INDIVISIBLE Lambertville NJ / New Hope PA

Category: New Jersey

  • What to Watch for in the NJ Lame Duck Session

    What to Watch for in the NJ Lame Duck Session

    Contributed by Liz Glynn

    The lame duck session is here in the NJ legislature! This is the last legislative session before the new legislators are sworn in on the second Tuesday of January. It is a hard and fast scramble to get legislation passed – especially legislation already in the works. Any legislation that doesn’t cross the finish line by the end of the lame duck session has to start all over again in the next session. The legislature has also been known to try to sneak through bad bills while everyone is busy with the holidays. It’s time to watch the legislature and be ready to respond!

    What to look for in the lame duck session:

      • Reforming Corporate Tax Credits to ensure greater monitoring and oversight, higher labor standards for reward recipients, local hiring, smart investments with greater community benefits, and hard annual caps. The NJ Comptroller’s report, the Governor’s Task Force, and investigative journalists revealed a bevy of scandals, fraudulent activity and otherwise questionable policy. Time to fix our corporate tax subsidy programs! 
      • Driver’s Licenses for All to allow immigrants the opportunity to access driver’s license. This would allow our immigrant families to drive to work, drive their kids, and would make our roads safer for everyone. Sign up for alerts at letsdrivenj.org. You can also contact your legislators and show up in Trenton for upcoming days of action.
      • Redistricting Reform to create a more democratic process to draw our district lines. The Fair Districts reform proposal includes citizen commissioners, public participation, more transparency and bans legislators from being able to determine their own district lines. Learn more at fairdistrictsnj.org
      • Voting Rights Restoration for people on parole, probation and in prison. Advocates are pushing for full restoration and to become the third state to do so. You can contact your legislator to let them know you support full restoration with this online action: LetUsVoteNJ.org
      • Marijuana reform is up for negotiation. There are various bills that could advance that include expungement of marijuana-related offenses, decriminalization and possibly legalization of recreational use.
      • ACA protections are also in the pipeline to ensure we protect New Jersey residents from Trump’s sabotage. Bills include prohibiting pre-existing conditions exclusions, requiring dependent coverage to age 26, requiring coverage of essential health benefits, requiring coverage of preventative services, and requiring contraceptive coverage. 

      There will be plenty of opportunities to attend committee meetings, submit public testimony, meet with legislators, and see live voting on the Senate and Assembly floor. If you would like to visit Trenton and see democracy in action you can contact Liz Glynn, Director of Organizing with NJ Citizen Action at liz@njcitizenaction.org 

  • GOTV NJ and PA Countdown to November 5, 2019

     Contributed by Olga Vanucci.

    Are you ready to canvass to get candidates elected who share your values?
    There are elections this year, in PA and NJ.  Election day is Tuesday, November 5, 2019.

    Pennsylvania
    In Bucks County this year, there are three judges up for election for the Court of Common Pleas. While these are officially non-partisan, the current bench of judges currently overwhelmingly lean Republican. The three candidates that lean Democrat are: Charissa Liller, Jessica VanderKam, Jordan Yeager.See who else is running for office in Bucks County this year: http://bucksvictory.com/
    Local Democrat organizations – find one where you live:
    https://bucksdemocrats.org/local-dems-organizations/
    Sign up to canvass with Bucks Victory:  http://bucksvictory.com/volunteer-opportunity/sign-up-to-volunteer/
    Or find a canvass near you here:  https://www.mobilize.us/turnpablue/

    New Jersey
    The entire, New Jersey Assembly is up for election this year.  In LD 16, Andrew Zwicker and Roy Freiman are running for re-election to the Assembly in a highly contested campaign in a swing district.  Andrew flipped the seat, which had always been Republican, in 2015, by 78 votes. Roy flipped his seat in 2017. ILNH was an active supporter of their campaign in 2017, with many hours of canvassing. Sign up here to help them win: https://www.zwickerforassembly.com/join

    In addition, Hunterdon County is holding elections for Sheriff and for two Freeholders. The incumbent Sheriff and all the Freeholders are currently Republicans. Challenging Democrats include Dominick Puzio running for Sheriff, and Savet Rosenblum and Natalie Ferry running for Freeholder.  Sign up here to volunteer with Hunterdon County Dems: https://www.hcdems.com/volunteer

  • Some Good News (Finally) on the Census

    Some Good News (Finally) on the Census

    Contributed by Elaine Clisham

    So, the citizenship question will not appear on the 2020 census form. That’s good news! (But don’t sleep on this — there is already a push to get it included on the 2030 form!) Amid all the flurry over the question in the past few weeks, it was easy to miss some positive census developments here in New Jersey.

    The 2020 census presents unique challenges. It will be the first census to be conducted primarily online, requiring a host of new technologies to be developed and tested. There were originally supposed to be three end-to-end field tests, but budget restrictions forced that number to be reduced to one, meaning the system will not be field-tested again after any identified bugs are fixed. The threat of the citizenship question being added has eroded trust in the census and threatens a robust response, particularly among groups hardest to count. (Hard-to-count communities include communities with a traditionally lower-than target response rate, which in New Jersey is 73 percent; minority communities and communities whose first language is not English; and children under 5 years old. This year, because the census will be conducted online, another hard-to-count category has been added — older residents who are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with the technology they will be asked to use.) And, while there have been increases to the federal budget for the census, there is widespread fear that the budget for partnerships and outreach will not get sufficient funding. None of this bodes well for an accurate census.

    The good news is, New Jersey is taking several steps to try to minimize the risk of an incomplete count.

    First, last fall the state appointed a Complete Count Commission, chaired by Secretary of State Tahesha Way, and charged it with identifying steps New Jersey and local municipalities and community groups need to take in order to ensure that every resident is counted. (You can read more about the commission here; Legislative District 15 Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, who represents Lambertville, is a member.)

    In June, after a series of public hearings around the state, the commission released its report (available here as a PDF). The report noted the three key advisory committees set up within the commission, and including representatives of hard-to-count communities, that will focus on community advocacy, partnerships with private entities, and education and intergovernmental coordination. It highlighted more than 500 hard-to-count census tracts in all but three counties, where it urged that extra effort — formation of local partnerships and Complete Count Committees, augmented outreach, including in languages other than English — be focused in order to ensure an accurate count. And it detailed plans for establishing a multi-lingual branding and communications campaign to support census outreach efforts throughout the state. These are all critical steps. (A good summary of the commission’s report can be found here.)

    Second, the June meeting of the New Jersey Council of Grantmakers was focused entirely on ways the philanthropic sector can support efforts to secure a complete count. The council is developing partnerships with, and training resources for, its members, and has an entire section on its website devoted to its census efforts. (A good writeup of the council’s meeting is here.) This philanthropic support will be key to successful partnerships and outreach in hard-to-count communities.

    And third, while the budget that Gov. Murphy originally proposed had only $2 million allocated for census outreach, the final version, drafted by the Legislature and now signed by the governor, includes the full $9 million that advocacy groups had requested. So while federal outreach funds may be lacking, New Jersey has now made a pledge to fill the gap.

    All of this means that census prospects in New Jersey look a little brighter than at the federal level. However, we need to take advantage of these resources and work proactively to help ensure a complete count. 

    Call to Action! 

    If you have connections in a hard-to-count community and you want to help, contact any of the members of the state Complete Count Commission about setting up a local Complete Count Committee in that community, and becoming a census outreach partner. Let’s make sure all of New Jersey counts!

  • Make a Run for It! Resources and What You Need to Know (WYNTK)

    Contributed by Amara Willey. 

    Running for office in Hunterdon County – WYNTK: County Clerk Mary Melfi is your go-to resource. Here’s a link to a page with tons of helpful information. Mary has a very extensive packet of information at her office for political hopefuls. She is also willing to sit down with a potential candidate and go over what needs to happen to get on the ballot. She would like to see more women take on governing roles. “Women bring a totally different dynamic to politics. I think women are more analytical, solution-oriented, and think outside of box,” she says.

    • Important date! Monday, April 1st — deadline for all Partisan Candidates to File Petitions for the June Primary. State Candidates file with the State Division of Elections, County Candidates with the County Clerk’s office and Local Candidates with their Municipal Clerk. (N.J.S.A.19:23-14)

    Running for office in Pennsylvania – WYNTK: The Pennsylvania Department of State provides a wealth of information on this site: Running For Office

    • Important dates:
      • February 19 — First day to circulate and file nomination petitions
      • March 12 — Last day to circulate and file nomination petitions

    Candidate training resources

    General

    • Emerge is a candidate training program for Democratic women:
    • Moms Running is a coaching business run by Clinton Councilwoman Rielly Karsh and others to help mothers who want to get into politics
    • National Democratic Training Committee runs a self-study program https://www.traindemocrats.org/home/
    • Rutgers’ Center for American Women and Politics has their nonpartisan candidate training program, Ready to Run scheduled for March 15-16
    • She Should Run offers free online courses and an incubator for women considering a run for office. Have a younger woman interested? They even offer a parents or mentor’s program for activities to do with them. https://www.sheshouldrun.org/incubator

    Pennsylvania

    • Bucks County Dems will be having a forum at their next meeting on how to complete the petition to become a candidate. http://bucksdemocrats.org/. Working Families Party will be sponsoring training on March 30 for Democratic candidates that have submitted petitions (Deadline: March 12). http://workingfamilies.org/
    • Training is planned but not yet scheduled for using Votebuilder and specific topics like how to present a stump speech (Sign up for email lists with Solebury Democrats, Bucks County Democrats and check Helen Tai’s Facebook and website for these upcoming topics).

    New Jersey

    • In conjunction with the National Democratic training, New Jersey Democrats are planning candidate trainings on March 23rd and 24th. The 23rd is in Morris County and the 24th is in Bergen. The location has not been confirmed yet. https://njdems.org/our-events/

  • Your State Legislature and Judiciary

    New Jersey

    The NJ Legislative branch is comprised of the Senate and General Assembly. The Senate has 40 members, and the General Assembly has 80 members. One senator and two assembly members are elected from each of the 40 districts of New Jersey. The Senate and General Assembly meet for about 40 sessions a year on Mondays and Thursdays.

    Senators face election every four years, with the next election coming in Nov. 2021. Democrats currently control the NJ Senate, led by Senate President Stephen Sweeney. Loretta Weinberg is the Majority Leader; Thomas Kean Jr. is the Minority Leader. Assembly members face election every two years. In November 2019, the entire NJ Assembly is up for election. Democrats also control the Assembly, led by Craig Coughlin; Louis Greenwald is the Majority Leader, and Jon M. Branmick is the Minority Leader.  Senators and Assembly members are paid $49,000/yr for their work in the legislature.

    Committees from each party draft and review proposed legislation, along with several other bipartisan and non-partisan entities. (Learn more about the role of committees and the process of making a law in “How a Bill Becomes a Law”. In addition, the Office of Legislative Services (OLS), a non-partisan agency, provides legal advice and research support to both houses. OLS staff also drafts the bills and resolutions. For a map of NJ’s state legislative districts, please go here.

    In NJ, Congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn by two distinct politician commissions. The congressional redistricting commission comprises the following 13 members:

    • The majority and minority leaders of each chamber of the New Jersey State Legislature appoint two commissioners a piece (for a total of eight members).
    • The chairs of the state’s two major political parties each appoint two members to the commission (for a total of four members). Commissioners appointed by the political parties cannot be members of Congress or congressional employees.
    • The first 12 commissioners appoint the last member. This member cannot have held public office in the state within the previous five-year period. If the first 12 commissioners cannot agree on an appointment, they must submit two names to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The court must then appoint the final commissioner.

    If the congressional redistricting commission fails to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, it must submit two plans to the state Supreme Court, which must in turn select from those two plans a final map.

    The state legislative redistricting commission comprises 10 members. The chairs of the state’s two major political parties each appoint five members to the commission. In the event that this commission is unable to reach an agreement about a redistricting plan, the state Supreme Court may appoint a tie-breaking member.

    The NJ Judiciary decides how state laws should be applied. Judges are appointed and serve seven-year terms, but after they have been re-appointed once, they can serve until they are 70.

    The highest court in the Judiciary branch is the state Supreme Court, which consists of a chief justice and six associate justices, who hear cases related to the NJ Constitution and other major issues. The state Superior Court is where most trials take place and is divided into the Appellate, Law, and Chancery divisions. The Appellate Division hears appeals of decisions from lower courts and state agencies. Law hears cases in its Criminal Division and Civil Division. Chancery consists of a General Equity Division and Family Division. General Equity cases involve matters such as contracts. The Family Division deals with family and children’s legal matters.

    Pennsylvania

    The Pennsylvania Legislative branch includes the Senate with 50 members and the House of Representatives with 203 members. The President of the Senate is the Lieutenant Governor, currently Jon Fetterman (D), who only votes in the case of a tie. Pennsylvania state senators serve staggered, four-year terms and half of the Senate is up for election every two years. In 2018, 25 PA Senators were elected, with Republicans maintaining majority control of the Senate, but losing some seats to Democrats. Jake Corman is Senate Majority Leader; Jay Costa is Senate Minority Leader.

    The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is up for election every two years, with 2020 as the next election year for the House. In 2018, the chamber’s Republican majority decreased from 120-79 (with four vacancies) to 110-93. House Speaker is Mike Turzai, Majority Leader is Bryan Cutler, and Minority Leader is Frank Dermody.

    In Pennsylvania, the statutory authority to draw congressional district boundaries is vested with the Pennsylvania General Assembly. These lines are subject to gubernatorial veto.[34]

    State legislative district lines are drawn by a politician commission. Established in 1968, the commission comprises five members: The Majority and Minority Leaders of both Houses each appoint one member, and the four appointees then appoint a fifth member to serve as the commission’s chair.

    Pennsylvania has 60 Judicial districts,  most of which (except Philadelphia) have Magisterial District Judges, who preside mainly over minor criminal offenses and small civil claims. Magisterial District Judges also preside over preliminary hearings in all misdemeanor and felony criminal cases. Most criminal and civil cases originate in the Courts of Common Pleas, which also serve as appellate courts to the district judges and for local agency decisions.

    The Superior Court hears all appeals from the Courts of Common Pleas not expressly designated to the Commonwealth Court or Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Court is limited to appeals from final orders of certain state agencies and certain designated cases from the Courts of Common Pleas. The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the final appellate court. All judges in Pennsylvania are elected; the chief justice is determined by seniority.

    In total, 439 judges preside over the Court of Common Pleas, 9 judges preside over the Commonwealth Court, 15 judges preside over the Superior Court, and 7 justices preside over the Supreme Court. Elected judges run in 10 year terms, at which point they are required to run in a non-partisan retention election if they wish to continue to serve.