The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Ridgewood NJ, New Jersey’s 2024 Energy Master Plan (EMP) is under scrutiny as officials and stakeholders voice concerns over its all-electrification strategy. At a recent New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) public stakeholder meeting, industry leaders, including NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor, warned that the plan could lead to higher energy costs and a less reliable power grid.
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Trenton NJ, Senator Michael Testa (R-1) said Governor Murphy’s order for departments to cut spending by 5% shouldn’t come as a surprise after Republicans have long-warned about New Jersey’s looming fiscal cliff.
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Trenton NJ, on Friday afternoon, more than two months after the law required legislators’ requests for budget funding to be released to the public, Democrats released requests that all have this disclaimer stamped at the top: “The Budget Bill includes this Resolution, either as submitted or in a modified form.” It’s not clear how original budget requests were sanitized, but they have almost all been modified to remove required explanations about how the money will be spent.
Continue reading Murphy Administration Accused of Whitewashing of Critical Budget Information
photo courtesy of Senator Michael Testa
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Trenton NJ, Senator Michael Testa (R-1) introduced his breweries bill Monday in the State Senate to allow brewers more freedom and control over their small businesses which are growing jobs and opportunity across New Jersey.
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Trenton NJ, a pair of Republican legislators today unveiled their legislation to ensure that the parents of New Jersey public school children will be able to exercise their rights under the law to observe, comment, and direct their kids’ education and safeguard them against the increasingly radical agenda of leftist educators and administrators.
Continue reading Legislators Unveil Parents’ Bill of Rights Legislation
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Trenton NJ, Republican senators called for action on their plans to save New Jersey taxpayers from suffering state income tax increases next year due to inflation after the Treasury Department estimated the cost of “tax bracket creep” at $543 million in FY 2023.
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Trenton NJ, mere months before a double-digit increase in the payroll tax on workers, the Murphy Administration announced plans for a $40 million give-away program for illegal immigrants.
Recently, it was revealed a web site operated by the Department of Human Services will help distribute taxpayer money to immigrants who failed to qualify to federal stimulus payments because they are here illegally.
Continue reading Murphy Administration Increases Taxes on Working Poor to Write Checks to Illegals
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Trenton NJ, Senator Michael Testa (R-1) said that nearly two weeks after a petition was sent to their offices, not a single Democrat in the New Jersey Legislature has signed on to an effort to convene a special legislative session to prevent an upcoming payroll tax increase on employers, repay debt, and restore stability to the state’s Unemployment Insurance (UI) Fund.
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Trenton NJ, Republican members of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee called for a windfall of State tax revenues to be returned to New Jersey taxpayers after the State Treasury revealed billions in unexpected revenues that isn’t needed to balance the budget or meet important priorities.
The Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee called for a windfall of State tax revenues to be returned to New Jersey taxpayers.
Continue reading NJ State Senate Republicans Propose Returning $4 Billion to New Jersey Taxpayers
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Trenton NJ, Senate Republicans Propose Budget Fixes & Reforms to Protect NJ Taxpayers. Republicans serving on the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee detailed proposed changes to Governor Phil Murphy’s FY 2022 State Budget proposal in a letter (click here for PDF) to Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo.
Continue reading Senate Republicans Push NJ Budget Reform in the Era of “Crazy Eddie” Murphy Budgets
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Trenton NJ, The Republican members of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee outlined a proposed framework for the State of New Jersey to responsibly utilize $6.5 billion in new federal relief funds with legislative approval.
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Washington DC, The Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey today announced that they believe the Cumberland County Jail failed to take measures to prevent inmate suicides and provide adequate mental health care.
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Trenton NJ, The Republican members of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee — Senate Republican Budget Officer Steven Oroho (R-24), Senator Sam Thompson (R-12), Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-13), and Senator Michael Testa (R-1) — issued the following background brief today on the Murphy Administration’s pending closing on $4 billion of emergency bonds:
Continue reading Critics Shred Governor Murphy’s “Crazy Eddie ” Budget and Bond Scheme
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Ridgewood NJ, Statements from Senate Republican Budget Committee Members on Democrats’ Tax Deal . The four Republican members of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee issued the following statements in response to a tax deal announced by Governor Phil Murphy and Democratic legislative leaders today.
Continue reading Senate Republican Budget Committee Members Sound off on Democrats’ Tax Deal
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Trenton NJ, Senator Michael Testa (R-1), a member of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on Governor Murphy’s unspoken, but obvious, reelection budget strategy:
“While Governor Murphy claims he needs to borrow billions of dollars to prevent layoffs and fund property tax relief programs, consider the following things in this year’s budget that the borrowing will really support:
Continue reading NJ Senator Calls Governor Murphy’s “Borrow and Tax” Budget a “Con”