Things are getting personal in the seemingly endless legal fight over how much affordable housing to build in New Jersey.
After South Brunswick lost a court case seeking to tamp down its affordable housing obligations, the township’s attorney, Jeffrey Surenian, filed court papers last week attacking the judge who issued the ruling.
The allegation is that former Superior Court Judge Douglas Wolfson had a conflict of interest because earlier in his career Wolfson represented and befriended a developer, Jack Morris of Edgewood Properties, who allegedly stood to benefit financially from Wolfson’s rulings last year calling for more affordable housing units to be built than some towns wanted.
Editorial: The last thing N.J. needs is another entitlement
April 2, 2017 at 3:00 AM
State Senate President Steve Sweeney, the sponsor of New Jersey’s 2009 paid family leave law, wants to expand the program. Giving workers paid leave from their jobs to care for a sick relative or a new baby — and paying for it with a small, capped payroll deduction — proved to be a sound idea.
Abuse has not been widespread, employers’ worst fears have not been realized and some studies have contended that companies benefit from the program.
But there is no compelling reason to expand this new entitlement, as Sweeney (D-West Deptford) is unfortunately proposing now.
Oh, wait. There is one compelling reason: To boost Sweeney’s and fellow Democrats’ chances in November, when the entire Legislature is up for election. The Democrats shouldn’t need that much help this year. But Jersey pols, Democrat and Republican, never forget what keeps them in office — giving gifts to prized constituencies.
Sweeney, in particular, is in a bit of a jam, with the powerful New Jersey Education Association, miffed by his pushback on teacher pensions, vowing to fight him. Hence, a renewed commitment by lawmakers to dangle popular proposals in front of voters — like, say, expanding the paid family leave program.
Gov. Chris Christie told the mayors of the state’s two largest cities to “have at it” by declaring themselves “sanctuary” cities after the Trump administration once again threatened to cut federal funding.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Monday said such cities — which refuse to use municipal resources to enforce federal immigration laws — risk losing grants that already have been awarded.
“People should just comply with the law,” Christie said Monday during his monthly appearance on New Jersey 101.5’s “Ask The Governor.”
After Trump signed an executive order in January that would defund cities that refuse to cooperate with immigration authorities, Christie advised municipalities to take Trump at his word.
Christie also has vowed to veto any measure that would use state dollars to reimburse sanctuary cities for lost federal funds.
On Monday he called Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka by name.
“If they engage in voluntary conduct — which means sanctuary city is not mandated by the state; it’s voluntary conduct — then they think it’s important enough for their taxpayers to pick up the tab. Their call.
Attorney General Jeff Sessions fired a broadside at so-called “sanctuary cities” Monday, telling reporters local policies of noncooperation with immigration authorities are “dangerous” and will cost communities federal funding.
In the Trump administration’s most pointed warning yet, Sessions said federal law allows withholding of federal funding to sanctuary cities, and signaled that such measures will soon be taken. Sessions, who took the podium at White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s regular media briefing, warned of a pending crackdown by the administration.
“Such policies cannot continue,” he said. “They make our nation less safe by putting dangerous criminals back on the street.”
By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 14, 2017 at 7:45 AM, updated March 14, 2017 at 8:32 AM
TRENTON — Public employee unions and government officials clashed Monday in a case before the state Supreme Court that could determine whether workers across New Jersey will get pay raises.
The state’s highest court heard oral arguments over the whether “step” increases — raises in pay when workers reach annual milestones in years of service — should be granted after a contract has expired.
Atlantic County, Bridgewater Township and the Public Employment Relations Commission asked the court to reverse an appellate court ruling, which found PERC overstepped its authority when it upended a four-decades-old doctrine that says step increases outlive the term of a contract.
The Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 34 and Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 77 charged Atlantic County with unfair labor practices, alleging the county violated that “dynamic status quo” doctrine during contract negotiations and arbitration.
Police officers who were not yet at the top of the pay scale were due 5 percent or 6 percent step increases.
by Andrew Seidman, Trenton Bureau @AndrewSeidman | [email protected]
TRENTON — New Jersey lawmakers are considering relinquishing management of the pension plan for police and firefighters from the state to the unions that represent them. Public workers have been complaining for years that the state relies too heavily on investments in hedge funds and other so-called alternative investments.
Now, Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) is effectively saying: Fine, you give it a try. And most of the unions are embracing the challenge.
“It’s my pension. I need to wake up and see it’s being cared for, that it’s being invested smartly,” Patrick Colligan, president of the Policemen’s Benevolent Association, said during a Senate Budget Committee hearing Thursday. “And we can’t, respectfully, count on the State of New Jersey to do that anymore.”
The committee advanced the legislation on a 10-1 vote, with two abstentions, and it is expected to head to the full Senate for a vote Monday. The bill has not been introduced in the Assembly.
Ridgewood NJ, When Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno formally threw her hat in the ring in New Jersey’s race for governor, the Republican primary field already held State Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli (a career politician ) , Nutley Commissioner Steve Rogers( union hack), and Ocean County businessman Joseph Rullo and a gentlemen named Hir Sang (big on ideas light on details) which we cant seem to find out much information at all.
Comedian and radio host Joe Piscopo (what exit) has also been rumored to be mulling a ran for the GOP nod and while the rumors grow louder there is no movement at the moment .
New Jersey faces unprecedented fiscal problems; a huge pension deficit ,collapsing infrastructure , worst business environment in the USA, a drug epidemic and the lest tax friendly state in the land making the Garden State the number one state people look to move out of year after year.
While the New Jersey media spends it time covering the latest “outrage ” from the Trump administration and parades of “vigina clad” protesters , state issues hardly garner a mention.It seems if the media is not bashing Christie and his associates they have nothing to say at all.
Despite the eminent fiscal doom of the state , long since past the point of no return the next Governor will face a whole host of crushing issues leading to what many think will be the absolute collapse state finances leading to a state take over by the Trump administration.
One would think that the next gubernatorial election would take on a renewed urgency , but alas not in New Jersey . On the Democratic side we have the usual suspects of Bernie Sanders Socialists , 100 year out of date Union activist and a Goldman Saks gentleman ,we will call him Corzine 2.0 looking to buy the state house and rent rooms on AirBnB.
On the GOP side we have the usual mix of wanna be Democrats , career politicians , Christy Whitman Toad , “it’s my party too “,types with one exception fighting Joe Rullo.
The supposed front runner Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, an anti Trump , Whitman Toad wannabe who has so far managed to duck every debate and avoid any policy pronouncements what so ever.
To many critics Guadagno is nothing more than Whitman 2.0 , but less able to steal from public pensions and no chance of issuing the infamous, “air is safe” at ground zero.
Rullo caught our eye with his rather off beat campaign style , drain the swamp Trump rhetoric and YouTube commercials . We admit he is a long shot but so far he has offered some common sense policy , quick one liners ,isnt beholden to special interests and generally irradiates the status quo .
It is often so clear the both the New Jersey media and the Trenton Bureaucrats speak with one voice funded by vested interests .
During the recent Middlesex County Young Republicans of NJ, NJ gubernatorial primary debate ,fireworks erupted when Rullo was attacked as being anti labor by Steve Rogers for saying the state should save money on Wall Street management fees on NJ Pensions.
Later Rogers accused Rullo of not telling the truth at debate. Rullo claimed that Rogers said he would prosecute drug dealers as terrorist. Funny but in 3 separate media sources Rogers is on record saying the very same thing….oops!
“I have a message for every drug dealer. You better pack your bags before I get elected,” the candidate said. “If you are a drug dealer, you are a terrorist, and you will be treated as a terrorist.” -NJ Governor Candidate Steve Rogers Source: North Jersey.com Source: Politico Source: NJ.com
Other interesting moments when came after admitting people continue to move out of New Jersey because taxes are too high , Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli actually claimed some New Jersey towns are not over taxed with property taxes. and that healthcare was a “right” of every resident of New Jersey .
Steve Rogers defended pensions as “a promise made ” ,went into the usual union clap trap about stop blaming the workers ,but even he did finally admit some of those promises are a bit much and unsustainable. Ciattarelli recovered much lost ground with his constant insistence against bailouts, and government subsidies.
Rullo promised legalization of marijuana using the tax revenue to fund road work and state pensions. While Sang pushed for more efficiency in how Trenton works. Rullo went even farther pushing for more consolidation of state agencies, state functions and toll collection . Rullo throughout the debate continued to focus on getting rid of fat cat over paid administrators at all levels on New Jersey government.
All the candidates opposed sanctuary cities , taxpayer funded abortions , all favored immigration, and heavily opposed illegal immigration except perhaps for Sang .The candidates all favored Chris Christie’s ” fair school funding” or something similar .All candidates expressed strong support to 2nd Amendment issues .
Again most the of the issues have not changed for New Jersey since Whitman, and the slide continues to accelerate. Trenton’s vested interest , nanny state mentality is clearly the enemy . A lot of big talk from the candidates , the question is will things finally get so bad in New Jersey that Trenton has no choice but to change?
Actor-Comedian invites Kyrillos COS Tony Perry to his home in Western NJ
By Ken Kurson • 03/08/17 6:40pm
PolitickerNJ has learned that Comedian-Actor-Radio Host Joe Piscopo summoned Tony Perry to his residence in Hunterdon County last weekend. Perry is the Chief of Staff to State Senator Joe Kyrillos (R-Middletown). Piscopo, the morning drive time host on AM970, became highly associated with the Garden State via his Paulie Herman character (“I’m from Jersey”) and Frank Sinatra impressions on Saturday Night Live. He has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for governor this year, either as a Republican or Independent.
By Matt Arco | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 07, 2017 at 3:58 PM
TRENTON — Former Gov. Jon Corzine was blasted as the “mastermind” behind MF Global Holdings Ltd.’s collapse inside a Manhattan federal courtroom on Tuesday, according to published reports.
A lawyer representing the accounting firm PwC in a $3 billion trial over who’s to blame in MF Global’s down fall told jurors that Corzine should be held to account.
“Its bankruptcy was caused by its risky trading, its unprofitable business and other problems” said James Cusick, a lawyer for PwC, according to Bloomberg. “Mr. Corzine was the mastermind and the driver of that strategy.”
Gov. Chris Christie unseated Corzine in the 2009 gubernatorial election. After the election, MF Global hired Corzine, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs, to help engineer a turnaround of the firm’s collapse.
MF Global collapsed in 2011 after a disastrous bet on European countries’ debt.
TRENTON — Lawmakers in New York and New Jersey are pushing legislation that would give the governors of both states the authority to block actions by the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a six-decade old, bi-state agency charged with rooting out corruption at the ports.
The proposal marks the latest attempt to wipe away tough regulations the commission has imposed on the maritime shipping industry in both states and comes less than two years after New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that sought to abolish the organization entirely.
The incumbent could not be much less popular, and so New Jersey Republicans could go way outside the lines for an “outsider.”
It would be an understatement, and not at all a comment on the New Jersey governor’s girth, to say that Chris Christie casts a large shadow over this year’s election to select his successor. For eight years he has dominated his state’s politics, first as a successful bipartisan “problem-solver” with a knack for making his opponents look bad, and then a scandal-plagued punching bag and early lame duck. Until just over a year ago, his ambitions for higher office obscured his steadily declining status back home, aside from the “Bridgegate” scandal that dogged his presidential campaign. But then his close association with Donald Trump defined his national profile, and when Trump surprisingly won, it was widely assumed Christie was headed to Washington in some capacity.
Now, after being passed over for the attorney general gig he supposedly craved, leading him to turn down less exalted posts, Christie looks likely to stick out the last year of his governorship. But he may have thoroughly worn out his welcome in New Jersey. His job approval ratio fell to an abysmal 17/78 in a Quinnipiac survey at the end of January. His own lieutenant governor and the most likely Republican to succeed him, Kim Guadagno, has been trying desperately to distance herself from her former mentor and political sponsor. Another competitive GOP candidate for governor, Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, hasn’t had to do that because he’s long fought Christie, and even called for his resignation for spending too much time outside the state.
TRENTON, N.J. – Republican Chris Christie’s final budget as New Jersey governor has not yet passed through the Democrat-controlled Legislature, but already fiscal woes that could result in program cutbacks or higher taxes are on the horizon for whoever who succeeds him.
Christie unveiled a $35.5 billion 2018 spending blueprint on Tuesday without proposing tax increases or slashes to programs, but tax cuts enacted under his watch, a ballooning pension payment and mandated education spending will saddle his successor with challenging budget decisions.
Christie can’t run for re-election because of term limits. None of the leading Democratic and Republican candidates running to succeed him has unveiled his or her own prospective budget. While they’ve already begun to signal how they might approach the looming problems, it’s difficult to tell exactly how they would balance the budget.
A closer look at the issue:
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
Topping the list of issues is an estimated $1.1 billion hole from the reduction of the sales tax and phase-out of the estate tax that Christie and lawmakers agreed to last year as part of a deal on funding transportation.
Next year’s budget will also confront the prospect of a roughly $1.5 billion increase in the pension payment, if the current schedule is adhered to. And then there’s the school-spending formula approved by the Supreme Court that Christie failed to fund over seven years to the tune of about $1 billion a year.
There’s also significant uncertainty surrounding what could happen to federal aid the state gets, including more than $4 billion a year from the expansion of Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act. President Donald Trump and Republican-led Congress promise to repeal and replace the law.
Special interests spent $68.3 million last year lobbying the public, state lawmakers and Gov. Chris Christie’s administration. While total spending was down 2.5 percent from 2015, “spending to promote more funding for state transportation improvement kept lobbying expenditures relatively high,” according to the Election Law Enforcement Commission, which compiled the data.
You remember that one: the fight to replenish the broke fund that pays for road and rail improvements by hiking the gas tax for the first time since Ronald Reagan was president.
Health care was another issue that prompted lots of lobbying.
Trenton NJ, Governor Christie unviels his final budget as governor ;
“This is the ninth time I’ve come before a joint session to address our state’s budget. Each time I’ve had specific goals in mind; guiding principles to follow. Government should get smaller. Taxes shall not be increased. Our core commitments must be met. Each time, with varying degrees of struggle, harmony and acrimony, we have reached these goals – I have stuck to those principles. Let me assure you that today will be no different.
– Governor Chris Christie, New Jersey State Budget Address, February 28, 2017
The Fiscal Year 2018 budget will be the eighth and final state budget of Governor Chris Christie’s tenure. When Governor Christie entered office in 2010, New Jersey was enduring an unprecedented fiscal crisis, with an immediate $2.2 billion mid-year fiscal deficit, as well as an unthinkably large $10.7 billion projected budget gap for Fiscal Year 2011 — more than a third of the prior year’s budget. At that time, it was uncertain whether the State would be able to meet its payroll within two months.
The staggering $13 billion two-year gap represented the culmination of years of reckless tax-and-spend policies and shortsighted budgeting practices that ignored economic realities. While state and national economies faltered, spending in Trenton under the previous administration continued unabated at unsustainable levels — increasing 58 percent from 2001 to 2008. The previous governor’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget was propped up with temporary income tax hikes, corporate surtaxes, reliance on one-time federal stimulus funds, temporary employee furloughs and other desperate gimmicks.
Today, Governor Christie is presenting his eighth consecutive balanced budget built on a foundation of fiscal restraint and responsibility. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget will fund $2 billion less in discretionary spending than was spent in Fiscal Year 2008.
The Governor’s Proposed Fiscal Year 2018 Budget:
• Calls for $35.5 billion in State appropriations, a 2.6 percent increase, largely due to non-discretionary costs.
• Contains $2 billion less in discretionary spending than the Fiscal Year 2008 budget.
• Includes the largest pension payment in New Jersey history with a $2.5 billion contribution to the State’s defined benefit funds.
o This will bring total pension contributions by the Christie Administration to $8.8 billion.
o That will be more than two and a half times the total contributions made by all governors combined during the 16-year period from Fiscal Year 1995 through Fiscal Year 2010.
• Renews the Governor’s commitment to higher education in New Jersey. Overall, higher education funding is maintained at a total of $2.2 billion in Fiscal Year 2018.
• Proposes a seventh-consecutive year of the highest amount of school aid supporting Pre-K through Grade 12 education in New Jersey history. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget proposes more than $13.8 billion for education, an increase of $523.2 million.
• Provides more than $17 billion in direct and indirect property tax relief, nearly half the total budget, including $13.8 billion in school aid and $1.5 billion in municipal aid.
• Continues more than $1 billion for direct property taxpayer relief programs:
o 423,300 seniors and citizens with disabilities will receive an average Homestead Benefit of $511, while 169,500 other homeowners earning up to $75,000 will receive an average Homestead Benefit of $397.
o 138,200 seniors and citizens with disabilities will continue receiving Property Tax Freeze benefits averaging $1,401, while 25,100 new beneficiaries will receive their first year of benefits averaging $219.
Investing In New Jersey’s Transportation Infrastructure
Today, Governor Christie proposed a $400 million supplemental appropriation in this Fiscal Year. These funds will be invested and spent quickly over the next 100 days to address bridge deficiencies and road conditions in all of New Jersey’s 21 counties. Further, these funds will be used to expedite technology enhancements and other infrastructure improvements for New Jersey Transit and will allow the New Jersey Department of Transportation to deliver the largest construction program in state history. The results will be smoother roads, safer bridges and a more technologically sound mass transit system.
In October 2016, Governor Christie signed legislation that reauthorized the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund Authority Act. As a result of that legislation, Governor Christie’s fiscal 2018 budget provides a record $2 billion State Transportation Capital Program. The Program includes over $1.3 billion for State and local highway and bridge projects, and another $677 million for mass transportation projects.
Ensuring Access To Care While Keeping Down Costs
The NJ FamilyCare program currently provides comprehensive health care coverage to more than 1.8 million New Jersey residents at a projected $4.2 billion cost to the Fiscal Year 2018 budget. The program serves individuals eligible for both Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and represents a partnership between the State and the federal government. The NJ FamilyCare program, while having some of the highest income limits in the nation, has traditionally provided health coverage exclusively to low-income families, seniors and people with disabilities. On January 1, 2014, Governor Christie expanded the program, using 100 percent federal funding, to provide health coverage to low-income childless adults.
The proposed Fiscal Year 2018 budget represents the fourth full fiscal year of the NJ FamilyCare expansion, and while a fraction of the costs associated with this eligibility group have shifted to the State budget, the expansion continues to represent a tremendous value for New Jersey. Since the Governor’s decision to expand NJ FamilyCare in 2014, an additional 487,000 uninsured New Jersey residents have gained coverage under this program. Not only did this expansion provide reliable medical coverage to many formerly uninsured residents, the infusion of federal dollars has generated meaningful savings to the State budget. Through Fiscal Year 2018, the shift of State costs to the federal government combined with the reduction in demand for Charity Care has resulted in a cumulative savings of $2 billion to the State.
Commitment To World-Class Healthcare
With the goal of ensuring a stable and accessible hospital system that provides care of the highest possible quality, the Department of Health’s budget makes significant investments in three hospital subsidy programs: Charity Care, Graduate Medical Education and Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments.
• Charity Care. Governor Christie’s expansion of NJ FamilyCare has led to a dramatic increase in NJ FamilyCare enrollment, which continues to be funded almost entirely by the federal government. The associated decrease in uninsured residents has reduced by more than half the documented claims for uncompensated care submitted by New Jersey’s hospitals. Since the expansion took effect on January 1, 2014, 487,000 low-income residents have gained health insurance through NJ FamilyCare, a 38-percent increase in program enrollment. This fundamental shift allows for a $25 million reduction in State funding for Charity Care in Fiscal Year 2018. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget provides $252 million in combined federal and State support to offset the costs hospital facilities incur in treating the uninsured.
• Graduate Medical Education (GME). The Fiscal Year 2018 budget increases support to New Jersey’s teaching hospitals by $30 million, with the total amount available through the Graduate Medical Education program now totaling $218 million. This marks the third year in a row that funding for this critical program has been increased, with the total amount available now more than triple the funding provided when Governor Christie took office. This enhanced commitment to GME will help to ensure that New Jersey residents have continued access to an adequate number of well-trained doctors.
• Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP). Funded at $166.6 million, the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program was launched in Fiscal Year 2014 as a replacement for the Hospital Relief Subsidy Fund. The program continues to reward innovation and quality by distributing funds to hospitals based on measurable improvements in health outcomes.
Continued Emphasis On Community-Based Care And Services
Governor Christie is committed to fundamentally changing the way services and programs support individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, by moving away from a system that has historically focused on institutionalization to one that emphasizes home and community-based services and supports. To this end, resources have been refocused to provide people with intellectual and developmental disabilities with the ability to live as independently as possible with the proper supports.
The five-year Olmstead settlement agreement, signed February 2013, covered fiscal years 2013 to 2017 and required 600 placements over that time period. By the end of Fiscal Year 2018, the Department expects to have placed a total of 737 individuals, well exceeding the requirements of the Olmstead agreement due in large part to the acceleration of placements from the closure of North Jersey Developmental Center and Woodbridge Developmental Center in Fiscal Year 2015.
In addition to the Olmstead commitment to move individuals with developmental disabilities out of developmental centers, Governor Christie’s determination to provide services in the community includes funds to develop additional community placements and services that divert admissions to developmental centers. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget provides $89.7 million of new State and federal funding to create community placements and services, including Olmstead placements.
As a result of reforms initiated under the Medicaid Comprehensive Waiver, adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities that are living independently or with family are becoming eligible for substantially increased in-home support services for which the State will receive a federal match. When the Supports Program is fully implemented, it is expected to generate approximately $100 million in matching funding on previously State-only costs to create an estimated $200 million program, which will allow for the further expansion of services.
Family Services
The Fiscal Year 2018 budget continues and enhances the Christie Administration’s commitment to providing a wide array of services to children and families throughout New Jersey through Department of Children and Families (DCF) programs.
• Child Protection and Permanency (CP&P). The Fiscal Year 2018 budget includes a total of $986.6 million in State and federal funds for the operations and services provided by this DCF Division that is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect
• Children’s System of Care (CSOC). This program helps more youth remain at home, in school and in their own communities, while still receiving the full scope of services they require, and provides coordinated care for more than 61,000 children and adolescents. The Fiscal Year 2018 budget includes a total of $592.5 million in State and federal funds for the operations and services provided by this Division, an increase of $24.3 million over the fiscal 2017 Appropriations Act.
• Family Success Centers. The Governor’s proposed budget protects funding for these centers which are community-based organizations that provide a wide array of services ranging from day care, resume writing and parenting classes to domestic violence prevention and substance use disorder services. The number of Family Success Centers in New Jersey will increase to a total of 58 in Fiscal Year 2018.
Lead Safety
Through continuing and increased appropriations, Governor Christie’s Fiscal Year 2018 budget continues to address lead concerns in New Jersey, ensuring the State remains a national leader on this issue. Governor Christie has added $10 million in additional State funding to effectuate the update in lead regulations to make New Jersey’s standards for identifying elevated blood-lead levels in children consistent with those of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Department of Community Affairs will continue working through nonprofit organizations to remediate lead-based paint hazards affecting low- and moderate-income households in New Jersey.
The Fiscal Year 2017 budget provided $10 million to reimburse school districts for costs related to lead testing between July 13, 2016, and July 13, 2017. School districts that tested their water during that time period can continue to seek reimbursement in Fiscal Year 2018 from unexpended Fiscal Year 2017 balances.
Advocates and immigrants urge lawmakers to make New Jersey a sanctuary state, one that will not cooperate with ICE if it makes broad sweeps of undocumented communities
Immigrants and advocates concerned about the national crackdown on the undocumented may have a sympathetic ally in legislative Democrats, but it’s doubtful Gov. Chris Christie will support any of their suggestions for protecting those born abroad who consider New Jersey their home.
Testifying to high levels of fear and anxiety among the state’s immigrant communities, a number of lawyers and advocates, as well as two undocumented young people, told an Assembly committee last Friday that the state and local governments should take steps to protect immigrants, or at least turn a blind eye to the recently launched federal crackdown on the undocumented. One even suggested that New Jersey declare itself a sanctuary that refuses to help federal authorities arrest the undocumented.
“You should consider passing a resolution declaring New Jersey a sanctuary state and risk losing federal funds,” the Rev. Seth Kaper-Dale, a Highland Park pastor whose Interstate-RISE organization recently was approved as a refugee resettlement agency, urged the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Reform and Federal Relations Committee. Kaper-Dale, who is running for governor under the banner of the Green Party, termed the Trump administration’s executive orders and policies regarding immigration “a planned and coordinated attack based on race and ethnicity.”
