They want their $25

Good morning!

Sophie Nieto-Muñoz has an interesting story this morning that might remind fans of ‘80s movies of the paperboy that tormented John Cusack in “Better Off Dead.”

“I want my $2!” barked the baby bill collector from hell.

Two New Jersey drivers convicted of drunk driving wanted $25 refunds so badly that they waged a five-year legal battle against the state over it.

The $25 was a surcharge legislators required drivers convicted of DWI to pay to offset the costs municipalities bear to put dash cams in patrol cars. The two drivers who filed class action lawsuits over it sought to have the surcharge struck down, citing a 2016 decision by an obscure state council that declared the statute authorizing the surcharge an unfunded mandate.

The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled against the drivers.

Drunk driving: Via Sophie, “New Jersey’s highest court ruled that a little-known state council overstepped its authority nearly a decade ago when it tried to strike a $25 surcharge on drunk driving fines, keeping the fee in place for New Jersey drivers convicted of driving while intoxicated.”

Prediction markets: Via Nikita Biryukov, “A proposal to tax prediction markets that did not clear floor votes in either legislative chamber before lawmakers broke for their customary summer recess will return along with legislators come the fall, Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex) told the New Jersey Monitor. The bills, which cleared both chambers’ budget committees in party-line votes, would enact a 9% surtax on prediction markets’ net income in a bid to draw more revenue for the state. “

Prison and parole: Via me, “Several New Jersey legislators have resurrected an effort to stop the state from sending parolees back to prison for technical parole violations, which occur when they miss curfew, fail a drug test, miss a required check-in, or otherwise break the conditions of their release rather than commit a new crime … ‘For individuals out on parole who are reincarcerated for non-criminal activity, especially around substance abuse, incarcerating them again does not improve outcomes compared to treatment. It’s expensive, and it creates significant setbacks to the individual who gets reincarcerated.’”

Offshore wind: Via Alex Brown of Stateline, “President Donald Trump has shown the immense power of the executive branch to stymie offshore wind development, as nearly all projects are in waters where federal agencies operate as the landlord. Now, as the feds block new permits and dangle billion-dollar buyout offers to convince developers to walk away from their projects, state leaders are hoping some companies share their conviction that the industry can be revived after Trump leaves office.”

Watchdogs: Via Michael L. Diamond at the Asbury Park Press, “Take two. The State Commission of Investigation would oversee New Jersey's other watchdog agencies, and its four commissioners would get an 85% bump in pay as part of a bill introduced by Senate President Nick Scutari. The bill ensures the Office of the State Comptroller won't need to narrow the range of its investigations − a change from a previous proposal that called for much of the comptroller's work to be shifted to SCI and set off a firestorm in Trenton. The Union County Democrat introduced his latest bill on June 30 in an attempt to clarify the investigatory powers and duties of SCI.”

Graying NJ: Via David M. Zimmer at the Bergen Record, “New Jersey is still growing, but more of its counties are crossing an age line that once was rare. They now have more seniors than children. Eight of the state’s 21 counties had more residents 65 and older than residents under 18 by July 2025, according to new estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau in late June. In 2020, only Cape May and Hunterdon counties had crossed that line. By mid-2025, Atlantic, Burlington, Monmouth, Morris, Sussex and Warren had joined them, according to the estimates.”