NJ teachers PAC again the main funder of Murphy-linked non-profit

Garden State Forward gave New Direction New Jersey $6 million since last September

New Jersey Education Association President Marie Blistan. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for the New Jersey Globe)

By Nikita Biryukov, NJ Globe

The state’s largest teacher’s union again provided a non-profit run by allies of Gov. Phil Murphy with the bulk of its funding in 2020.

A donor list released by New Direction New Jersey, a 501(c)(4) non-profit created to advocate for Murphy’s policy and political agendas, the group received $6 million in contributions from Garden State Forward, a super PAC formed and funded solely by the New Jersey Education Association, in 2020 and the last three months of 2019.

That $6 million accounted for the vast majority of the more than $6.5 million New Direction received in 2020. Most of the money left over also came from labor groups.

Spending groups backed by the carpenters union gave a combined $250,000, and the Communications Workers of America contributed $127,000.

GP Management LLC, a firm specializing in corporate getaways and with ties to Formula One, gave the group $100,000. HNTB, an architectural company, gave $50,000, and Lyft donated $5,000.

The remaining money was given in small-dollar donations by individuals.

Though New Direction caused a frenzy among legislative Democrats in 2018 with ads Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-West Deptford) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge) said were an attempt to exert pressure on their members, those tensions have largely cooled.

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UPDATE: Nashville explosion called ‘an intentional act’

A building is damaged near the area where an explosion was reported on Friday, Dec. 25, 2020 in Nashville, Tenn. Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard early Christmas morning. (Andrew Nelles/The Tennessean via AP)

By The Associated Press

An explosion linked to a vehicle rocked downtown Nashville on Christmas morning, sending shattered glass and debris over a wide area and rocking nearby buildings.

Police called the explosion “an intentional act” after earlier saying it was not suspicious.

The Metro Nashville Police Department said via Twitter that the explosion occurred at 6:30 a.m. Friday and that state and federal authorities were on the scene, as were emergency crews including the fire department.

RV that exploded in Nashville broadcast a message warning of imminent blast

‘Announcements coming’ from RV in Nashville before it exploded
Massive downtown Nashville explosion

Black smoke and flames were seen early Friday billowing from the area, which is packed with bars, restaurants and other retail establishments and is known as the heart of downtown Nashville’s tourist scene.

Emergency personnel work near the scene of an explosion in downtown Nashville, Tenn., Dec. 25, 2020.

Buildings shook in the immediate area and beyond after a loud boom was heard.

The Metro Nashville Office of Emergency Management told Nashville television station WKRN that a parked recreational vehicle exploded and damaged several buildings. No injuries were immediately reported. The fire department sent out a tweet asking residents and others to avoid the area.

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Buck McCoy, who lives near the area, posted videos on Facebook that show water pouring down the ceiling of his home. Alarms blare in the background and cries of people in great distress ring in the background. A fire is visible in the street outside. McCoy said the windows of his home were entirely blown out.

“All my windows, every single one of them got blown into the next room. If I had been standing there it would have been horrible,” he said.

“It felt like a bomb. It was that big,” he told The Associated Press.

“There were about four cars on fire. I don’t know if it was so hot they just caught on fire, and the trees were all blown apart,” he said.

Related news stories:
Explosion in Downtown Nashville Draws Emergency Response (NY Times)
Explosion in Nashville that damaged dozens of buildings is believed to be an intentional act (CNN)

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Trump’s threat to veto $900 billion Covid relief bill puts major climate legislation at risk

By Emma Newburger, CNBC

  • Trump said he plans to veto the stimulus bill, which includes $35 billion in funding for clean energy projects and plans to cut the use of planet-warming chemicals.
  • The environmental measures attached to the Covid-19 relief bill mark the first significant climate change legislation to pass in the U.S. in about a decade.
  • The broader legislation includes tax credits for solar and wind power, which would push forward Biden’s plan to have a carbon-free electricity sector by 2035.
Patrick Pleul/picture alliance via Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s opposition to a $900 billion coronavirus aid package overwhelmingly passed by U.S. lawmakers late Monday jeopardizes the first significant climate change legislation to win congressional approval in about a decade.

Trump has threatened to veto the stimulus bill, which includes $600 direct checks for individuals and $35 billion in funding for clean energy projects and plans to cut the use of planet-warming chemicals.

The climate provisions included in the deal comes after the Trump administration dismantled more than 80 major environmental rules over four years and shortly before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office.

Biden plans to rejoin the Paris climate agreement and use executive orders to unravel many of Trump’s environmental rollbacks. He’s also pushing for a $2 trillion plan, which will need congressional approval, to shift the country from fossil fuels to clean energy and green jobs. Trump officially withdrew the country from the Paris accord in November.

Read the full story

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Pennsylvania coronavirus update: 9,230 cases added with 276 deaths

By Eugene Tauber, The Morning Call

The state Department of Health reported 9,230 additional cases of the coronavirus Thursday, with 276 new deaths ― the second highest of the pandemic.

The seven-day moving average of newly reported cases was 8,722, down 15% from 10,292 a week ago. To date, there have been 590,386 infections statewide since the start of the pandemic.

The predicted winter surge in new infections has moderated in the past week, although the western and south-central parts of the state continue to experience high infection rates. In the Northeast, Lackawanna County set a new daily record by adding 187 cases Thursday, although its seven-day average is in the lowest third of the state’s 67 counties.

Deaths

Overall: There were 276 new deaths, compared to 230 the day before, bringing the total to 14,718. Thursday’s report marks the second-highest daily death report since the beginning of May.https://flo.uri.sh/visualisation/4540791/embed?auto=1A Flourish chart

Hospitalizations

There were 6,077 COVID-19 patients hospitalized as of midday Thursday, with 1,219 of them in intensive care units and 743 on ventilators. Those numbers are down slightly from highs hit in the past week.

The Health Department’s dashboard shows that Lehigh County has only 16 of its 189 staffed intensive care beds available, a rate of 8.5%. There are 71 COVID-19 patients in the county’s intensive care units. Northampton County shows two of its 20 intensive care beds unoccupied. Half of Northampton’s intensive care beds are occupied by COVID-19 patients.

Testing

There were 19,398 new tests, for a positive test rate of nearly 40%, compared to 20,328 tests and a positivity rate of 39% the day before. The overall positive test rate is now at 14.3%.

Lehigh Valley

Cases: There were 744 additional case reports, with 394 in Lehigh County and 350 in Northampton County. That is the highest number of cases added in two weeks. The total for the Valley is 33,797.

Deaths: There were 16 new deaths (8 each in Lehigh and Northampton counties), compared to 10 the day before. That brings the total to 871.

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House fails to pass measure to increase stimulus checks to $2,000

By Suzanne Malveaux, Phil Mattingly and Clare Foran, CNN

(CNN) The House of Representatives on Thursday failed to advance a measure that would increase direct payments to Americans under a certain income level to $2,000 — up from the $600 level passed earlier this week — bringing lawmakers back to square one as they search for a way to appease President Donald Trump’s demands.

House Democrats tried to quickly pass the bill by a unanimous consent request Thursday morning, but Republicans rejected the move, leaving the future of the $900 billion stimulus package — and whether any changes will be added to it — in doubt.

That stimulus package was attached to a spending bill for the entire federal government, and a deadline for government funding expires Monday at midnight.

Democrats will now move to pass the bill on the floor with a full up-or-down vote on December 28, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced.

“Hopefully by then the President will have already signed the bipartisan and bicameral legislation to keep government open and to deliver coronavirus relief,” Pelosi said in a statement.

Trump's complaints vs. his own budget proposal


Related story: Trump’s complaints vs. his own budget proposal

Earlier this week, Congress passed the massive Covid relief bill, which included up to $600 payments to all Americans making under certain income levels. Single people who earn up to $75,000 would receive the full $600 direct payment, and couples earning up to $150,000 would receive $1,200. But on Tuesday, Trump signaled he wouldn’t sign the bill if Congress doesn’t amend the legislation and raise the “ridiculously low” $600 stimulus checks to $2,000 for individuals or $4,000 per couple.

“If the President is serious about the $2,000 direct payments, he must call on House Republicans to end their obstruction,” Pelosi said.

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NJ Governor Murphy signs agriculture funding bills into law

Governor Murphy signed the following bills into law yesterday:

S3225 / A5081 (Sweeney, Oroho / Freiman, Reynolds-Jackson, Taliaferro) – Appropriates $11.5 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for municipal planning incentive grants for farmland preservation purposes

S3226 / A5077 (Addiego, Bateman / Armato, Jasey, Houghtaling) – Appropriates $29,886,172 to State Agriculture Development Committee for farmland preservation purposes

S3228 / A5079 (Gopal / Taliaferro, Murphy, Houghtaling) – Appropriates $12 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for county planning incentive grants for farmland preservation purposes

A5080 / S3227 (Zwicker, Verrelli, Downey / Bateman, Codey) – Appropriates $3,763,625 from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for grants to certain nonprofit organizations for farmland preservation purposes

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