international child custody case should have been over, under the terms of the Hague Convention which grants custody to a surviving biological parent.  But Sean’s maternal grandparents and step-father used their wealth and political influence to thwart—temporarily as it turned out–David’s unrelenting commitment to raise his son.

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Art G discusses the Trenton Budget Circus with Tommy G this afternoon

The budget battle is Trenton is heating up as Governor Phil Murphy is threatening to shut down the government if the legislature doesn’t give him all the tax increases he wants.  Democrats and Republicans in the legislature are talking to each other in preparation of a possible override of Murphy’s threatened veto.  Former Governor Chris Christie is in the mix!

The Trenton budget circus is wilder than it has been since..well since last June when the government shut down while Christie went to the beach.

MMM publisher Art Gallagher will be on the Tommy G Show live this afternoon at 4:06 to give Tommy’s listeners an update on the shenanigans. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sheriff Golden, Freeholders, Call On Trenton To Stop Ripping Off 9-1-1 Fees

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden, Freeholder Director Tom Arnone and Deputy Director Lillian Burry were joined by a bi-partisan group of municipal elected officials, as well as public safety officers, at the County Public Safety Center in Freehold this morning where they called upon Governor Phil Murphy and the State Legislature to restore the $.90 monthly tax on every cell phone line to its intended purpose…the funding of New Jersey’s 192 Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs). Read the rest of this entry »

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Congressman Smith urges Senate to pass legislation combating opioid crisis

Congressman Chris Smith

Congressman Chris Smith today called upon his colleagues in the U.S. Senate to take swift action on a series of bills that passed this House this week which boost the federal response to the opioid crisis with support for  victims and service providers.

The legislation passed this weeks targets $3.3 billion in funding that was part of the 2018 omnibus spending bill signed into law by President Trump earlier this year.

“As the opioid epidemic continues to proliferate, our efforts to treat and prevent this disease at the federal level must be redoubled,” Smith said. “This crisis requires a more aggressive and comprehensive response to the problem, which is exactly what this package of bills will accomplish. The Senate needs to pass this legislation as quickly as possible—the severity of the crisis demands it.” Read the rest of this entry »

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