Tax cut fight brewing in Trenton

Good morning!

As Gov. Mikie Sherrill and legislative leaders negotiate over her $60.7 billion budget proposal, which must get approved before July 1, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin is speaking out about Sherril’s plan to slash benefits for Stay NJ, Coughlin’s tax-cut-for-seniors program.

Coughlin said Wednesday he thinks Sherrill’s plan would make Stay NJ benefits “too low.”  Sherrill wants the Stay NJ benefit cap to move from $6,500 to $4,000, and to lower the income threshold for eligibility from $500K to $250K.

“We’re going to continue to work with the governor, but we’re going to continue to make sure that we stand up for Stay NJ because it is so important to the people on this call and in this state,” Coughlin said.

Sherrill is seeking to slash Stay NJ benefits to cut the program’s cost, now $1 billion+ a year, as she works to narrow the gap between state revenue and spending.

Read more from Nikita Biryukov.

Delaney Hall: The conditions for detainees at Delaney Hall — they say the food is inedible, it’s overcrowded, and medical attention is not always available — have led to protests and sometimes violent clashes outside the Newark migrant jail between protesters and authorities. Some Republican politicians and advocates for New Jersey inmates have started questioning why the conditions at Delaney Hall receive attention when conditions for those behind bars in New Jersey prisons and jails don’t. “We are all frustrated because there are hundreds of people turning up to protest issues that we have come to accept,” said Michael Doce, who’s incarcerated at the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton.

The Sherrill administration is suing Delaney Hall’s owner and operator, Geo Group, for not allowing state health officials to inspect the entire facility. Notably, our Dana DiFilippo has tried to find out what inspectors think of conditions in state-run prisons but those reports are not public.

Sherrill: More on Delaney Hall, Sherrill appeared on WNYC Wednesday night and defended state troopers’ role in some of the demonstrations outside the jail last weekend. Some protestors alleged troopers used excessive force against them and have sharply criticized Sherrill over sending in troopers in riot gear. The troopers, Sherrill said, “were attacked with projectiles, with different things thrown at them, and the protesters picked up the barricades and started beating the police with them so they appropriately called in support of people who were dressed to handle that because we really needed to ensure public safety.”

Media: New Jersey picked Montclair State University as the new license-holder for the state’s public TV, a choice that must get legislative approval. Keith Strudler, Dean of Montclair’s College of Communication and Media, said the school will “fully leverage and highlight the breadth of voices and storytellers across the state.” “This includes universities across New Jersey, countless news organizations, cultural and arts centers, and sports leagues and organizations. We look forward to building a media ecosystem that resembles and is accountable to the people of New Jersey, one that provides unique educational and workforce development opportunities to our state’s future leaders and media creators,” Strudler said.

Trump: The U.S. House voted Wednesday to force President Trump to withdraw from the Iran war and seek congressional approval for any more military action there, with four Republicans voting with all Democrats to adopt the resolution. This is the strongest rebuke from Congress yet about Trump’s handling of the monthlong war. GOP Reps. Tom Barrett of Michigan, Warren Davidson of Ohio, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, and Thomas Massie of Kentucky voted in favor. Our own House Republicans, Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew, voted no (Tom Kean Jr. remains absent).