Commuter Tax: Port Authority toll and fare hikes may be on fast track to a veto
The Port Authority’s billion-dollar toll hike proposal is on a fast track through public hearings today and slated for approval by the Port Authority board Friday. But look for Gov. Chris Christie and his New York counterpart, Andrew Cuomo, to slam on the brakes.
In fact, New Jersey Democratic leaders have suggested that it is hard to regard the hastily assembled plan as anything more than an elaborate political exercise designed to elicit a storm of protest over the Port Authority’s demand for unprecedented toll and fare hikes from economically strapped commuters. (Magyar, NJ Spotlight)
>Evergreen Solar files for bankruptcy, plans asset sale
By Greg Turner And Jerry Kronenberg
Monday, August 15, 2011
Evergreen Solar Inc., the Massachusetts clean-energy company that received millions in state subsidies from the Patrick administration for an ill-fated Bay State factory, has filed for bankruptcy, listing $485.6 million in debt.
Evergreen, which closed its taxpayer-supported Devens factory in March and cut 800 jobs, has been trying to rework its debt for months. The cash-strapped company announced today has sought a reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware and reached a deal with certain note holders to restructure its debt and auction off assets.
Why the Port Authority wants $1 billion in toll and fare hikes
For decades, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has been one of the region’s key economic drivers, pulling in ever-increasing revenues from its airports, cargo ports and bridge and tunnel tollbooths and pumping that money back into the economy in massive job-creating infrastructure projects.
Now it’s the Port Authority that’s overextended and strapped for revenue, as its unprecedented request for a $1 billion-a-year toll and fare hike shows. The plan would raise bridge and tunnel tolls, which were just increased from $6 to $8 three years ago, to $12 next month and to $14 in 2014, and would hike PATH fares next month from $1.75 to $2.75. (Magyar, NJ Spotlight)
Consumers may gobble up the latest iPad or smart phone, but financially strapped schools are having a harder time keeping up with technology.
Lisa Thumann, a senior specialist in Technology Education at Rutgers University, told teachers Wednesday at a Technology Conference at Richard Stockton College that there’s a misconception about how much technology exists in schools – a lot of it is old and does not work well anymore.
“There are still teachers with just one or two computers in their classroom,” Thumann said.
She said what students view online also deserves more scrutiny, as schools try to balance filtering out offensive and noneducational material with giving teachers and students broad access to information. (D’Amico, Press of Atlantic City)
>Global Warming Hoax: New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism
NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth’s atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.
House lawmakers voted overwhelmingly last night to strip police officers, teachers, and other municipal employees of most of their rights to bargain over health care, saying the change would save millions of dollars for financially strapped cities and towns.
The 111-to-42 vote followed tougher measures to broadly eliminate collective bargaining rights for public employees in Ohio, Wisconsin, and other states. But unlike those efforts, the push in Massachusetts was led by Democrats who have traditionally stood with labor to oppose any reduction in workers’ rights.
>Floods :Another way to look at it: If the BOE kept the grass fields but spent BIG $$$ on landscaping along North Irving and along the PSE&G Right-of-Way, would you now complain
Relax people. I wish we could tell which comments were real and which were set a bait to entice more negative commentary. I am sure that the 9:07 post was either that or a foolish attempt at humor.
Those who oppose these fields, at least be direct: If you are a neighbor and you’re worried about your back yard? I don’t blame you. But then also let us know if your property flooded LESS because the turf drained better than a grass field would. Honesty is a two way street.
If its worse? Say so. I’d imagine you could then bring suit agst the BOE. Funny that we havent had that analysis, but now you’re worried about “the kids.”
If this is costing the BOE money and us all money? I get it, believe me. But lets drop the B/S of old vs new residents, which has ntg to do with the conversation. That was bait, and I wouldnt put it past a smart neighbor to set the trap for everyone else.
Lets also drop the card about the dangerous conditions and how you saw kids splashing around in the waste. Save it. You arent worried about my kids. You are playing every card in the deck you can, b/c you are thinking about your own backyard.
I do feel for the neighbors. But stop with the lies.
Here is another way to look at it: If the BOE kept the grass fields but spent BIG $$$ on landscaping along North Irving and along the PSE&G Right-of-Way, would you now complain that the beautiful work was being damaged by these floods? If you and your home directly benefitted from it (like all of those with kids in the community hope to benefit from the improved fields), would you be beating such a drum about BOE waste?
Be honest. You wouldnt say a word. You’d expect the BOE to pay to re-plant your privacy buffers, and you’d complain when they didnt spend our tax dollars to do so.
Six months after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg appeared on Oprah to give $100 million to improve Newark’s strapped and struggling schools, $99 million is still sitting in the bank. (Moore, USA Today)
>Credit Downgrades loom for US states By Nicole Bullock in New York Published: February 17 2011 05:01 | Last updated: February 17 2011 05:01
Cash-strapped US states and cities face the prospect of downgrades after Fitch Ratings changed the way it analyses their burgeoning pension bills.
In a report published on Thursday, Fitch warns the new approach could lead to “limited negative rating action”, particularly for local governments with big wage bills. The changes to the way it assesses pension liabilities come amid growing concern over the scale of municipal debt problems and the effect on state and city finances of generous, unfunded public sector pension schemes that will run for many years. Sharp falls in equities and other risky assets during the financial crisis reduced the funding levels of nearly all these pension plans, increasing the pressure on states and local governments when they have even less cash because of dwindling tax revenues to make up the shortfall. Revenues have tumbled while spending has been rising.
In what some fear could lead to higher parking costs for commuters, NJ Transit is weighing a plan that could privatize parking at 81 of the cash-strapped agency’s sites — including the Hamilton, Princeton Junction and Trenton train stations. (Duffy, The Star-Ledger)
>Crazed eco-terrorist shot dead after taking hostages at Discovery Channel HQ after they ‘ignored his ideas for a TV show’
By Mail Foreign Service Last updated at 7:54 AM on 2nd September 2010 At least one device explodes as James Jay Lee is gunned down
Lee said he had been inspired by Al Gore’s ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ His website urged people to stop having ‘disgusting babies’ and halt overpopulation.
He had been arrested in 2008 for protesting outside the same building
A gunman has been shot dead by police after taking a number of hostages at the Discovery Channel headquarters in Maryland, U.S., after his idea for a television show was rejected.
All three of James Jay Lee’s hostages managed to escape safely. At least one device appeared to explode as he was gunned down.
Lee walked into the main entrance of the building at 1pm today waving a gun and wearing what appeared to be metallic canisters strapped to his front and back.
>This is not a “Freedom of Religion” issue people.
No one is stopping any Muslim from practicing their faith in NYC (or anywhere else in America).
Don’t fall into the trap of agreeing that “freedom of religion” ALLOWS the mosque to be built but it is INSENSITIVE.
That is not the case.
Freedom of Religion is not at issue here. There is no inherent “freedom of religion right” allowing Muslims to build this mosque in this particular location.
Muslims are not being restricted from practicing their faith so freedom of religion is not at issue.
Don’t fall into that trap. “Freedom of Religion” in this instance is a straw-man argument that is being put forth by those who support the mosque being built.
RIDGEWOOD commuters are getting a beautiful, renovated train station. NJ Transit is spending $24 million on the high-hat redo. At the same time, cash-strapped NJ Transit is passing the hat to its customers.
The lavish remake in Ridgewood is being carried out under the guise of handicap accessibility. The station platforms are being raised, and an elevator and new wheelchair ramps are being added. In keeping with the historic character of the existing station, the new platform canopies will be topped with green Spanish clay roofing tiles with copper leaders and gutters. Very nice indeed.
According to NJ Transit, its Road to Morocco — at least when it comes to roofing — is paid for with capital funds, not money from its operating budget. “Not one dime of fare revenue is being used to fund this project,” an NJ Transit spokesman replied in a written response to questions on the project’s cost.
Ridgewood Station is designated a “key station” under federal regulations and as such, it is required to be made readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including those who use wheelchairs.
While we applaud handicap accessibility in Ridgewood, we note the obvious to anyone using NJ Transit to arrive at Hoboken Terminal. Hoboken, a major hub, is not “readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities, including individuals who use wheelchairs.” The platforms are low. Anyone arriving at the station in a wheelchair has to wait for an NJ Transit employee to bring a hydraulic lift to get him off or on a train. During rush hour, lots of luck with that.
The NJ Transit spokesman said that the waiting room, bus terminal and light rail platforms are handicap accessible. What good is the waiting room if you cannot get on or off a train? A reason given for not raising the platform at one of NJ Transit’s busiest stations is that the engineering would be complex — the historic canopy over the tracks would need to be raised, and because the station was built on fill, the tracks flood frequently.
We do not understand why the roof would need raising. It is not the train or tracks that would be elevated to new heights, just the platform for commuters. In any case, the historic canopy was architecturally butchered years ago. And if the tracks are so flood-prone, why is fixing that not a higher priority than a $24 million suburban-station redo replete with copper gutters and leaders? Why is that not a higher priority than a nearly $9 billion boondoggle to give commuters a one-seat ride to Macy’s Herald Square? And if NJ Transit isn’t just paying lip service to improving handicap accessibility, why hasn’t Hoboken Terminal been its highest priority?
We do not begrudge Ridgewood commuters their beautiful new station. It will complement the village’s downtown. But we wonder how many persons with disabilities will appreciate the ease of entering a train in Ridgewood when they find getting off it in Hoboken an unacceptable challenge.
Perhaps while they wait for transit personnel and a hydraulic lift, they will be entertained by the view of the station’s historic canopy, which is clad in copper. It will remind them of home.
March 23 (Bloomberg) — President Barack Obama faces a fight over the health-care overhaul from states that sued today because the legislation’s expansion of Medicaid imposes a fiscal strain on their cash-strapped budgets.
Call the Governor Chris Christie at 609-292-6000
Florida, Texas and Pennsylvania are among 14 states that filed suit after the president signed the bill over the constitutionality of the burden imposed by the legislation. The health-care overhaul will make as many as 15 million more Americans eligible for Medicaid nationwide starting in 2014 and will cost the states billions to administer.
States faced with unprecedented declines in tax collections are cutting benefits and payments to hospitals and doctors in Medicaid, the health program for the poor paid jointly by state and U.S. governments. The costs to hire staff and plan for the average 25 percent increase in Medicaid rolls may swamp budgets, said Toby Douglas, who manages the Medicaid program for California, which hasn’t joined the lawsuits.
“The states are coming through the worst fiscal period in the history of record keeping,” said Vernon Smith, a former Medicaid director for Michigan and now a principal at the research and consulting firm Health Management Associates in Lansing, Michigan. “Medicaid is the most significant, most visible and most costly part of this expansion and states fully expect to see increases in their spending.”
California’s Deficit
For California, with a $20 billion budget deficit (FYI New Jersey is $11 billion), the extra load will cost at least an additional $2 billion to $3 billion annually, said Douglas, chief deputy director for California’s health care programs. He said the overhaul is currently projected to add 1.6 million people to the 7 million enrolled in his state’s program.
>March 2, 2010, 6:35 pm Fuel Taxes Must Rise, Harvard Researchers Say By SINDYA N. BHANOO
To meet the ,Obama administration’s targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions some researchers say, Americans may have to experience a sobering reality: gas at $7 a gallon.
To reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector 14 percent from 2005 levels by 2020, the cost of driving must simply increase, according to a forthcoming report by researchers at Harvard’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
The 14 percent target was set in the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget for fiscal 2010.
In their study, the researchers devised several combinations of steps that United States policymakers might take in trying to address the heat-trapping emissions by the nation’s transportation sector, which consume 70 percent of the oil used in the United States.
Most of their models assumed an economy-wide carbon dioxide tax starting at $30 a ton in 2010 and escalating to $60 a ton in 2030. In some cases researchers also factored in tax credits for electric and hybrid vehicles, taxes on fuel or both.
