Bob Sommer is CEO, Awsom Associates, LLC, an adjunct lecturer at the Bloustein School, and member of the Bloustein School Advisory Board. By Bob Sommer nj.com 9/28/22 “You need to intellectualize my humor,” former Gov. Jim Florio once instructed me after I...
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Ralph et al article most viewed on JAPA
Congratulations to Nicholas Klein, Kelcie Ralph, Calvin Thigpen, and Anne Brown on their article "Political Partisanship and Transportation Reform" being the most viewed article from the last Journal of the American Planning Association...
Manchin’s permit bill highlights importance of administrative process
"Last week, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) introduced his long-awaited bill intended to shorten the permitting process for energy projects. A key component of the bill is hastening reviews required by the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) for such projects....
Christians, please listen. There is no national religion in America.
Senior Policy Fellow Linda Stamato writes about the threat to the separation of church and state in this opinion piece published by nj.com "The Founding Fathers abhorred the concept of a national religion. They believed that state support would in the long run, harm,...
22% of New Jerseyans Worked from Home in 2021. Van Horn Predicts No Change.
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows 22% of New Jerseyans worked from home in 2021, a more than fourfold increase over 2019. New Jersey has a greater share of people working from home than most other states. Rutgers University Professor Carl Van Horn, director of...
Business Report: Health insurance premiums, higher minimum wage
Teachers and school employees are the latest workers facing sharply higher health insurance premiums. The state’s School Employees’ Health Benefits Commission voted to increase rates by about 15% for next year. Last week, a separate commission approved double-digit...
NJ Leads in Work From Home Status, Hughes Explains Why
More than a fifth of New Jersey workers ages 16 and older work remotely. A confluence of factors is likely responsible for the broad uptake of telecommuting in New Jersey — even after pandemic shutdowns forced immediate changes to work in 2020 — though long commute...
Van Horn Quoted in Regard to Union Rail Strike
On September 15, 2022, freight railway companies and their workers reached a tentative agreement after President Joe Biden intervened in marathon negotiations to avert a strike that could have paralyzed the economy. “Sometimes there’s a narrative that, ‘Oh, I’m going...
Multiple News Orgs Cite Marc Pfeiffer’s BLGRC Report on Jersey City
This report covers the period October 2020 through June of 2022. The CAO has found that the district has met a sufficient number of Accountability Scorecard metrics to meet the requirements of the Transition Plan to move toward full local control. While the district...
Dr. Yen-Tyng Chen Reacts to Texas Ruling to Omit PrEP from ACA Coverage
On Sept. 7, District Judge Reed O’Connor made two rulings in Texas that may significantly change the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The first decision by the district judge found that the task force that helps decide federal health insurance mandates is unconstitutional....