Hudson building trades to endorse Christie tomorrow (today)
The Hudson County Building Trades Council is set to back Gov. Chris Christie tomorrow at an even in Jersey City, two sources with knowledge of the endorsement told PolitickerNJ.
Darryl Isherwood-PolitickerNJ.com
http://www.politickernj.com/66990/hudson-building-trades-endorse-christie-tomorrow
Democrats attend breakfast jamboree at Heldrich
They actually freakin’ love one another.
That was the message at this morning’s unity breakfast held by Democrats who spent the last several months in ravenous cannibalizing mode.
Max Pizarro-PolitickerNJ.com
http://www.politickernj.com/66989/democrats-attend-breakfast-jamboree-heldrich
Winners and Losers: Budget week
Winners
Same sex couples/Garden State Equality
The Supreme Court this week struck down the Defense of Marriage Act paving the way for married same sex couples to receive federal benefits. In states like New Jersey, which doesn’t allow gay marriage, advocates say the court’s ruling paves the way. To top it off the legislature passed a measure outlawing gay to straight conversion therapy, a victory for gay rights advocates.
PolitickerNJ.com staff
http://www.politickernj.com/66967/winner-and-losers-budget-week
Latest from State Street Wire
Christie signs $33M budget
TRENTON – Gov. Chris Christie signed the Fiscal Year 2014 budget.
Matthew Arco –State Street Wire
http://www.politickernj.com/66981/christie-signs-budget
Rutgers’ new eras starts today with UMDNJ merger
A historic bell — a gift from Col. Henry Rutgers in 1826 to the school that would take his name — will toll on Rutgers University’s Old Queens campus in New Brunswick at 9 a.m. today, marking the official beginning of one of the largest academic mergers in U.S. history.
Patricia Alex -The Record
Advocates keep pushing to get open space question on November ballot
The Legislature has yet to schedule any new sessions for this summer, but proponents of a measure to provide a stable source of funding to preserve open space and farmland keep pressing their case.
Tom Johnson – NJ Spotlight
Double dip? Former Booker driver retires on disability, gets hired at housing authority
S.P. Sullivan-NJ.com
Immigration bill is an early test for New Jersey’s new senator
He traded a glass-walled office and sweeping views of the Delaware River in Trenton for a converted conference room in a prefab building on Capitol Hill, where people continuously mispronounce his name. But he’s now a part of an exclusive 100-member club that gets to have a say on the major issues of the day.
Herb Jackson – The Record
To Christie, Medicaid expansion veto keeps options open
Gov. Chris Christie is planning to expand Medicaid eligibility for low-income New Jersey residents, but he doesn’t want the expansion to be backed up by state law.
On Friday, Christie vetoed a bill (S-2644/A-4233) that would have made the expansion he announced in February permanent.
Andrew Kitchenman-NJ Spotlight
http://www.njspotlight.com/stories/13/06/30/to-christie-medicaid-expansion-veto-keeps-options-open/
NJ tanning bed restriction among new laws kicking in around nation on July 1
Early July is about more than fireworks, cookouts and long weekends. It’s also about hundreds of new state laws.
Michelle L. Price – The Associated Press
Incoming mayor Fulop draws top pols to Jersey City inaugural
New Jersey’s two most powerful elected officials — Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Bob Menendez— will be on the dais as Steve Fulop is sworn in as Jersey City mayor on Monday.
Angela Delli Santi-Associated Press
http://www.northjersey.com/news/Incoming_mayor_Fulop_draws_top_pols_to_Jersey_City_inaugural.html
Incentives overhaul package is yet again pushed to backburner
If this were a sporting event, the moral of the story of the Economic Opportunity Act would be “that’s why they play the game.”
The bill — a revamp and consolidation of the state’s business and job-creation incentives — has been the subject of close speculation and endless negotiation for the past several months. Thursday appeared to be the day of reckoning for the bill, as the state Senate passed an amended version of the bill and sent it to the Assembly for concurrence.
Jared Kaltwasser- NJBiz
Opinion
Criticisms from Pou get under Christie’s skin
Sen. Nellie Pou, the North Haledon Democrat, took her turn last week as a target of Governor Christie‘s ire.
Near the end of a news conference in the 90-degree heat in Mount Laurel last Tuesday, Christie was asked about Pou’s criticisms of the $33 billion budget that cruised through both houses of the Legislature last week.
Charles Stile – The Record
Alec Baldwin and Paula Deen are birds of a feather
I DON’T read gossip pages. Celebrity news doesn’t do much for me; celebrity innuendo even less. On Friday, the Internet was full of Alec Baldwin, who, from what I read, is rather full of himself.
Baldwin was with his wife at James Gandolfini’s funeral Thursday. A Mail Online reporter, George Stark, reported Baldwin’s wife was tweeting during the funeral. Baldwin did not just dispute the accuracy of the report, he went on a Twitter tirade, calling Stark a “toxic little queen.” Since I assume Stark is not radioactive, abnormally diminutive and a female member of a royal family, Baldwin was making a homophobic remark
Alfred Doblin-The Record