Second presumed case of coronavirus Presented by Pre-K Our Way

Good Friday morning!

New Jersey now has a second presumed positive case of coronavirus, and state officials are responding to the issue in full force. While Gov. Phil Murphy is recovering from surgery, Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver is navigating the state’s response to the virus in her role as acting governor.


Oliver announced yesterday that state employees are prohibited from traveling internationally for work. State employee business trips out-of-state, even day trips to New York City or Washington, D.C., must be approved by the governor’s office.

"We advise caution of our employees traveling to any area with known impacts of community-spread coronavirus and Covid-19," Oliver said.

New Jersey officials didn’t provide reporters with information about the second presumed case, other than to say the person had been hospitalized at Englewood Health in Bergen County. The patient has been discharged and is in self-quarantine, according to the the hospital.

We can expect for coronavirus to continue to be a major topic of conversation in Trenton in the coming weeks. But it’s also worth emphasizing that the effects of the global coronavirus outbreak in New Jersey are still relatively mild and state officials say the risk to the average resident is low.

While Matt is out, please send tips (and puns) to [email protected] and [email protected] .

QUOTE OF THE DAY — “Governor’s not running for re-election right now. That’s next year. We pay attention election by election.” — Senate President Steve Sweeney, when asked if he’d back Murphy for a second term .

DAYS MURPHY HAS SPENT OUT OF STATE SINCE BECOMING DGA CHAIR: 17

WHERE’S MURPHY? — Recovering from surgery. Acting governor Sheila Oliver has no public schedule.

WHAT TRENTON MADE

RETIREMENT PARTY — Senate revives bill that could add ‘hundreds of millions’ to PFRS costs, by POLITICO's Ryan Hutchins: A bill that would restore early retirement eligibility for some police officers and firefighters — a move legislative analysts say could add hundreds of millions of dollars to pension costs — is being resurrected after dying in the lame-duck session. The bill cleared the Senate state government committee Thursday in a 5-0 vote. This is the first time the measure has advanced in the upper house; it passed the Assembly in December before the session ended. The proposal, which supporters insist would not cost nearly as much as the Office of Legislative Services estimates, would allow members of New Jersey’s Police and Firemen's Retirement System to retire after 20 years of service with half the benefits they would receive if they began collecting them at the current retirement age.

— Sweeney backs bill allowing early police, fire retirements, by Ryan: Senate President Steve Sweeney said he supports the bill, rejecting estimates by legislative analysts about the added pension costs. “I support it. We've had two actuarial reports to look at to make sure, because there were numbers like it's going to add $600 million. That's not true,” Sweeney said. “That's not true at all.” The independent actuary found the changes would cost $13.6 million a year and fall over time, Sweeney said.

RIGHTING PAST WRONGS — “N.J. refused to pay innocent man convicted of rape. Now Murphy, lawmakers pledge to fix the law.,” by NJ Advance Media’s S.P. Sullivan: “Gov. Phil Murphy and state lawmakers are now promising action after state officials refused to pay restitution to a man wrongly convicted of rape, citing fine print in New Jersey’s compensation law. Last week, a New Jersey appellate court sided with the state’s Treasury Department, which has spent nearly two years fighting a claim from former prisoner Dion Harrell under New Jersey’s Mistaken Imprisonment Act. Facing criticism over the legal fight to deny Harrell compensation, Murphy’s administration may reverse course. A spokeswoman for Murphy, Alyana Alfaro, said his administration now ‘agrees that Mr. Harrell should be compensated for time he spent imprisoned due to a wrongful conviction of sexual assault.’”

FOOD FIGHT — Legislature sends food waste bill to Murphy, by POLITICO’s Samantha Maldonado: The state Senate on Thursday passed and sent to Gov. Phil Murphy legislation that would require facilities such as supermarkets, restaurants and hospitals to separate and recycle their food waste. The bill also changes the definition of Class I renewable energy to include renewable natural gas, or biogas.The Senate passed the measure, 22-17, after considerable discussion. The Assembly passed it last month. “If we want to get some of our food waste out of landfills, this is the way to do it," said Sen. Bob Smith, who sponsored the bill.

YIKES — “Winter? What winter? New Jersey has one of its warmest seasons on record with minimal snow,” by The Record’s Scott Fallon: “New Jersey just experienced one of its warmest winters on record, continuing a recent trend of mild seasons that could affect everything from the start of allergy season and the harvesting of crops to a boom in disease-carrying insects. This winter — classified by meteorologists as December through February — ranked sixth mildest since 1895, according to a report released late Tuesday by the state climatologist. It also ranked fourth lowest in terms of snowfall with 4.7 inches, 16.3 inches below average through February. Five of the top seven mildest winters in New Jersey have come in the last 20 years, echoing a global trend propelled by an increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that prevents heat from escaping into space. The overwhelming majority of scientists, peer-reviewed studies, and government agencies have shown that the planet is warming due in large part to human activity, such as burning fossil fuels like coal, natural gas and gasoline.”

CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE — Newark airport workers urge lawmakers to pass health care bill in wake of coronavirus, by POLITICO’s Katherine Landergan: More than 250 baggage handlers, maintenance and other workers at Newark Liberty International Airport sent a letter to New Jersey lawmakers today urging them to pass legislation that would provide them with “quality” and “affordable” health care amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. “Our deep concerns about this illness underline a longer-term crisis: many of us work day and night with no health insurance,” reads the letter, signed by the SEIU 32BJ Airport organizing committee. “As wages have risen, fewer airport workers qualify for Medicaid, but our employer’s plans remain unaffordable.“ SEIU 32BJ, which represents property service workers, has been pushing for the Legislature to pass the bill, NJ S989 (20R), referred to as the Healthy Terminals Act, for a long time. They say there is now added urgency, given the spread of the coronavirus. Though more than 250 airport workers signed the letter, the proposed legislation would apply to about 10,000 baggage handlers, cleaners and other workers at Newark Liberty.

THAT ROI-NJ STORY — I noted in Playbook on Monday that ROI-NJ published an interview on Friday with Brendan Gill, a top adviser to Murphy, in which he defended himself and the culture of the Murphy campaign. But the article was pulled, and no longer appears online.

ROI-NJ then issued a statement about its decision — that I then published in Playbook — apologizing to Julie Roginsky for not giving her the chance to respond, and indicating they published the story without “independently verifying some of the statements.”

But the apology is down from the website, and the link doesn’t work. I asked editor Tom Bergeron about it, and he declined to comment.

MILLENNIALS ARE NOW KILLING FRIENDSHIP. WHAT WILL THEY DESTROY NEXT??— “A growing problem for millennials: Thousands of 'friends,' no one to hang out with,” by The Record’s Cindy Schweich Handler: “Over the last few years, studies including ones conducted by the University of Pennsylvania, market researchers YouGov and Monitoring the Future, an annual survey funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, have found the same thing: Instead of experiencing social media as a supportive community, young people are finding that prolonged time on it makes them feel the absence of one. Last fall, the Senator Walter Rand Institute for Public Affairs at Rutgers University-Camden published ‘South Jersey Health Needs,’ a look at factors affecting the health of South Jersey residents. The survey found that millennials (ages 23-38) were 50 percent more likely than baby boomers (55-75) to feel lonely. The least lonely respondents were 40-55 years old, and the loneliest group overall was aged 18-25.”

LOCAL

RED BANK — “How a Red Bank lawyer won a $750 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Michael L. Diamond: “When it came time for his closing argument last summer, Christopher Placitella told the jury that he woke up in the middle of the night thinking about pain. It wasn't just physical pain that his client, D'Angela McNeill-George, endured, he said, but also the emotional pain of missing out on the simple, joyful moments in life: birthday parties, walks on the beach, her son's football games. ‘That's enjoyment of life,’ he said, showing photos of McNeill-George before she was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer that he argued was caused by talc in Johnson & Johnson's baby powder. In court: Johnson & Johnson hit with $37M verdict in talcum powder case Placitella won the case that was noteworthy not only for the penalties — $37.2 million in compensatory damages and $750 million in punitive damages — but also for putting J&J CEO Alex Gorsky on the stand for the first time in a baby powder case.”

HOBOKEN — “Hoboken workers pack council meeting in show of unity after receiving layoff notices,” by The Jersey Journal’s Teri West: “Dozens of emotional municipal employees packed inside the City Council meeting Wednesday after receiving notices of potential layoff last week, pleading that officials not sacrifice their jobs to balance the budget. In tears, Diane Nieves Carreras said her benefits allow her to care for her ill spouse. Chryssa Cooper noted that her daughter is a seventh-generation Hoboken resident, but a layoff could end that legacy. It was a show of unity that put faces to the 79 employees informed Friday that they could lose their jobs in light of an impending multi-million-dollar deficit. Many have worked for the city for decades, and more than half of the recipients of the notice were women, Carreras said. They left, however, applauding the council. Council members and union leaders appeared to agree that the key to saving money is for the city to switch employees to the state health insurance plan. The City Council unanimously passed a resolution urging the administration to explore that option.”

EVERYTHING ELSE

HEALTH CARE — CarePoint, RWJBarnabas close to deal for 2 Hudson County hospitals, by POLITICO’s Sam Sutton: CarePoint Health is close to finalizing a deal to sell Christ Hospital in Jersey City and Hoboken University Medical Center to RWJBarnabas Health. However, the final negotiations are contingent upon the health systems securing an agreement with Avery Eisenreich, who controls the land under the Hoboken hospital. Eisenreich, founder of the Alaris Health network of nursing homes, purchased the land beneath Hoboken University Medical Center late last year, a transaction CarePoint's founders claim disrupted their negotiations with RWJBarnabas. The real estate deal is the subject of a legal battle in the Delaware Court of Chancery. "CarePoint and RWJBH believe the counteroffer is in the ballpark of where a deal can potentially be arrived at with more details to be worked out, and both CarePoint and RWJBH are very pleased with the progress made,” according to the statement provided by the CarePoint founders. “We are awaiting feedback from Avery Eisenreich and Alaris Health to see if Avery and Alaris share that belief."

SCHOOL FUNDING — School funding relief bill would prevent some districts from getting cuts in aid, by Carly: Three Republican lawmakers from Ocean County say they will introduce a sweeping measure that would prevent any school district spending below its adequacy budget from receiving cuts in state aid, POLITICO has learned. A district is considered below adequacy if it is not spending enough to provide all its students with a “thorough and efficient” education as calculated by New Jersey’s intricate school funding formula...The measure is unlikely to advance as Senate President Steve Sweeney — who spearheaded the S2 changes — told POLITICO he will not support it.

— Oliver welcomes AG’s call to clarify public access rules at Statehouse

— "New Jersey eyes wider betting on esports video game tourneys"

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