Trenton NJ, We’ll drink to that , the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (“ABC”) announced today that it will suspend enforcement of the “Special Ruling” issued on September 21, 2018 regarding limited brewery licenses. The suspension will provide ABC with the opportunity to engage in further conversations with stakeholders, including craft breweries and other alcoholic beverage license holders, about the impact of the Special Ruling. In addition, ABC will work with state legislators to determine whether new legislation is needed to update the 2012 law that gave rise to the Special Ruling.
TRENTON, NJ– Today, AFSCME Local 3790 union members filed a lawsuit against New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Attorney General Gurbir Grewal, challenging the constitutionality of Assembly Bill A3686 – misleadingly titled the “Workplace Democracy Enhancement Act” – signed into law on May 17th. The key argument underlying the case is whether or not government employees have a constitutional right at any time to: (1) leave a union; and (2) end financial support to it.
Trenton, NJ – Yesterday, Governor Phil Murphy gave New Jersey Business a good laugh , after 18 tax increases totaling over $1.5 billion in new taxes the Governor has come up with a new scheme spending even more money to encourage startups in the Garden state .
Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey’s gas tax went up yet again ,this time by 4.3 cents per gallon. Gas tax revenue in NJ was down 23% last month and in 10 of the last 11 months. Some NJ gas stations are reporting their business is down by 25% Who is winning while New Jersey is losing? According to AAA Mid-Atlantic – we should look to our neighbors in Pennsylvania & Delaware.
According to data from the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) and AAA, the percentage of taxable gasoline sold in New Jersey (out of all taxable gas sold in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Delaware) dropped from an average of 43.68% to 41.98%, about 17.7 million gallons less per month in 2017 than in 2016.
Meanwhile, the amount of taxable gas sold in Pennsylvania and Delaware both rose in 2017, an average of 7.48 million gallons a month in Pennsylvania more than the average amount of gas purchased in 2016 and more than 208,000 gallons a month in Delaware.
Trenton NJ, Senator Steven Oroho Slams Governor Murphy’s Message to Businesses .
“You can’t raise business taxes by $1 billion and then lament months later how New Jersey’s tax policy has failed to draw start-ups to the state,” said Oroho. “While I hope this new initiative will prove successful, it’s likely that the mixed messages sent by Governor Murphy to the business community will continue to depress the state’s economic growth.”
CHERRY HILL, NJ – U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-01) Democrat released the below statement after the Trump Administration posted text for an updated North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) / United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement:
Ridgewood NJ, The race for a U.S. Senate seat in New Jersey is a statistical dead heat, with incumbent Democrat Bob Menendez leading Republican challenger Bob Hugin by two percentage points, according to a Stockton University poll released today.
Trenton NJ, Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean said that $1.5 billion in tax increases imposed by New Jersey Democrats this year have cemented the Garden State’s last-place ranking in the Tax Foundation’s newly released 2019 State Business Tax Climate Index.
Trenton NJ, The Department of the Treasury’s Division of Investment (DOI) today announced that the final, unaudited net return for New Jersey’s Pension Fund was 9.06 percent for fiscal year 2018, exceeding both the benchmark return of 8.65 percent and the 7.5 percent statutory assumed rate of return.
Newark NJ, A New Jersey attorney today admitted running a large-scale mortgage fraud scheme that involved properties in Jersey City, Clifton, Union, and elsewhere in New Jersey and caused losses of millions of dollars, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
Trenton NJ, Attorney General Gurbir Grewal covers for Governor Phil Murphy in an “only in New Jersey moment” , making excuses on why the governor hired an convicted felon , convicted on taking bribes mind you , for a job in the NJ Department Education.
Mr. Grewal while something maybe legal it does not make it right and does not lift the cloud of impropriety . As you are well aware New Jersey is already considered by most as the most corrupt political entity in the world. Just because someone can get way with something does not mean it is OK to do it. Because you can, does not mean you should.
Trenton NJ, A bill sponsored by Assembly Republican Leader Jon Bramnick requiring telemarketers to provide the contact information of their employer within seconds of a call is another step closer to becoming law following Assembly approval today.
Jon Bramnick
“People are bombarded every day by annoying telemarketing calls,” said Bramnick (R-Union). “When a person sits down to dinner or is relaxing after a hard day’s work the last thing they want is to be interrupted by an anonymous call for a product they have no interest in.”
Bramnick’s bill (A1954) requires a telemarketer to provide customers with the name, mailing address, and telephone number of their employer within 30 seconds of making the call. The bill aligns state law with federal law. Violators can be penalized. The Federal Trade Commission collected $120 million in fines last year.
“People on the federal Do Not Call list deserve to know who exactly is calling them so they can report any violations,” concluded Bramnick. “Telemarketers need to know there will be consequences for ignoring the law.”
There were 4.1 billion robocalls, including telemarketing calls, received in May alone nationwide, up from 3.3 billion in April. That’s more than 1,500 robocalls every second of every minute of every day, seven days a week, according to the YouMail Robocall Index, which estimates monthly robocalls in the U.S.
Trenton NJ, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced today that the ride-sharing company Uber Technologies, Inc. has agreed to pay a total of $148 million to resolve a multi-jurisdiction investigation into a data breach that compromised the personal information of Uber riders and drivers. New Jersey’s share of the recovery is approximately $3.75 million.
Old Bridge NJ, tone deaf Middlesex County Republican organization invited former Governors Tom Kean , Chris Christie and Christine Todd Whitman to headline the Forsgate Country Club fund raiser event. The planned participation of former Governor Christine Todd Whitman, who recently expressed her hope that Republicans would lose Congress, and that president Trump should resign had drawn strong criticism from many party leaders and activists.
Ridgewood NJ, the Tax Foundation released it’s 2019 State Business Tax Climate Index which compares each state on over 100 variables including corporate, individual, property, and sales taxes to show how well states structure their tax systems and to provide a road map for improvement.
The modern market is characterized by mobile capital and labor, and evidence shows that states with the best tax systems will be the most competitive at attracting new business and generating economic and employment growth.
Once again New Jersey was ranked dead last of all 50 states.
