NEW JERSEY’S political hue is not just blue these days. It’s cobalt.
In the last two months, the state has become the first in a generation to abolish the death penalty, the first north of the Mason-Dixon line to apologize for slavery and the second, after Maryland, to pledge its Electoral College votes to the winner of the national popular vote.
A family-leave measure to give employees paid time off to care for a newborn or sick relative appears headed toward approval by the State Legislature. A state commission is urging lawmakers to raise the minimum wage to $8.25 an hour, which would be the highest in the nation.
And voters recently approved borrowing an additional $200 million to save open space in the nation’s most densely populated state – the latest in more than $1.5 billion in borrowing to protect farmland and open space since 1981.
It may not be a surprise that New Jersey, which ranks among the states spending the most on education per student and is one of only four states to recognize gay civil unions, is pursing a course that analysts say is in keeping with the Progressive Era ideals espoused by its former governor, Woodrow Wilson. He described his state as “a sort of laboratory in which the best blood is prepared for other communities to thrive on.”
But public policy experts say what is a surprise is how swiftly New Jersey – better known for its seemingly endemic corruption and reputation as a onetime welcome mat for industrial waste – has moved in this direction.
“They’re a new leader,” said Joel Rogers, a professor at the University of Wisconsin Law School and the director of the Center for State Innovation, which describes itself as a progressive public-policy research institute.
Let’s hope so.
Now you have Arlington electing hacks like the Garballey kid to the legislature.
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p>If we can’t count on Arlington for a progressive Democrat, how do you expect places like Methuen and Haverhill to elect true-blue Democrats?
The whole northeast is moving to the left. I could think of examples in just about every state in New England, New York and a whole host of others. Even Pennsylvania is trending blue and will only continue to do so.
New Jersey’s recycling of beverage containers is average — average for states without a bottle bill. That makes it way behind states like ME, VT, NY, MA, CT, DE, MI, IA, CA, OR, and HI. Besides, open space is mo’better when it has less litter cluttering up the view.
they do have unbelievable rebate programs for fostering solar [and other green] energy in-state. Hats off to ’em fer dat.
not sure if it is statewide or not, but the nj town my brother lives in requires all new housing developments to handle their own stormwater runoff in situ. so they have a little weltand in their cul de sac.
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p>they also have a good recycling program.
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p>in related news, i was in the netherlands recently and was disappointed to learn that the hague, which used to have a fabulous program, now has almost none.