Sports

**The Jaffe Briefing will be on break, returning Tuesday, July 5**

TRENTON – As media tries to chip away at the new $50.6 billion state budget in the final hours before lawmakers adopt the plan and flee Trenton for the holiday, Politico is focusing on line items related to public schools. Despite the overflowing coffers, the state’s public schools will remain underfunded by $600 ...

TRENTON – There’s no clever angle to describe what’s happened to Roe v. Wade.  Let’s just localize it for New Jersey, with confirmation from Gov. Phil Murphy that a woman’s right to decide what to do with her own body is safe in this state, for now.  The governor said: “it is incumbent that we do more to fully secure reproductive rights and ensure ...

TRENTON – So, it looks like New Jersey has a budget that Democrats can live with: a $50.6 billion spending plan with no additional taxes, a $6 billion rainy-day fund and a full payment for the underfunded pension system, Politico reports. The highlights – thanks to this unprecedented amount of surplus funds and tax receivables – ensures the state will have the largest stockpile ...

TRENTON – Gun control may not be in the national headlines today, yet there needs to be a constant drumbeat to force lawmakers to act before the next crisis. So, let’s push it to the forefront, celebrating that the Assembly advanced a package of bills yesterday to further tighten the state’s firearms laws. These proposed bills are not yet before Gov. Phil Murphy for signature, ...

ON THE ROAD – Politico states the obvious: the Holland Tunnel offers two lanes heading in and out of New Jersey. And, unless there is some super project to somehow expand vehicular capacity under the Hudson, the Holland Tunnel will remain the same, always. And that’s why some locals are scratching their heads at the New Jersey Turnpike Authority’s plan to spend ...

OFF THE RAILS – NJ Transit is back in the news, after the rail agency was forced to cancel all trains during rush hour on Friday night. Sigh, and why? NJ Transit's locomotive engineers didn’t show up, causing 80 trains to vanish off the board. Engineer call-outs were nearly triple the rate of an average weekday, affecting more than 100,000 commuters. There were 481 engineers, ...