Noticias

New Jersey PBS will lay off members of its news team after the Republican-controlled Congress approved a recission package that eliminated funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and following a 75% cut in state funding by the Democratic-controlled New Jersey Legislature.

“We are facing a financial situation that requires us to make the painful decision to reduce the size of the NJ Spotlight News team,” said Neal Shapiro, the CEO of WNET public television, which owns New Jersey PBS, in an email to staff.  “This is not a reflection of anyone’s performance or dedication. The scope of the funding loss simply leaves us no choice.”

Shapiro did not identify which employees would lose their jobs or how many would be affected by the budget cuts.

“Those directly affected by this decision will be notified individually, and we will provide as much support as possible,” he said, noting that the station will “continue to serve New Jersey with news and content, as we have for the past fourteen years.

In March, New Jersey PBS and Spotlight News announced that seven staffers lost their jobs.

Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget proposal reduces state funding to NJ PBS, formerly NJN and NJTV, from $1 million to $250,000.  PBS lobbyists were unable to claw back the funding.

In 2011, then-Gov. Chris Christie closed down the state-run New Jersey Network (NJN) and transfer their operations to WNET Channel 13 in New York.  NJN had received $4 million in the 2010 budget and offered about 120 employees – many of them members of the Communications Workers of America – state health care and pension benefits.

Christie claimed that the state could no longer afford the cost of running a public television station.

As part of the deal, the state sold its public radio licenses to New York Public Radio and WHYY in Philadelphia for about $4.3 million.

The post N.J. public television announces layoffs, citing federal, state budget cuts appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Mikie Sherrill has filed an annual financial disclosure report that lists specific values of her assets, going beyond the disclosures required by federal and state laws and debunking the theory that she’s personally profited off her service as a congresswoman.

According to her disclosure, which includes the exact values of her stock funds, Sherrill and her husband, Jason Hedberg, who runs equity derivative sales at a New York investment bank, have an estimated net worth of roughly $9.4 million.

Most of that was accumulated through Hedberg’s salary and bonus; he made $2,913,882 in 2024, $2,748,591 in 2023, $2,704,916 in 2022, and $2,581,419 in 2021. (Sherrill’s own congressional salary is $174,000.)

There’s nothing in the disclosure to indicate that Sherrill has unfairly used the stock market to grow her family’s wealth.  In December 2019, Sherrill opted to sell all of her individual stocks and convert her holdings to exchange-traded funds (ETFs) – essentially a basket of investments that can be purchased as stock – that prevent any appearance of conflict.  Sherrill and Hedberg do not buy and sell individual stocks, with one exception: they sell shares of UBS Securities stock earned by Hedberg as part of his employee compensation package.

That runs contrary to attacks from her Republican gubernatorial opponent, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli, claiming that the congresswoman has financially benefited from her six-and-a-half years in public office.  A super PAC supporting Ciattarelli began running ads last month alleging that Sherrill profited through stock trades during her tenure in Washington, and Ciattarelli’s own campaign is running a website titled “Mikie Made Millions” that levels the same accusation.

Sherrill also faced similar attacks from several of her opponents during the Democratic primary election, which she ultimately won by a substantial margin. During the primary campaign, she was asked on The Breakfast Club radio show about then-primary rival Ras Baraka’s claim that she made $7 million in stock trades; her answer, which declined to give many details on her finances, has now made it into Ciattarelli’s advertising.

Many of those attacks, however, are based on a simple issue with the way that members of the U.S. House of Representatives release their financial disclosures.  Instead of relying on ranges on actual values, the House allows members of Congress to list ranges, creating ambiguity in calculating net worth and allowing the distortion of data by choosing the upper range for each category.

For example, two of Sherrill’s savings accounts listed in the $1,001 to $15,000 range were actually worth $2,295 and $5,032, respectively, as of the end of last year; more often than not, the values are closer to the lower end of a limit than the higher end.

Sherrill and Hedberg’s assets include the family’s primary residence in Montclair, a modest vacation home, and a townhouse in Washington, D.C.  All three have mortgages, and the Capitol Hill home includes rental income from Sherrill’s former roommate, ex-Rep. Abigail Spanberger, now the Democratic nominee for governor of Virginia.

Again, the ranges open the door to bad numbers: Sherrill’s Washington home is listed as an asset worth between $1 million and $5 million, but tax records show the actual valuation to be about $1.55 million.

She has total brokerage holdings of $4,427,956 with zero investment in individual stocks.

Last year, Sherrill’s joint tax return showed an income of $3,163,008; in addition to Hedberg’s salary, that included her $174,000 congressional salary, $114,970 in ordinary dividends taxed like regular income, and $47,510 in qualified dividends taxed at a lower long-term capital gains rate.

In three of the last four years, Sherrill had negative capital gains: -$3,000 in 2024, -$1,751 in 2023, $3,394 in 2022, and -$2,380 in 2021.  In total, she has made $426,666 in ordinary and qualified dividends.

As a UBS employee, Hedberg receives stock that vests over time as part of his compensation package.  Unvested shares would be forfeited if he were to leave the company – and the shares aren’t his until the vesting period ends – so it’s not included in his net worth.  Still, Hedberg’s unvested stock is listed in Sherrill’s 2024 filing – valued at $1.937 million – and is unrealized until the shares are vested.

Sherrill’s stock funds appear in line with the market, either just below or just above.  In a review conducted by insider trading watchdog Unusual Whales, Sherrill’s investment portfolio performed 1.9% worse than the S&P 500.

The New Jersey Globe has reviewed details of Sherrill’s personal finances with her campaign staff and with Hedberg.

“This is a greater level of transparency and detail than what Congresswoman Sherrill is required by law to make public.  Unfortunately, many public disclosure requirements have moved in the opposite direction, allowing public officials to share less information,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University.  “But that need not stop any official from sharing more information than the law requires, as Sherrill has done here.  Let’s hope others follow her example.”

Sherrill’s net worth also includes retirement accounts: $214,494 in Rollover IRA accounts and $530,501 in Hedberg’s UBS 401k; the cash value of their life insurance policies is $713,686.

And the level of detail is specific: she had $84,929 in her joint checking account as of December 31, 2024.

In her 2022 re-election campaign, Sherrill faced false allegations that she and her husband profited from the Chinese Communist Party because his employer, UBS, does business in China.

Though Sherrill may be wealthy, a review of her assets still puts her at the low end of other recent Democratic statewide officeholders: Jon Corzine had an estimated net worth of about $500 million when he ran for statewide office the first time in 2000; Phil Murphy’s range was between $50 million and $235 million in 2017; and Frank Lautenberg had an estimated net worth of between $55 million and $116 million when he last ran for Senate in 2008.

Sherrill and Hedberg both came from modest means and first met while attending the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis.  After serving in the Navy – she was a helicopter pilot, and he was an intelligence officer – each went on to earn post-graduate degrees: Sherrill to law school and Hedberg to business school.

Sherrill’s disclosure is reminiscent of those made by Republican Richard Zimmer during his time in the legislature and U.S. House of Representatives in the 1980s and 1990s.  Zimmer would publicly release the exact values of his individual holdings, including the value of a small flock of sheep on his small farm in Hunterdon County.

The post Sherrill releases exact values of her finances, showing no unusual stock gains appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

Gov. Phil Murphy unveiled the portrait of the late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver on Thursday in an emotional statehouse ceremony.

Oliver served as Murphy’s lieutenant governor for five years until her 2023 death due to a medical issue. The governor announced the commissioning of her portrait in the weeks after her death, and the final result was revealed beneath the dome of the statehouse Thursday morning.

“We’re deeply honored by this tribute to our beloved Sheila,” the Oliver Family said in a joint statement. “This portrait captures her grace and strength, reflecting her lifelong commitment to uplifting others and creating a more compassionate New Jersey. We’re grateful that her memory will continue to inspire future generations through this lasting recognition.”

Murphy, Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way, and Oliver’s niece, Renee Oliver, spoke in honor of her during the ceremony. Oliver was the first woman of color elected to statewide office in the Garden State and was the first Black woman to serve as speaker of the General Assembly. She served as commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs during her time as lieutenant governor.

“I am honored to join Lieutenant Governor Way and the Oliver family in honoring Sheila’s tremendous life and legacy,” Murphy said. “Sheila’s passion and strong dedication to the people of New Jersey left a lasting mark on our state. Her legacy as a trailblazer and loyal public servant will now be immortalized in the halls of the State House forever, inspiring generations to come.”

The State Museum commissioned Kathy Krantz Fieramosca, an Ohio-born artist, for the portrait. The portrait depicts Oliver in a red sweater sitting before a blue-gray background.

Murphy unveiled the portrait of former Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, the state’s first lieutenant governor, in a ceremony last month. 

“Lieutenant Governors hold a vital and often unsung role in New Jersey state government,” Guadagno said. “Lieutenant Governor Oliver made a lasting mark on our state through her incredible career of public service. Serving the people of our great state is a bond I will always cherish, and Sheila was a trusted, highly respected colleague whose historic tenure as Assembly Speaker overlapped with my time as Lieutenant Governor.”

The post Murphy unveils Sheila Oliver portrait appeared first on New Jersey Globe.

Two current and former officials on the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA) who allegedly used their official positions to retaliate against Mercer County Commissioner John Cimino (D-John Cimino) in 2023 have been indicted by a grand jury, Attorney General Matt Platkin announced today.

SJTA Commissioner Christopher Milam, who was previously the Democratic municipal chairman in Washington Township, and former SJTA Commissioner Bryan Bush are facing charges of conspiracy, official misconduct, and perjury following an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability’s Corruption Bureau, Platkin said; each of the charges could carry multi-year prison sentences.

“This indictment indicates that these defendants abused their positions of power to get retribution,” Platkin said in a statement. “Scheming to unjustly use a public office as a weapon to manipulate and punish political opponents is misconduct, and those who engage in this type of behavior will be held to account.”

During the 2023 election for Mercer County Executive, the South Jersey Democratic organization led by power broker George Norcross quietly supported incumbent Brian Hughes over his Democratic primary challenger, Assemblyman Dan Benson (D-Hamilton). Despite being the challenger, Benson picked up a huge number of endorsements from local Democratic elected officials in Mercer County for his campaign; one of those endorsers was Cimino, who rebuffed South Jersey Democrats’ entreaties to remain neutral in the race.

Still, Milam and Bush denied any involvement by Norcross and former Senate President Steve Sweeeney in their actions.  

According to the indictment, Milam and Bush then conspired to block Cimino’s engineering firm from receiving payment for work it had done for the SJTA. During three SJTA board meetings in 2023, the indictment says that Milam and Bush cast votes that effectively blocked Cimino from being paid, a decision that appears to have been plainly politically motivated.  There had been claims that the engineering firm admitted issues involving the quality of their work and the bills were paid after a negotiation. 

“They cut South Jersey in Mercer County so now we vote no,” Milam allegedly wrote to Bush in a February 2023 text message.

The perjury charge against both men stems from their allegedly giving false testimony under oath before a grand jury about why they voted against the payments.

“The defendants allegedly used their positions at the South Jersey Transportation Authority as leverage to pursue a political vendetta, betraying the public that they were meant to serve,” OPIA Executive Director Drew Skinner said. “As alleged, they then lied about the scheme under oath.”

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