What’s Important to Know About NJ This Week –06/08/2024

Jun 8, 2024

Murphy Spins Victim Narrative on OPRA, Kevin Walsh Continues to Kick Ass- this time it’s the DOC, NJEA Secretary Treasurer Potentially Violates Law, NJ PharmCo Cutting Jobs, Lawmakers Take on Medicinal “Mushrooms”

Murphy Spins Victim Narrative of Power Brokers and Political Insiders in Defense of Destroying OPRA

NJ Monitor

The press, transparency groups, good government advocates, and state officials on both sides of the aisle opposed the bill’s changes to the Open Public Records Act. They decried the bill as one that would gut accountability, make it harder for residents and journalists to obtain certain records, and enable governments to sue people who request too many records.

Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, called the bill a “slap in the face to the public.”

“By siding with political insiders who serve special interests, Murphy has ignored the will of the people and dismisses the growing movement to restore our democracy and hold government accountable to the people it serves,” she said. Read More

Government Corruption Assassin and Overall Bad-Ass Kevin Walsh Calls out Department of Corrections for IA Investigation Failures
NJ Office of State Comptroller

OSC’s investigation revealed deficiencies in the thoroughness and objectivity of SID’s investigations. OSC identified two incidents in which correctional police officers at Bayside State Prison appear to have used excessive force against incarcerated people. In one, an incident from 2019, an incarcerated person was struck in the face multiple times and wrestled to the ground, but surveillance video showed no visible provocation or threat against the officer. In the second, an incident from 2018, an incarcerated person was pepper-sprayed and wrestled to the ground, again with no visible provocation or threat against the officer. In each instance, the assigned SID investigators failed to interview key eyewitnesses, raising concerns that the investigations were inadequate and casting doubt on their integrity and effectiveness in cases that clearly called for extensive scrutiny and fact gathering. As a result of these deficiencies, DOC did not identify likely cases of excessive force, and the officers involved received no discipline.

SID’s failure to conduct comprehensive investigations was not limited to these two incidents. Read More

NJEA Secretary-Treasurer Potentially Violated State Law in Pushing NJEA President For Governor
NJ Education Report

Petal Robertson, Secretary-Treasurer of the New Jersey Education Association, has been visiting school districts and speaking to NJEA members about “pension justice,” the proper financing of the retirement benefits system called the Teachers Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF). On Monday she spoke at Montclair High School (where she if the president of the local teachers union) and will be in Irvington next week. According to one teacher, she used the occasion to “drum up support from teachers and staff, for [NJEA President Sean] Spiller for governor.” Read More

Brystol Myers Squibb to Cut 863 NJ Jobs
NJ Biz

As part of a larger restructuring effort, Princeton-based pharma giant Bristol Myers Squibb plans to let go of 863 employees in New Jersey.

In a filing with the state Department of Labor & Workforce Development, the company said the cuts will impact its two facilities in Lawrenceville. They will take effect between June 28 and Dec. 16.

A spokesperson for Bristol Myers Squibb said the move is part of the company’s effort to reduce $1.5 billion in costs by the end of 2025. Read More

Lawmaker Exploring Statewide Program for Medicinal “Mushrooms”
NJ Spotlight News

In an interview with NJ Spotlight News, Ostrofsky said, “What we found was one or two doses of psilocybin under professional supervision has impressive, long-lasting and immediate effects. A lot of these clinical trials have shown that just one or two sessions of taking psilocybin can reduce depression and anxiety for up to six months, if not even years later.” Read More

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