New Jersey News Briefs

First Lady Tammy Murphy will deliver the keynote speech at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Women’s Committee luncheon on Saturday.   On Sunday, Gov. Phil Murphy and the First Lady will march in the Belmar & Lake Como 47th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which means the first 2020 sighting of the governor’s St. Patrick’s season attire.

Forward Thinking Democracy, a progressive blog, has endorsed Zina Spezakis for the Democratic nomination for Congress in the 9th district.

Morris Township deputy mayor Jeff Grayzel, a candidate for the Democratic State Senate nomination in the 25th district, wants an update from Atlantic Health System’s Morristown Medical Center on preparations if a local outbreak of the coronavirus occurs.

The Democratic candidates for Monmouth County freeholder, Michael Penna and Moira Nelson, condemned a resolution passed by the Board of Freeholders declaring Monmouth a “Second Amendment Lawful Gun Owner County.”

An anti-vaping resolution co-sponsored by Rep. Josh Gottheimer passed the House on Friday.  Gottheimer will honor Vietnam War veteran Fran Carrasco, the Bergen County American Legion Commander, with an Army Commendation Medal that comes nearly 50 years late.

The Nation, America’s oldest progressive political news magazine, is calling the 5th district Democratic primary between Gottheimer and Glen Rock councilwoman Arati Kreibich “one of the most important opportunities to elect a progressive” in 2020.

Democratic congressional candidate Brigid Harrison issued a declaration of policy principles to support working families and job creation.

Senate President Steve Sweeney learned about the how New Jersey can achieve am accurate count in the 2020 Census at a South Jersey Kids Count Forum on Friday.

The U.S. Senate passed a resolution sponsored by U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Tim Scott (R-South Carolina) celebrating Black History Month.

U.S. Senator Bob Menendez toured the Hackensack Meridian’s Center for Discovery and Innovation lab.  Infectious disease experts and researchers are working on a test for the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Menendez and U.S. Senator John Boozman (R-Arkansas) introduced legislation to expand access to life-saving bleeding kits.

Rep. Mikie Sherrill pushed for the advancement of Army Corps of Engineers projects to address chronic flooding in parts of her district during testimony before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Thursday.

A resolution authorizing a monument to honor Gold Star families introduced by Rep. Andy Kim passed the House on Friday.

The three Republican legislators from the 13th district — State Sen. Declan O’Scanlon, Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso and Assemblyman Gerald Scharfenberger – have criticized Gov. Murphy’s proposed school funding cuts, especially an exclusion of special education increases they say had been previously agreed to.

State Sen. Anthony M. Bucco thinks that a proposal to cut $3.6 million from three Morris County school districts will “deepen New Jersey’s property tax crisis and drive more families from the Garden State.

Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee chairman John McKeon is concerned that UnitedHealthcare is cutting care providers within its New Jersey Medicaid Network.

The Republican legislators from the 8th district, Ryan Peters and Jean Stanfield, will hold a Town Hall meeting on March 9 in Evesham.

Gov. Murphy called on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities to implement a schedule to meet his proposes 7,500 megawatt offshore wind goals by 2035.

The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development launched a new partnership with the state’s advanced manufacturers this week to support something Gov. Murphy likes to call a “stronger, fairer economy.”