NJBIA Supports Tax Incentive Report on Economic Growth Strategies

New Jersey Business & Industry Association Vice President of Government Affairs Christopher Emigholz issued the following statement today regarding the release of the Senate Select Committee on Economic Growth Strategies (SEGS) report.

\”NJBIA thanks the Special Committee for its report and recommendations. We also appreciate the opportunity to participate in the SEGS hearings and are pleased to see some of our ideas on the next generation of this important economic development tool in the report.

\”NJBIA strongly supports the report\’s recommendations of no annual overall cap combined with enhanced net benefit tests. If a net benefit test shows that the state is benefitting, then why would we want to cap success?

\”Additionally, we support the idea of targeting high-growth projects and industries – but would like to see the manufacturing target be broadened beyond just \”advanced manufacturing.\” We are also supportive of better integrating workforce development resources into the tax incentive program, as this report suggests.

\”We know that the business community, the Legislature and Governor Murphy are all in agreement that a responsible and competitive tax incentive program, with appropriate oversight of its effectiveness, plays a key role in the state\’s economic development strategy.

\”With the report now complete, it is imperative that there is no further delay in our policymakers working together to deliver a comprehensive program that is accountable, responsible and makes New Jersey regionally competitive.

\”New Jersey\’s economy has been damaged by not having an economic incentive program over the past seven months. Absent this program, New Jersey remains without the much-needed mechanism to level the playing field against our regional competitors who have a less challenging business climate.\”

Stealing California from Bernie — again?

by Greg Palast

My dear Californians, I know you filled out that registration form at the DMV. Well, you know what? I’ll bet you that your name is not going to be there because there’s a 45% chance in California when you sign up to register to vote on a piece of paper, your name is never entered on the voter rolls. Guess what? California has one of the worst voting systems in the entire nation.

I checked out my own registration. I took my own advice. I went to the office of the Secretary of State. I typed in “Greg Palast” and it said “no such voter”. So I reregistered online. There’s a simple cure for all this stuff — but you have to know you’ve been purged or never had your name properly entered. Go check and then reregister online. People are afraid to do things online, but in California you get an instant receipt that says you’re now a voter, here’s your voter card on the screen. Take that screenshot. I’m telling everyone to do this because California is just awful.

And we have a March 3rd primary. The California presidential primary’s now been moved up. I saw

what happened to Bernie Sanders

in 2016. People were improperly registered, not registered. There were three quarters of a million, and I want to repeat that,

three quarters of a million ballots

which were cast provisionally or on the wrong ballot, which were thrown out. Alex Padilla, the Secretary of State of California, a little Katherine Harris, he threw out three quarters of a million ballots. They were mostly Bernie voters. We know that from the Roper Poll of the demographic. Bernie Sanders won California in June, 2016, if you counted all the votes…

If you want to vote in the Democratic primary, go online to the Secretary of State’s office. Make sure you’re registered — and make sure you are registered as a Democrat. I’m not saying you should

a Democrat. I’m just saying if you want to vote in the Democratic primary, forget the urban myth that you can vote in the Democratic primary if you’re not registered as a Democrat. Yes, there’s a way to do it. But it’s so difficult and in some cases it’s impossible because the nice lady behind the desk doesn’t know the procedure and could mess it up.

For those who want to know the procedure, it’s really awful. In California, almost everyone gets a mail in ballot. That is, they send you a ballot. Now, if you’re registered, some people call it Independent, but if you’re registered as No Party Preference, which is what they call it in California, if you’re No Party Preference, you’ll get a ballot but it won’t have the presidential candidates. There were literally a million people who were like, where’s Bernie Sanders on the ballot? The answer is, if you’re not registered as a Democrat, you don’t get one of those ballots.

So what do you do? You can mail your No Party Preference ballot, which only has a couple of races cause they can’t give you the partisan races with the NPP ballot, you have to mail it back to the state in time. You have to sign it in the corner where it says, I want this ballot replaced by — and you’ve got to get these words exactly: “Democratic party crossover ballot”. It has to say “crossover” because literally hundreds of thousands of Californians — hundreds of thousands — went in with their No Party Preference ballots, walked into the voting station, said, give me a Democratic party ballot.

Now different things happen, but in many counties, including Los Angeles, a lot of these people behind the desk said, oh yeah, here’s the Democratic party ballot. Well, guess what? That gets disqualified because you are not a Democrat. You have to have a “crossover ballot”. In Los Angeles alone, 66,000 people voted in the Democratic primary in 2016 who are No Party Preference voters, Independents, they got Democratic party ballots and every one of those 66,000 ballots — that’s just LA — was about to be disqualified and thrown out. But you have a fairly good county elections supervisor here, county clerk in Los Angeles, who said, you know what? That’s just throwing away legitimate votes.

But LA is the only place in California that didn’t throw away your votes. If you voted in San Francisco and Berkeley, and you’re a No Party Preference voter and you voted with a Democratic ballot, your ballot did not count. You did not count, unless it specifically said “crossover” at the top…

So to make your life easy, if you want to vote in the Democratic primary, sign up as Democrat. You can change it the next day. And in California, since 2012 — and most people don’t realize this — we have same day registration. So if you do show up and your name is not on the voter rolls, please bring ID with you, a driver’s license, whatever photo ID you can find, anything, including something with your address on it like a cell phone bill. Cause if your name is missing, you can reregister on the actual voting day. Now, they made it very difficult to do that, and it’s still not easy, but they made it easier this time. You can say, well, if I’m not there, I want to register today. But why go through that? Register right now or check your registration right now.

GREG PALAST

is America’s wittiest (and wickedest) muckraker. An award-winning

Guardian

investigative journalist, he is causing crooked election officials all over the country to shiver in their shoes as they wait for a knock on their door from the FBI – thanks to his explosive book and feature film (

“The Best Democracy Money Can Buy”

), which identifies these campaign cockroaches by name and exposes their illicit tampering with the 2016 election.

Illegal Alien Arrested for DUI Receives Cash Settlement from Sanctuary City

Gloucestercitynews.net graphic

Laguna Beach

, California-

-In the latest example of sanctuary madness, a U.S. city is awarding an illegal immigrant with a

cash settlement

because police detained him for federal authorities after being arrested for driving under the influence. The 29-year-old perpetrator, Edgar Torres Gutierrez, eventually pled guilty to a lesser charge of reckless driving and his pro bono attorneys from a nearby public university sued the city for violating his Constitutional rights as well as a statewide sanctuary law. Under the agreement, Gutierrez will receive $18,750 from taxpayers in the California coastal municipality where he lives illegally. Local police officers will also be forced to watch a training video involving sanctuary measures for the next two years.

Even for a famously liberal state this seems to be a bit much. The unbelievable incident occurred in Laguna Beach, a southern California town of about 23,000 residents. In the summer of 2018, Gutierrez was arrested and jailed by Laguna Beach Police on suspicion of driving under the influence. The law enforcement agency held him at the request of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) so the feds could take custody. In all, Gutierrez spent around 15 hours in Laguna Beach Police custody and several more hours in a Los Angeles immigrant detention facility, according to a local

news report.

Apparently, Gutierrez wasn’t deported because he is protected by an Obama-era amnesty program, known as Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) that temporarily shields illegal immigrants that came to the U.S. as children. Government figures show that more than100,000 illegal immigrants who have requested DACA have serious

criminal histories

that include murder, rape and assault charges.

Imagine if every American city paid each of them a settlement for cooperating with federal authorities. Gutierrez came to the U.S. illegally from Mexico when he was three and takes responsibility for the “actions” that led to his arrest. He said this in one local

news report

: “I acknowledge that and I am at fault for that and I am dealing with the consequences of that.” However, the illegal immigrant added that police should not be working with ICE to deport undocumented aliens like him who are protected under DACA. He is calling on fellow illegal immigrants to speak up and come forward when they feel there’s been an injustice or if their “rights” have been violated. After taking a victory lap, his publicly-funded lawyers filed another complaint this week with the Laguna Beach Police Department that will require more taxpayer resources to defend.

Emboldened by sanctuary policies and open-borders groups that offer free legal representation, a growing number of illegal immigrants are filing lawsuit demanding rights in the U.S. Last year seven illegal immigrants detained in a workplace raid

sued

the federal agents that arrested them, claiming that they were racially profiled for being Latino. In a federal court

complaint

their pro bono attorneys asserted that ICE agents violated the illegal aliens’ Constitutional rights against illegal seizures and to equal protection under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. Months earlier a separate lawsuit resulted in a federal court

ruling

that illegal immigrants can sue American employers that refuse to hire them because they require workers to be U.S. citizens or legal residents (green card holders).

The movement has also gained tremendous momentum as leftist groups flex their muscle to pressure local municipalities to protect illegal immigrants. A few years ago, Judicial Watch obtained

records

documenting how Arizona’s largest city became a sanctuary after its police chief held a private meeting with an influential leftist group ordering a change in immigration enforcement. The documents show that Phoenix Police Chief Jeri Williams quietly implemented a policy banning officers from contacting the feds after arresting an illegal alien following a secret meeting with the director of a leftist group demanding protections for illegal aliens. The agreement also forbids Phoenix police officers from asking about suspects’ immigration status.

source:

Judicialwatch.org

GUEST OPINION: Radical Muslims And Leftists Are A Threat

Bill Donahue | CNBNews Contributor

January 28, 2020

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments

on who is attacking Christians

Attacks on Christianity, throughout the world, emanate from two principal sources: radical Muslims and leftists. The role played by radical Muslims is detailed in the 2020 World Watch List published by Open Doors; the Gatestone Institute cites radical Muslims as well, but it also mentions the role played by radical left-wing groups.

By using the data provided by Open Doors, of the 50 most oppressive nations for Christians to live in, 38 are run by Muslims and 4 are Communist controlled; the other 8 are neither Muslim nor Communist states.

For all the talk about an Islamic Reformation, it appears that nothing has changed. The violence against Christians is epidemic, yet there is little in the way of Christian persecution of Muslims.

If Muslims run three out of four of the most violent places in the world for Christians to live, radical left-wing groups are responsible for the lion\’s share of anti-Christian attacks in the secular nations of Western Europe. The Gatestone Institute\’s research shows that approximately 3,000 Christian churches, schools, cemeteries and monuments were defaced or destroyed there in 2019.

France and Germany are the most anti-Christian nations in Europe; Spain is also notorious for its assaults on Christianity. That these nations are beacons of secularism cannot be denied. Theirs may be a softer persecution than is true in Islamic nations—the left-wing activists favor arson, defecation, looting, mockery, profanation, Satanism, theft, urination, and vandalism to armed attacks on individuals—but it is no less menacing.

Muslim nations that persecute Christians have their origins in the most extreme interpretations of Islam. But what accounts for the anti-Christian assaults by radical secularists?

The Gatestone researchers sought to understand the motives of the anti-Christian acts in Western Europe. Vandalism and theft were two of the four listed in the report; there was nothing extraordinary about these findings. The other two motives were more revealing: they were grounded in politics and religion.

\”Some attacks\” they said, \”especially those against Roman Catholicism, which some radical feminists and radical secularists perceive to be a symbol of patriarchal power and authority, are political in nature. Such attacks include defacing churches and religious symbols with political graffiti, much of it anarchist or feminist in nature.\”

\”Many attacks that appear to be religious or spiritual in nature reflect a deep-seated hostility toward Christianity. Such attacks include smearing feces on representations of Jesus Christ or statues of Mary, the mother of Jesus. Other attacks involve the defilement of or theft of Communion wafers…[which] may be the work of Satanists, who use the consecrated host in a ritual called the Black Mass.\”

Radical feminists, radical secularists, anarchists, and Satanists. What do they have in common? They are all aligned with the politics of the left.

No one doubts that radical feminists and radical secularists are among the most influential left-wing activists in the western world. More contentious is the proposition that anarchists and Satanists are also associated with left-wing politics.

Historically, some extremists on the right have been anarchists, but today anarchists more typically resemble Antifa in the United States. \”Anarchists and antifascists, often called the antifa, are factions of the far left who feel they are not represented by the mainstream Democratic Party.\” That description, offered by a reporter for the Washington Post, is accurate.

The Church of Satan says it has no \”official\” political position. Yet a look at the positions staked out by The Satanic Temple are squarely on the left: for instance, their support for abortion-on-demand is so extreme that it is impossible to go beyond it.

Many who have followed the litany of anti-Christian offenses in Western Europe have noted how left-wing the perpetrators are.

Ellen Fantini, director of The Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe, says her organization has documented that \”churches and other symbols of Christianity in Europe are targets for many groups—from Islamists to radical feminists, LGBT activists to anarchists and self-proclaimed Satanists.\” Four of the five groups mentioned (the last four) are clearly in the camp of leftists.

The bishop of Fréjus-Toulon, Dominique Rey, agrees, but goes one step further. \”We are witnessing the convergence of laicism—conceived as secularism, which relegates the faithful only to the private sphere and where every religious denomination is banal or stigmatized—with the overwhelming emergence of Islam, which attacks the infidels and those who reject the Koran.\”

It is striking to note that radical Muslims and radical left-wing activists prefer to attack Christianity, but not each other. Yet in terms of their respective worldviews, they could not be more different, particularly on matters governing marriage, the family, and sexuality. Moreover, as Bishop Rey observes, Christianity is being privatized while Islam is expanding in Western Europe. How can this be?

There is no cabal at work. What conjoins the two radical wings, one religious and the other secular, is hatred of Christianity. But the source of their animosity is not the same. Radical Muslims want to conquer the West but cannot do so without attacking the Christian roots of Western civilization. Radical secularists want a full-blown libertine society—a sexual Shangri-La—but cannot do so without also attacking the Christian roots of Western civilization.

Christians are fighting for their lives against radical Muslims, and are fighting for their heritage against radical left-wing activists. They are the only sane players in this very sick development. More important, Christianity is the only tonic that can save us from their ravages.

GUEST OPINION: Trump Rallies Against NJ’s Environment

NJ SIERRA CLUB

WILDWOOD, NJ: President Donald Trump is holding a rally today in Wildwood, New Jersey. Earlier this month, the Trump Administration gutted a major Obama-Era Water of the United States (WOTUS) rule protecting drinking water for 117 million people. Sierra Club and other groups are suing on close to 37 rules Trump is trying to weaken, from coal ash to offshore drilling.

“President Trump is coming here to Wildwood, where his policies are actually threatening Wildwood’s environment and economy. He wants to drill off the coast of Wildwood, threatening our coastal tourism and fisheries. He calls climate change a ‘hoax’, and is trying to get rid of programs that help protect us from climate impacts and sea level rise. He is trying to dismantle fifty years of environmental progress at the EPA. Trump has muzzled scientists and has tried to open up public lands and coasts for mining and drilling,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “People are lining up to support Trump while rallying against their own economy and environment. Wildwood’s fisheries and coastal economy are threatened by climate change as well as oil spills. Wildwood is already seeing fish living in storm drains some roads going under water with every full moon, and we’re losing coastal wetlands at an alarming rate.”

The Trump Administration is making our situation worse by attacking the environment and climate change protections on a national level. He has weakened 24 air pollution rule. He pulled the United States out of the Paris Agreement and disbanded the Advisory Committee for the Sustained National Climate Assessment.

“New Jersey is one of the most vulnerable states to sea level rise and climate impacts. DEP has projected sea level rise anywhere from 5.0 to 8.8 feet by 2100, which is alarming because Wildwood and our other barrier islands are only 3 feet above sea level. According to a recent Zillow report, New Jersey is top two in the nation for developments in flood prone areas. We are also the second fastest warming state in the nation. Wildwood and other areas in New Jersey want to move forward with renewable energy like offshore wind, but Trump believes that offshore wind causes cancer,” said Tittel. “The only science President Trump and his Administration believes in is science fiction. He has the fictional idea that climate change is not real, but this dangerous delusion puts our communities and families at risk.”

At the end of last year, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) intruduced a new Minimum Offer Price Rule (MOPR). The MOPR will put a surcharge on new renewable energy resources. Elevating the prices of renewable energy resources will prevent them from displacing more expensive dirty energy, like coal and new fracked gas resources. The new rule will cancel out state incentives for clean energy resources, and will raise costs for 65 million consumers as a start.

“Not only is Trump trying to drill off our costs, but the Fossil Fool in the White House is trying to subsidize dirty energy like natural gas and big oil at the expense of clean energy. He is trying to open up our public lands as well as our costs to drilling and mining. He is putting our national treasures at risk by lifting mining restrictions in areas like the Tongass National Forest and Bears Ears and is even pushing uranium mining in areas around the Grand Canyon. Trump’s greedy agenda has sided with corporate polluters with new FERC fossil fuel subsidies that will cost us billions of dollars, changes to NAFTA, and rollbacks to the Clean Power Plan and CAFE,” said Jeff Tittel. “He has pulled out of the Paris Accords and the Clean Power Plan because he is afraid he would have to regulate himself since he is a major source of hot air.”

EPA studies have shown that rolling back the Clean Power Plan would lead to over 1,400 premature deaths and 40,000 cases of asthma each year. The EPA also found that freezing CAFE standards would result in 41,000 deaths and 1.67 million cases of asthma over a decade.

“Some say that Trump’s tweets make them sick, but it is actually his environmental policies and his war on the environment. His own EPA has found that rolling back the Clean Power Plan and freezing CAFE standards will result in over 42,000 premature deaths over a decade. Trump has diminished lead reduction programs, refused to set standards for dozens of toxic chemicals like PFOAS in our drinking water, and failed to completely clean up Superfund sites and deal with the climate impacts to these sites. He won’t enforce the Lautenberg Act and is constantly siding with industry over public safety, playing Russian Roulette with our environment and our health,” said Jeff Tittel. “Trump’s EPA is becoming a polluters agency. They have rolled back 85 environmental regulations, like the Endangered Species Act, and they’re more interested in checking off cleanups on paper than making polluters pay.”

Trump has revoked Obama-era orders to make infrastructure and building standards incorporate sea level rise and flooding projections. He has eliminated the Clean Power Plan, revoked the California Clean Waiver Rule, and increased limits on methane leaks.

“We need to stand up to make sure his actions are not going unchecked. Sierra Club and others are suing on over 40 rules he is trying to weaken, from coal ash to offshore drilling. We are also fighting the administration for hiding scientific reports and holding private meetings with lobbyists, as well as challenging permits for projects like the Dakota Access Pipeline and LNG terminals. Trump is the worst president in history when it comes to the environment, and we must fight back. We have to stand up and continue to fight to protect our planet for our grandchildren and great grandchildren. Trump’s lawlessness and disregard for institutions is putting our environment and safety at risk,” said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “We must keep fighting to make sure our air is clean to breathe, our water is pure to drink, and our open spaces are protected. We must fight to Make America Green Again.”

NJPP: Public Charge Rule is a Discriminatory Income Test

Earlier today the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the Trump administration’s “public charge” rule change to take effect. The new rule makes it more difficult for immigrant families to obtain legal permanent residence if they have used, or are deemed likely to use, public health benefits. In response to the Supreme Court’s decision, NJPP releases the following statement:

Erika Nava, Policy Analyst, New Jersey Policy Perspective:

“The Supreme Court decision is a devastating blow to working-class immigrant families in search of the American Dream. The new rule imposes a discriminatory income test to the immigration system and will force many immigrants to choose between having their basic needs met and being separated from their family. Penalizing families who qualify for public assistance runs counter to this nation’s values and must be stopped. In the meantime, immigrant families should not be fearful, but educated on the new public charge rule so they can make the best decisions for themselves and their families as they navigate the immigration process.”

For more info on the “public charge” rule change, read NJPP’s Public Charge FAQ from December 2019:

FAQs: The Public Charge Rule Change

Fenway Institute Says Trump Administration Expanded Discriminatory Anti-LGBT Policies

(January 24, 2020)–The Fenway Institute of Fenway Health released

a policy brief

demonstrating that in 2019, the Trump Administration dramatically expanded upon discriminatory, anti-LGBT policies implemented in 2017 and 2018 that are harming the health and well-being of LGBTQIA+ people in America and around the world.

“During Donald Trump’s third year as president, we moved from worrying that anti-LGBT policies would harm people to seeing the damage of these policies in action,” said Sean Cahill, PhD, Director of Health Policy Research at The Fenway Institute. “The most dramatic examples have been the deaths of two transgender women seeking asylum in the United States who were detained in facilities currently being sued for their alleged abuse of LGBT migrants. Other moves have made LGBT people and people living with HIV much more vulnerable to discrimination in health care, social services, employment, education, and access to basic government services.”

Much of the harm LGBT people are now experiencing is the result of discriminatory actions that target them, such as rolling back sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination provisions in health care, employment, and housing while expanding discriminatory religious refusal policies. But other policies that are not specifically aimed at LGBT people, such as restricting asylum hearings in the United States only to people who have been denied asylum in another country, and the maltreatment of people in border detention facilities, have disproportionately affected LGBT people from Central America seeking asylum to escape anti-LGBT violence.

In June, a transgender woman from El Salvador, who spent six weeks in a detention center in New Mexico that has been sued by the ACLU for creating “unconscionable conditions” for LGBT immigrants, died after being hospitalized for chest pain. The woman, a nurse, had repeatedly asked for an IV solution or, barring that, water, salt, and sugar so she could make and administer her own solution, but was denied medical care.

Two initiatives by the Trump Administration aimed at improving the conditions of LGBT people around the world and ending the transmission of HIV have been undermined by the administration’s own anti-LGBT policies.

During his 2019 State of the Union address, President Trump announced the Ending the HIV Epidemic Initiative, a new plan to end the HIV epidemic by 2030 with increased investments in outreach and prevention to communities hit hardest by HIV. But the campaign does little to address anti-LGBT discrimination and stigma, which are the underlying drivers behind the HIV epidemic among the most disproportionately affected populations in this country. Meanwhile, the Trump Administration’s work to uphold religious refusal protections, repeal nondiscrimination protections for LGBT Americans, and other such actions may actually increase discrimination against LGBT people, creating additional barriers to success for the HIV initiative.

In February 2019, the Trump Administration announced that it would launch a global campaign to end the criminalization of homosexuality as it is still a crime in 70 countries around the world, with 13 of them allowing for the death penalty. Since the announcement, the Trump Administration has been inconsistent in implementing its policy. While the US State Department publicly condemned anti-LGBT laws and actions in Chechnya and Brunei, it has been silent on similar anti-LGBT actions taken this year by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kenya. The U.S. Ambassador to Zambia, who criticized the imprisonment of a gay couple there for 15 years, was told to leave the country by Zambia’s president, and was recalled by the U.S. State Department last month.

Other examples of actions taken by the Trump Administration in 2019 that undermine the health and well-being of LGBT people and people living with HIV include:

Proposing a new rule to reverse the Obama-era final rule implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which prohibits discrimination in the provision of health care. The 2016 Section 1557 rule was implemented to address anti-LGBT discrimination in health care, which can range from being verbally or physically harassed to being denied treatment altogether.

Proposing a new rule to remove explicit sexual orientation and gender identity nondiscrimination provisions from important health care regulations governing health insurance exchanges, Medicaid regulations, and the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly.

Proposing a new rule to remove regulatory provisions that explicitly prohibit organizations that receive HHS grant funding from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, and religion. Such a rule would affect organizations that provide a wide array of health and social services, including health care at federally funded community health centers, HIV and STI testing and prevention, refugee resettlement, elder care programs, childcare and after-school programs, community meal programs, and adoption and foster care services.

Nominating judges for lifetime federal appointments who have expressed anti-LGBT sentiments and/or have histories of ruling against the interests of LGBT Americans.

Arguing before the U.S. Supreme Court in favor of limiting existing nondiscrimination provisions under Title VII that have been used to protect LGBT workers.

Proposing an amendment to the Equal Access Rule, which ensures that homeless shelters do not discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity.

Amending the 2019 Notice of Funding Availability Act, administered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to remove a crucial incentive that encouraged housing providers to support LGBT individuals. LGBTQ youth and transgender people, especially people of color, experience disproportionately high rates of homelessness.

Eliminating disparate impact civil rights regulations which treat policies that are neutral on paper but have an unequal impact in practice as forms of discrimination, even if there was no discriminatory intent.

Finalizing a rule that allows healthcare providers to refuse to participate in medical procedures, such as infertility treatment for same-sex couples, abortion, and HIV treatment for religious reasons.

Proposing a new rule that would remove sexual orientation data collection for foster youth and foster and adoptive parents in the Adoption and Foster Care Analysis and Reporting System.

Implementing a ban on transgender troops that was first proposed in 2017 and which puts an estimated 13,600 transgender individuals at risk of being discharged.

The policy brief, “

In its third year in office, the Trump Administration dramatically expanded discriminatory anti-LGBT policies

” can be downloaded

here

Since 1971,

Fenway Health

has been working to make life healthier for the people in our neighborhoods, the LGBTQIA+ community, people living with HIV/AIDS and the broader population. The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health is an interdisciplinary center for research, training, education and policy development focusing on national and international health issues.

Guest Opinion: American Dream Mall Fail to Pay Back Taxpayers

submitted by NJ Sierra Club

It has been 3 months since the grand opening of the American Dream Mall and towns are still waiting to be paid. In East Rutherford, where American Dream is located, officials said the mall owes $1 million in payments for last year, and an anticipated $2 million in payments in 2020 that are outstanding. For nearby Carlstadt and Secaucus, the missing payments amount to $750,000 and $100,000, respectively.

“The cost to build the American Dream mall has reached a historical price tag for both our wallets and the environment’s. The mega mall is too costly to build and too costly to visit. From riding its thrilling rides to food costs to parking, a daily visit is very expensive. New Jersey taxpayers had to pay over $1billion to subsidize this monstrosity of a mall and now its customers are being charged even more to enjoy it. What’s even worse is that the mall still owes taxpayers millions of dollars for their mega mall. The mall has taken all of this public money without paying them back while the public still can’t afford to go there,”

said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

It has taken 17 years to build and billions of dollars from subsidies, tax breaks, and tax incremental financing. The price tag for the mall has reached historical lengths and unfortunately the cost to its customers are seeing high price tags too. The American Dream/Xanadu mega-mall is the largest public subsidized development project in state history. The project received $350 million in direct state subsidies from EDA plus another $800 million for financing including $100 million for road improvements, bringing it up to $1.5 billion project.

“The American Scheme mega-mall has been the largest corporate subsidy in the state’s history. What’s even worse is that they have failed to pay back East Rutherford and other cities who are proposing to use taxpayer money for school improvements,”

said Tittel.

“If paying $24 for parking wasn’t enough, a daily price to ride American Dream rides will be $80 soon. Combined, that’s more than a season pass at Six Flags and just $5 shy for a daily pass to Disney World. The people who work at the American Dream Mall making $11/hr. cannot afford to go there. To spend a full day at the park could take a full week’s wages.”

The mall is an estimated 3 million square feet with more than half of that allotted to entertainment and the other 45% of the space will be for retail. There are 11,000 parking spaces and they share 22,000 with MetLife stadium on non-event days.

“There is no real traffic program for the bus or train services that are reliable, instead the mall will be car dependent. The project, which comprises 7.1 million square feet of office and commercial space, in order to be successful, it will need to generate around 120,000 to 150,000 cars a day, gridlocking Bergen County with traffic. Everyday traffic will be like game day at Giants Stadium,”

said Tittel.

“The Murphy Administration have been trying to fix traffic problems by proposing a rail plan that will cost $1-$2 billion while NJ Transit is crumbling. That money could have been used to finish the Bergen-Hudson Rail, or important improvements for NJ Transit. Why should we be paying for a rail to a private male. They created the problem, why should NJ taxpayers pay to fix it?”

The American Dream/Xanadu mall sits partly on wetlands in an environmentally sensitive area prone to flooding. Meadowlands resources are important for flood control, fisheries, and migratory birds.

“We have been fighting this mega mall for over 20 years because it is too large, it’s in an environmentally sensitive area, and will cause a lot of pollution and traffic. The American Dream/Xanadu site flooded during Hurricane Sandy. The mall’s water park is built on top of wetlands, which means increasingly vulnerable to the effects of sea level rise and storm surges. Studies have shown the entire area will end up under 3 feet of water. The EPA and Fish & Wildlife under President George W. Bush opposed the project because of environmental impacts on clean air and water, and wildlife,”

said Tittel.

“Overdeveloping the Meadowlands will not only put more people in danger of flooding, but will actually impact wetlands and the fragile ecosystems.”

Governor Murphy believes this project has provided New Jersey residents with extraordinary opportunities for good-paying construction and building jobs, as well as opportunities for New Jersey’s business owners.

“The billions of dollars for American Dream could’ve been used for building schools and colleges, taking lead out of our drinking water, or cleaning up our toxic sites. Instead, this private enterprise is a one- two punch to our wallets, the billions it took to build it and the high price tag to enjoy its amenities. The American Dream mall shows everything that is wrong about New Jersey. We don’t know what will be worse, it the American Dream succeeds, we will see all of the pollution from the traffic coming to the mall plus possible gridlock it would cause to commuters. If it would fail, it wastes billions of taxpayer dollars,”

said Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.

Hawaii: Gun Control Measures Introduced With More on the Way

SOURCE: NRA-ILA

The Hawaii Legislature opened on Wednesday and an onslaught of bills targeting your Second Amendment Rights have been introduced. Below, find a brief description of the more significant anti-gun bills that were introduced this week.

House Bill 1599

House Bill 1734

, and

Senate Bill 2152

would change the permitting system for the purchase of rifles and shotguns (long guns) to match the procedure currently in place for handgun purchases. This would require an individual to obtain a permit from the police each and every time they wished to purchase a long gun that would only be valid for 10 days. Whereas now, only one permit is required to purchase any number of long guns, and is valid for a year. It goes without saying that these bills create an onerous and unnecessary new burden on law abiding citizens who wish to purchase long guns for sport, hunting, or home defense.

House Bill 1733

and

Senate Bill 2151

would prohibit the purchase and manufacture of certain firearms parts by private individuals in an effort to ban home built firearms. The legislation is vague and overly broad as to what exactly could constitute a part or parts that could subject a person to felony penalties. This legislation fails to recognize that prohibited persons already cannot lawfully possess any firearm, whether home built or produced by a licensed manufacturer.

House Bill 1736

and

Senate Bill 2154

would prohibit possession of magazines capable of holding more than ten rounds. These so called “high capacity” magazines are in fact standard equipment for commonly-owned firearms that many Americans legally and effectively use for an entire range of legitimate purposes, such as self-defense or competition. The bill recognizes the utility of these magazines by carving out an exemption for law enforcement, but would still violate the rights of ordinary citizens. It contains no “grandfathering” provision for affected magazines lawfully acquired prior to the ban, so citizens would be forced to dispose of their property, alter it, or surrender it to the government.

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www.nraila.org

for updates on issues impacting your Second Amendment Rights and hunting heritage.

Trump\’s Religious Liberty Reforms

January 17, 2020

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on

public policy reforms issued by the Trump administration on January 16

The public policy reforms governing religious liberty issued by the Trump administration are compelling and much needed. President Trump has proven once again that he is the most religion-friendly president in the modern era.

The Trump administration has provided a much-needed corrective to the draconian directives promulgated by the previous administration: the role of religious liberty under President Obama was diminished to such an extent that it all but neutered the free exercise of religion in public policy programs. Trump has reversed this condition, awarding religious liberty the kind of breathing room it deserves, both morally and legally.

There are three areas of public policy affecting religious liberty that have been targeted for reform by the Trump administration: faith-based programs; higher education; and religious institutions.

While the directives that have been issued are tailored to each of these three sectors, there are two elements that are common to all of them: religious institutions will not be afforded a second-class status any longer and their autonomy will be protected.

The Trump administration wants to end the invidious practices of discriminating against religious institutions and associations that were instituted by the Obama administration. Any institution that does not treat religious institutions as the equal of secular institutions will be faced with the prospect of having federal funds terminated.

Religious autonomy is another feature of these reforms. For instance, the state cannot force religious associations to jettison their religious character as a condition of federal aid. Regrettably, this has been done, the effect of which has been to secularize these entities. What is the sense of having a religious institution if it cannot freely exercise its religious prerogatives?

In effect, the Trump administration is going to continue its efforts to put an end to the animus against religious institutions that characterized the Obama administration.

As is customary, the public is being given 30 days to comment on these proposals. I will submit a detailed account of the Catholic League\’s problems with the Obama administration in its handling of faith-based programs, and the need for the kinds of reforms as outlined in the new directives. We will make public our input.