In a Washington Post report of findings from a 50-state survey of governors’ approval ratings in light of Covid, Governor Phil Murphy had a 66% approval in late June (located on page 14 of the PDF).
COVID19 CONSORTIUM REPORT APPROVAL JULY 2020 Governor Phil Murphy mentioned a protest at his residence on Saturday where people shouted, “Burn your mask,” he said.
Fifty people showed up to the governor’s private home.
It’s happened with some regularity.
“I’m not sure what the thinking was behind that,” Murphy said this afternoon at the War Memorial in Trenton as part of his daily briefing. “I would remind people who think we should open everything right now that we just reported an additional 231 positive cases.
“And we still rank in the top 20 nationally in terms of residents, per capita, in the hospita, and we’re still in the top three in terms of the number of people who are passing,” the governor added.
Residents must continue to wear masks, he said, and maintain social distancing.
Read Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 7/13/2020
Governor Phil Murphy today announced that his administration has an agreement on bonding.
The senate will move on legislation to give the Murphy Administration full authority to have the funds necessary to keep the state’s finances afloat, Murphy said.
“I want to explicitly thank the senate president and the speaker,’ Murphy said.
Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-13) struck out at the deal.
“We learned by press release that Democrat leaders have come to a private agreement to fast-track the largest borrowing scheme in New Jersey history and likely the largest that any state has ever issued,” said the Monmouth-based Republican. “Within the next week, they plan to give Governor Murphy the ability to borrow nearly $10 billion to cover State spending, without demanding any real attempts to achieve savings.
“This plan represents fiscal irresponsibility on a scale that is unprecedented even by Trenton standards.
“To fund spending over the next fiscal year, taxpayers will be on the hook for $10 billion of debt and potentially more than $30 billion of interest payments over the 35-year repayment period that the proposal allows. At the same time, Wall Street bankers will collect hundreds of million of dollars in fees at New Jersey’s expense.
“To saddle the next generation of New Jerseyans with potentially $40 billion of debt repayments for spending that will occur next year is beyond insane. That’s exactly why schemes like this must be approved by the public.
“Unsurprisingly, the Democrats’ partisan agreement fails to address the simple fact that this record-setting, multi-billion borrowing scheme to fund State operating expenses remains unconstitutional without voter approval.”
Read Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 7/10/2020
Read Insider NJ’s Morning Intelligence Briefing: 7/9/2020
…in a seesaw battle, with Line F challenger Donna Pearson still threatening for the third spot with 1,500 votes left to count on Thursday.
She was up by 40 as of midnight last night and now down 214.
Madelyn Hoffman, NJ Green Party candidate for U.S. Senate today responded to President Donald Trump’s threats to withhold federal funding from schools that do not reopen.
“In April and May – as parents across the state feared the potential of Governor Murphy – who at the time was straddling the fence on the issue – sending students, faculty and staff back into the brick and mortar schools, I was one of the earliest voices, even before NJEA announced its concerns, to call for the schools to NOT reopen. This is a demand which has been followed to this day. As I launch my drive to capture the U.S. Senate seat – I again am calling upon Governor Murphy – to NOT reverse the decision to reopen, and ignore Donald Trump’s threats to cut off federal funding to schools that do not. At least, at this point, let’s wait and see if NJ is going to have a new uptick in COVID-19 cases!
“I am not doing this as much as a U.S. Senate candidate – but as a concerned NJ resident about whether we can protect our children and families as well as teachers and workers – and I ask Senator Cory Booker to join me in this call.”
