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MORRIS COUNTY — For over a week, the chaotic reopening of state motor vehicle agencies has required local police to help manage crowds lining up for service overnight after the agency was shut down for almost four months.

“Murphy and the MVC had months to prepare for this, but now towns are forced to take matters into their own hands,” said Assemblywoman Aura Dunn (R-Morris). “They should not have to bear the costs to deal with the problems Governor Murphy and the MVC created.”

Dunn, Assemblyman Kevin Rooney, and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso have introduced bills to mitigate backlogs, and are now calling on the Murphy administration to reimburse towns for having to respond to the large crowds building around the 39 agencies across the state.

Mayors have also chimed in about the lack of preparation by the administration.

“Our police spent the better part of several days directing the traffic that backed up onto Route 10 to help with crowd control and other issues that came up among the hundreds of people waiting in line,” explained Randolph Mayor Christine Carey. “The MVC was not prepared to handle the crowds as they reopened.”

The process has also been particularly hard on residents.  Last week, when agencies reopened on July 7, drivers reported lines and waits for multiple hours in the sun and heat. Some had to make multiple trips costing time, vacation days, and time-off from work.

“All of this frustration and anger could have easily been avoided if the administration had just listened to the calls we were getting from our constituents,” said Rooney (R-Bergen). “This is about getting people back to work and providing for their families. We have to take action now if we are going to fix this problem sooner rather than later.”

The three lawmakers also offered several creative alternatives to alleviate the demand, such as allowing private buyers to handle the titling of their vehicles with car dealers for a fee and allowing third-party testing, including driving schools, to relieve the backlog of new drivers waiting for their road test.

“Private businesses, like car dealerships and driving schools, were willing to jump in,” explained DiMaso (R-Monmouth). “Governor Murphy had months to figure this out, but now local police have to manage the crowds and the traffic created by doing nothing.”

The Republicans introduced their ideas as legislation at the end of June as A4326, A4327, and A4306, which are currently in the Assembly Transportation Committee.

MORRIS COUNTY — New Jersey cannot allow an all-mail-in General Election in November and has to begin preparing now to recreate the infrastructure that supports in-person voting, said Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce.

She joins other Republicans including Sen. Mike Testa in calling for in-person voting but says the GOP has to go further and lay out a blueprint for in-person voting, focusing on recruiting new people to work the polls on Election Day.

“We have seen that mail-in balloting is ripe for abuse, mistakes, voter fraud and corruption in New Jersey,” said DeCroce, citing corruption allegations by the state Attorney General in Paterson’s May 12 city council election and disputed and uncounted mail-in ballots in the July 7 Primary Election.

“New Jersey cannot conduct a proper Presidential Election that will have the confidence of the voters if the state insists on banning voters from the polling booth,” added DeCroce. “Once we lose the trust of the people in our democratic election process, we lose democracy.”

NEW POLL WORKERS
But rather than pushing ahead blindly to allow individuals to vote at their regular polling district, the state is going to have to prepare poll workers, said DeCroce, who served as an Election Officer in a large municipality for 21 years.

“The nuts and bolts of the election process include the poll workers who spend a lot of time at polling stations informing voters and checking on their voting eligibility,” said DeCroce.

Traditionally, most of the poll workers in the state have been elderly people who are retired and have time to spend at the polling stations on Election Day. In the wake of the coronavirus, DeCroce says, many of those older poll workers will not want to volunteer, so the state needs to begin now to attract and train new, younger poll workers.

The assemblywoman said the state should begin reaching out to college students throughout the state to recruit them to work the polls on November 3. Poll workers are paid $200 a day for their work. Younger people are much less susceptible to the coronavirus’s most virulent effects.

“With colleges re-opening for the fall semester with a combination of in-person and virtual study programs, the state has an opportunity to reach out to students and recruit them to be poll workers,” said DeCroce.

The students, she said, can be taught the mechanics of being a poll worker either in-person on college campuses or by virtual instruction over the internet and become certified to work the polls. Training will take about two hours.

With proper safety safeguards in place at a polling station in place as they are at supermarkets, liquor stores and restaurants in-person voting can be as safe or safer than many activities people engage in currently, said the Assemblywoman.

“I don’t see how waiting on a relatively short line at a polling booth is more dangerous than waiting on a long line at a motor vehicle center or the supermarket,” said DeCroce.

“The important thing about the November election is to make sure we get it right and not use the coronavirus as an excuse to open up the voting process to the corruption and abuse that we have suffered from the universal mail-in process,” said DeCroce.

MORRIS COUNTY — The Randolph Township prosecutor dropped charges against Jennifer Rogers, owner of the Randolph Tennis Center, who had been unfairly targeted under Gov. Murphy’s shutdown order for holding a peaceful “Re-Open Business and Restore Livelihoods” outdoor rally in May. (See related article by clicking here)

Despite the constitutionally protected right of all Americans to peaceably assemble, Murphy had authorized local prosecutors to charge New Jersey residents who were exercising their rights. On June 1, Rogers was issued two summonses that carried up to $2,000 in fines along with up to one year in jail for holding the rally.

“For 111 days, my business—and countless other businesses across New Jersey—were forced to shut down by Gov. Murphy’s orders,” Rogers stated. “Not only did he force us to close our doors, but he also tried to silence our voices. He did not succeed. I’m grateful these baseless charges were dropped, but it’s outrageous that Gov. Murphy tried to suspend New Jerseyans’ constitutional right to peaceably assembly, to begin with and that the prosecutor refused to drop charges immediately when Gov. Murphy backed down.”

The prosecutor had been prepared to drop charges last week following updated guidance from Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal noting all outdoor political and religious activities are permitted and directing prosecutors to dismiss previously filed charges against organizers of outdoor political or religious activities. Yet the prosecutor in Rogers’ case wanted her first to stipulate to probable cause, which she was unwilling to do as she was well within her rights.

Attorney for Jennifer Rogers John Mccann made it very clear to the court that these charges should have been dismissed one month ago.  McCann said, “this order was issued on June 17.  This should have been taken care of then.”

“I will never agree with Governor Murphy that exercising my constitutional rights merited these charges,” Rogers continued. “Let’s not forget that two days after my rally, more than 800 Black Lives Matter protestors exercised this same constitutional right and received zero summonses. Similarly, Gov. Murphy—while he was targeting me—also joined a protest and received zero summonses.”

At her first court appearance last week, the prosecutor asked for two weeks to decide his next steps after Rogers refused to agree that the charges against her were merited. Today, the prosecutor dropped all charges.

“Hardworking New Jerseyans who are fighting to survive during Gov. Murphy’s shutdown should not have to face the added battle of fighting a governor who believes our rights exist at his pleasure or prosecutors that wield the legal system to threaten law-abiding citizens,” Rogers added. “I’m grateful to all who joined me at our rally in May and for the outpouring of support I’ve received from friends, neighbors, and strangers—they are the true fabric of New Jersey. While I’m thankful I no longer have to fight these outrageous charges in court, It’s important. to remember the only true violation that occurred here is a violation of our constitutional rights by those who took an oath to uphold them. I will continue to fight for these rights on behalf of all New Jerseyans.”

NEW JERSEY — Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the Division of Consumer Affairs announced a temporary Voluntary Compliance Program to encourage certain 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations to comply with their obligations to register as charitable organizations with the Division.

Under the Voluntary Compliance Program, the Division will forego collection of penalties for past registration violations by certain 501(c)(4) entities that are subject to the registration requirements of the Charitable Registration & Investigation Act (CRIA), if they have failed to register as required but submit the required documentation by October 1, 2020.

The CRIA requires certain “charitable organizations,” including “social welfare” organizations exempt from federal taxation under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, to register with the Division’s Charitable Registration & Investigation Section. Under the law, social welfare organizations that engage in political activities without being required to disclose their donors to the general public—so-called “dark money” groups—may still be required to report their substantial donors to the Division.

Although the Division has registered over 900 charitable organizations identified as 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, the Division believes that compliance with the CRIA’s registration requirements may be lower among 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations than among other charitable organizations. As a result, the Division has been enhancing its efforts to enforce the CRIA’s registration requirements with respect to 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations.

Charitable organizations that have violated the CRIA’s registration requirements and that do not take advantage of this Voluntary Compliance Program may face civil penalties of up to $10,000 for their first violation of the CRIA and up to $20,000 each for any subsequent violation.

“As we move into election season, we cannot let dark money groups hide in the shadows,” said Attorney General Grewal. “State law requires that 501(c)(4) organizations register with the Attorney General’s Office and produce certain documents about their donors and operations. Our voluntary compliance program is designed to encourage unregistered organizations to submit the records required by law — and avoid the penalties they could face if we find them after the voluntary program ends.”

“New Jerseyans are known for their generosity,” said Paul R. Rodríguez, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “Our registration requirements help ensure that consumers’ interests are protected when making donations and that funds are being expended appropriately in furtherance of the organization’s charitable purposes.”

Eligibility for the Voluntary Compliance Program announced today is limited to certain unregistered charitable organizations claiming exemption from federal taxation under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code. If an organization previously registered under the CRIA and then failed to comply with the CRIA’s registration requirements for one or more subsequent years, the organization is not eligible for the Voluntary Compliance Program. Organizations that have received subpoenas from the Division pursuant to the CRIA are also ineligible.

To be eligible for the Voluntary Compliance Program, a charitable organization must submit a completed registration statement by October 1, 2020. The information required for registration depends in part on the amount of a charitable organization’s annual revenue.

A charitable organization with more than $500,000 in gross annual revenue is generally required to file an independent auditor’s report, but as part of the Voluntary Compliance Program, the Division is accepting alternative documentation from organizations that no longer operate or solicit contributions in New Jersey and that agree to refrain from operating or soliciting in New Jersey in the future.

Alternative documentation will include the organization’s unaudited financial statements and tax filings covering the entirety of the organization’s last fiscal year in which the organization operated or solicited, together with certification, under penalty of perjury, attesting that (1) all information in the unaudited financial statement is true and accurate; and (2) that the organization no longer operates or solicits and will not operate or solicit in New Jersey in the future.

If an organization satisfies the requirements for the Voluntary Compliance Program, the Division will exercise its discretion not to seek penalties from the organization for the organization’s past failure to register with the Division.

The Division maintains its authority to seek additional information from an organization that participates in the Voluntary Compliance Program; to seek penalties for future violations of the CRIA’s registration requirements; and to seek penalties for past, ongoing, and/or future violations of any other requirement of the CRIA or its implementing regulations, or any other law or regulation.

In addition to increased enforcement of the CRIA against 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, the Attorney General and the Division have taken several steps in response to actions by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that make it easier for such groups to keep the identities of their donors hidden from government authorities.

After the IRS first announced the elimination of federal donor-reporting requirements, Attorney General Grewal joined Montana Governor Stephen C. Bullock and the Montana Department of Revenue in a lawsuit to challenge the IRS’s policy change. In July 2019, a federal court agreed that the IRS violated the law. And when the IRS proposed to change its policy a second time, in December 2019, Attorney General Grewal co-led twenty Attorney Generals opposing the change.

In addition, in May 2019, the Division amended its rules to ensure that dark money groups and other charitable organizations would continue to be required to report their substantial donors to the Division even if they are no longer required to report that information to the IRS.

Organizations may register with the Division through the Charities Registration Portal by clicking here.

Through the deadline for registering as part of the Voluntary Compliance Program, organizations that identify themselves as 501(c)(4) organizations when completing an online charities registration form in the normal course will now be asked to indicate whether or not they are registering as part of the Voluntary Compliance Program or are instead filing an ordinary registration statement by checking a box in the registration form. Applicants who click the checkbox for the Voluntary Compliance Program will have their registration statements expedited by Division staff, to facilitate the curing of any deficiencies prior to October 1, 2020.

For questions or additional information, please contact the Charities Registration Section at (973) 504-6215 or via e-mail ([email protected]).

PARSIPPANY — Representative Mikie Sherrill (NJ-11) launched a second survey for small businesses in the 11th District to collect feedback on the challenges continuing to face the small business community due to COVID-19 and as they reopen.

“New Jersey has made significant strides in our work to flatten the curve and stem the spread of COVID-19 in our state, but our small businesses are still suffering under the weight of this pandemic,” said Representative Sherrill. “I fought hard for specific, important changes to the PPP and EIDL program after hearing directly from small businesses about their experiences, and I know there is more work to be done. These surveys help me advocate for the critical needs of our New Jersey small business community during this crisis.”

On April 29, 2020, Representative Sherrill released her first small business survey for the 11th Congressional District to gather data on small business programs. More than 340 small business owners from 50 towns in the 11th District responded to the survey and shared their experiences with the PPP and EIDL programs, including the status of their applications, unanswered questions, recommended changes, and challenges they face in preparing to reopen.

Representative Sherrill outlined actions to improve the PPP and EIDL programs for the Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration built upon the concerns and recommendations from New Jersey small business owners. Many of the proposals were included in the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act that Representative Sherrill co-sponsored and the President signed into law.

A link to the survey can be found by clicking here.