LaMonica McIver in the hot seat

Good morning!

Today is a big one for Rep. LaMonica McIver, the first-term Democrat who faces federal assault charges over a melee outside Newark migrant jail Delaney Hall last year.

Her lawyers are set to appear in a Delaware courthouse to argue that the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals should throw out the charges. McIver, who is expecting her second child, faces up to 17 years in prison if convicted.

Sophie Nieto-Muñoz sets the scene for today’s court hearing. She talked to one of McIver’s allies, Rep. Rob Menendez, who said the charges are “consistent with this administration’s abuse at every level of power.”

“I think she’s hopeful, she’s feeling positive. We’re all here to support her as she continues to challenge this,” he said.

Budget: Yesterday, Gov. Mikie Sherrill, Senate President Nick Scutari, and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin announced that the three Democrats have agreed on a state budget that would keep the spending total at Sherrill’s preferred $60.7 billion. Do we have any more details? Not really. Does their deal mean we get to see it on paper? Not yet. Should they get applause for agreeing on a budget deal one week before the law requires them to have the budget finished? Also no.

Social media: Assembly lawmakers on Tuesday advanced two bills with Dem votes only that aim to examine how social media affects young people. Tech firms are opposed to the possibility that the state may one day require them to slap warning labels on social media. “No matter how well intentioned this bill may be, forcing a private platform to display a government message puts it on the wrong side of the First Amendment,” said Amy Bos, the vice president of government affairs with NetChoice, a tech lobbying firm.

Jails: The conditions behind bars at Delaney Hall have led to howls of protest from federal and state Democrats, but (as Dana DiFilippo reported recently) the documented deplorable conditions at state-run prisons don’t receive quite the same level of concern. On Tuesday, we got another example, with the state’s prison watchdog saying the Bayside lock-up, one of the state’s biggest, is filthy, crowded, and stiflingly hot during summer weather.

Jersey City: A big budget deficit in Jersey City is creating a statewide political fight, with Assemblywoman Katie Brennan (D-Hudson) saying this week that she is seeking $120 million from the state to plug the gap and Trenton Republicans crying foul over any proposed gift from state taxpayers to the state’s second biggest city. The city’s new mayor, James Solomon (D), is proposing a massive tax hike for city taxpayers.

Trenton: One of the most laughably corrupt bills currently floating around Trenton has Assemblyman Michael Venezia (D-Essex) suggesting primary ballots become fairer by rotating candidates’ names on the ballot so none of them get the No. 1 slot. But, Venezia’s bill would allow for a blind ballot draw first — and then let political party leaders would decide if they want to rotate the name at the top of the ballot. Nikita Biryukov calls it a “ballot draw mulligan,” and the bill received a less-than-warm welcome during an Assembly hearing Tuesday.

Commentary: Lauren Albrecht of Garden State Equality writes about the push in Trenton to shield reproductive and transgender healthcare providers from prosecution and harassment: “Between the daily headlines of new rules being pushed through our federal institutions to systematically deny us our rights, medical care, and safety, and the weaponization of conservative state governments against all of us, in-state or out of state, it could not be clearer that New Jersey is, and has been, poised to meet this moment by protecting our medical providers.”