Posted on

Labor Day Union Money in Elections

big-rat_theridgewoodblog

file photo by Boyd Loving
Amy Payne
September 3, 2012 at 8:59 am

This election year, millions of Americans will donate to the political candidates and initiatives of their choice at the local, state, and federal levels. But for unionized workers, union dues come out of their paychecks and go to political causes—and they aren’t consulted on where that money will go.

In July, The Wall Street Journal’s Tom McGinty and Brody Mullins published an eye-opening report that “Organized labor spends about four times as much on politics and lobbying as generally thought.”

Continue reading Labor Day Union Money in Elections

Posted on

There was a lot of money behind last year’s push to raise N.J.’s gas tax

gas tax nj

By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on March 02, 2017 at 7:02 PM, updated March 02, 2017 at 7:57 PM

TRENTON — One of the state’s leading proponents in last year’s fight to raise the gas tax for the Transportation Trust Fund spent nearly $4.4 million lobbying last year, according to an Election Law Enforcement Commission analysis.

The Engineers Labor Employer Cooperative more than quadrupled its spending over 2015, making it the highest-spending special interest organization in 2016.

Total lobbying in the state last year reached $68.3 million, a slight drop from the year prior, but still one of the most expensive years on record, the commission said.

The engineers cooperative, embarked on an ad campaign pushing both the 23 cent gasoline tax hike and a constitutional amendment dedicating all tax revenues to the Transportation Trust Fund, beat out even the deep pockets of the New Jersey Education Association, the state’s prominent teachers union.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/03/nj_groups_spent_5m_to_promote_gas_tax_hike_last_ye.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured

Posted on

N.J. senators and the Unions that Elected them call to end deadlock on casino referendum

casino_royale_1967_596

DECEMBER 23, 2015, 3:15 PM    LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2015, 5:44 PM
BY WAYNE PARRY
ASSOCIATED PRESS

ATLANTIC CITY — Pressure is building on state lawmakers to agree on a ballot question to put before voters asking whether to approve two new casinos in northern New Jersey.

Sens. Raymond Lesniak, a Democrat, and Joseph Kyrillos, a Republican, called on lawmakers Wednesday to agree on a single plan for the November referendum.

Competing versions of the proposal in the Senate and Assembly differ mainly on which companies would be allowed to own the new casinos.

“Casino expansion will create jobs and generate economic growth for the entire state,” said Lesniak, a potential candidate for governor in 2017. “This is an opportunity we have to capitalize on. Democrats and Republicans in the Legislature should work together on a plan that can go to the voters for approval on the next ballot in November of 2016.”

Kyrillos said the referendum is too important to be scuttled by partisan politics.

“The entire Assembly, including Republicans and Monmouth County’s two new Assembly Democrats, need to wake up and join the Senate’s initiative to help save this effort,” he said.

Republican Sen. Jennifer Beck said Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop — a likely gubernatorial candidate — “have repeatedly constructed roadblocks” to a Senate measure backed by Senate President Steve Sweeney, another likely candidate for governor. Fulop says he strongly supports casinos in northern New Jersey.

The proposal calls for casinos at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford and in Jersey City. The vote to allow the new casinos would amend the state Constitution, which restricts casino gambling to Atlantic City.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/unions-n-j-senators-call-to-end-deadlock-on-casino-referendum-1.1478965