NJ Gov. Murphy Pocket Vetoes Energy Privatization Bill We Called “An Egregious Example Of A Rigged System”
Privatization And Corporate Subsidies Again Discredited
Stealth Attempt To Ram Major Controversial Bill Through Lame Duck Fails
NJ Gov. Murphy just pocket vetoed a very bad bill we – after listing a litany of abuses – called “an egregious example of a rigged system“.
It would have been a mind boggling example of hypocrisy for the Gov. to have signed that bill into law, given his Executive Orders (i.e EO #3 and EO #52), the findings of Gov.’s own Taskforce, and all the criticism he’s correctly given to EDA “corporate financial incentive programs”, which he himself called part of a “rigged system”.
It is a huge embarrassment for the bill’s sponsors, especially Senator Sarlo and Senate President Sweeney, who tried to ram this bill down our throats in the lame duck session.
Thankfully, sometimes good public policy and the public interest prevail over the corrupt private greed in Trenton.
Remarkably, although I did not confirm this by listening to the tapes of the legislative testimony, I was told that the bill faced virtually no opposition by environmental, energy and climate groups, not even the usual vocal opponents of privatization, like Food and Water Watch.
Heckofajob, all you foundation funded Democratic Party cheerleaders and cowards!
Even worse than the ENGO”s being AWOL, NJ Spotlight ran a very favorable puff piece, just as the bill quietly made its way through the lame duck session, including passage by both houses on the last day of the lame duck session.
Clearly, NJ Spotlight was cheerleading for corporate sponsors and not reporting in the public interest when they wrote this set up story on January 13, 2020, just 9 days ago:
I guess the private sector and NJ Spotlight were not poised in anticipation of the Gov.’s veto!
So, it was no surprise that today, NJ Spotlight buried Murphy’s pocket veto in their story and euphemistically described the bill as designed to “promote private investment in government energy projects” – note how the use of the word “government” energy projects dampens the privatization aspects.
NJ Spotlight plays the same dishonest game by again downplaying the privatization issue, when they report on another lame duck bill on recycling used paint that was pocket vetoed by the Gov. That bill effectively was an attempt to privatize what had previously been a public responsibility and program managed by County and local governments, but NJ Spotlight described it thusly:
Murphy’s vetoed bills included one (A-4382) that would have established a statewide program to recycle and reuse paint
Note how NJ Spotlight makes no mention of the fact that the bill – as they reported in another puff piece quoting Dennis Hart of the NJ Chemistry Council in support – was another privatization bill.
We originally flagged and criticized this ALEC energy privatization bill almost 7 years ago, see:
So, my question to NJ ENGO’s, the liberal NJ foundations who fund them, and NJ Spotlight is:
How they hell did you miss this bill?
I’m out here in the wilderness of the Sonoran desert and I flagged this.
Or were you aware of the bill and were too cowardly or incompetent to oppose it publicly?