NJ & The Mob: Perfect Together

Good morning!

From the bootleggers of Prohibition-era Atlantic City to the murderous criminal syndicate that ran the waterfront piers in the 1940s and 1950s to the thugs connected to Bravo reality show stars, New Jersey has a long history with organized crime

That history is not over, members of the State Commission of Investigation heard yesterday during a public hearing in Trenton on the evolving nature of organized crime in New Jersey.

Mafia groups like La Cosa Nostra are still active, but they no longer define organized crime here, the commission heard from law enforcement. Tech advances have helped street gangs and other criminal groups expand and carry out crimes like credit card theft, phishing, and more, according to witnesses and Bruce P. Keller, the commission’s executive director.

“Just as the generation of children raised in recent years have become known as digital natives, so too have organized criminal gangs become digitally sophisticated,” Keller said.

Read more from Dana DiFilippo.

Budget: Budget officials told lawmakers Tuesday that after April tax collections, New Jersey has rosier revenue projections — but Gov. Mikie Sherrill remains opposed to legislators adding any spending to her $60.7 billion budget plan unless they can offset it with cuts. And fiscal watchers are still nervous about what happens in the near future. “In our view, the uncertainty that existed in April remains largely unresolved,” said Oscar Mendez, a revenue and economic policy analyst for the Office of Legislative Services.

Commentary: Cathy Bennett, president and CEO of the New Jersey Hospital Association, writes for us today on how the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act will affect hospitals: “The story being told about these federal healthcare cuts is too small. It is being told as a story about insurance — premiums, subsidies, and enrollment numbers. But what is happening to New Jersey’s healthcare system is more fundamental: a deliberate dismantling of the financial infrastructure that keeps hospitals open, clinics staffed, and care accessible. The math is catastrophic, and it is arriving in waves.”

Transpo: Via Colleen Wilson at the Bergen Record, Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s administration may merge NJ Transit and the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. Does this mean the Turnpike and Parkway would stop working properly when it’s hot out?

Trump: New Jersey 101.5 host Bill Spadea, a conservative who lost his bid for the GOP nod for governor last year after President Trump endorsed Spadea’s opponent, again targeted Trump on social media Monday, saying about the president’s sinking poll numbers, “He did this to himself. Tragic figure. So much promise, Gave it away for ego and hurt feelings. Time to move on. Lame duck. The GOP better figure it out soon.” Spadea back in 2021 told the GOP to move on from Trump and called Trump’s first term a failure.

D.C.: U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican, has voted no seven times on a resolution to limit President Trump’s power to wage war in Iran, including just last week. Then Trump campaigned against Cassidy’s reelection, Cassidy lost his primary Saturday, and now suddenly Cassidy is indeed in favor of putting the brakes on Trump’s power here. A true profile in courage! Cassidy’s flip-flop helped the resolution advance to a floor vote for the first time.