Chris Christie Spent $82,000 In Taxpayer Money On Concessions At NFL Games

 

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) spent more than $82,000 in taxpayer money on concessions at NFL games -- a sum that Republicans later reimbursed to the state Treasury to avoid impropriety.

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According to a New Jersey Watchdog analysis of records from the governor's office that was published Monday, Christie used $300,000 of his $360,000 state allowance over five years to purchase food, alcohol and desserts. Some $82,594 of that sum went to Delaware North Sportservice, which operates the concessions at MetLife Stadium, the home of both the New York Giants and Jets teams.

To avoid a potential scandal that could embarrass their rising political star, the New Jersey Republican State Committee reimbursed the Treasury in March 2012 for Christie’s purchases from “DNS Sports.” Since then, the governor has refrained from using his expense account at MetLife and other sports venues.

According to the analysis, Christie was also a big fan of the grocery store Wegmans Food Markets, where he spent $76,373 in 53 shopping runs. A spokesman for the governor defended the nature of the expenses, explaining they were for "official" and "business" purposes.

This isn't the first time the potential 2016 presidential candidate's expenses have come under scrutiny. In February, The New York Times detailed the governor's taste for private jets and access to celebrities. And earlier this year, ethics watchdogs raised concerns about Christie's all-expense-paid trip to watch a playoff game featuring the Dallas Cowboys -- of which the governor is a fan -- that was paid for by team owner Jerry Jones.

Chris Christie Spent $82,000 In Taxpayer Money On Concessions At NFL Games

Illinois cities prepare for pension diversion law - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

 

ROCKFORD — Cities across the state with underfunded police and firefighter retirement systems must get payments back on track or risk losing a slice of state tax dollars.

Municipal governments are preparing to meet the demands of a 2011 pension law that requires them to fund employee pensions to required levels in 2016 or risk having state grants diverted from their intended purpose into the pension fund. The law is designed to bring pension funds up to 90 percent funded by 2040, and local governments must make payments that will put them on track to do so. The law is not affected by the Illinois Supreme Court's decision Friday to strike down a piece of 2013 pension legislation.

The law is a concern for many municipalities that have a lot of ground to make up, said Joe McCoy, legislative director for the Illinois Municipal League. "The difficulty and the reason we have so many concerns is, for many communities ,that's a pretty steep ramp."

The law says that in 2016, one-third of state grants could be diverted to the pension fund if the required payment isn't met. That increases to two-thirds in 2017 and all of the grants by 2018.

"That's a lot of money for cities to lose out of their operating budgets," McCoy said. The consequence could be cuts in services or property tax increases to meet the pension demands. Gov. Bruce Rauner proposed a property tax freeze during his State of the State speech in February, which puts a further squeeze on municipal budgets, McCoy said.

"We're actually, through a myriad of different policies, encouraging municipal budget problems."

McCoy said pension reform is needed to help municipal and state budgets.

The Great Recession of 2008 was the start of many municipalities' pension funding problems, Loves Park Mayor Darryl Lindberg said. His city does not levy a property tax, which is how most governments fund their pension systems. The city relies heavily on sales tax, so it suffered major losses during the recession when shoppers were buying less.

"When we hit the recession, most communities, including Loves Park, reduced (pension contributions) because we just couldn't afford to put it in," he said.

The city's police pension was 48 percent funded as of April 2013, the city's most recent audit. It's risen since then because the city has met its required contributions for the past two years in a row, contributing $774,000 last year, Treasurer John Danielson said. He and Lindberg said the city will be able to meet its requirements in 2016.

The village of Rockton's police pension fund is about 76 percent funded, Mayor Dale Adams said. The village pays $250,000, about 5 percent of its general fund budget, to finance its pension contribution. Adams said the village will be able to meet the required payments next year.

Read more by clicking on the following:  Illinois cities prepare for pension diversion law - News - Rockford Register Star - Rockford, IL

Cuomo Orders Emergency Measures to Protect Workers at Nail Salons - NYTimes.com

 

New York State has a long history of confronting wage theft and unfair labor practices head on, and today, with the formation of this new Enforcement Task Force, we are aggressively following in that tradition,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “We will not stand idly by as workers are deprived of their hard-earned wages and robbed of their most basic rights.”

Articles in this series are examining the working conditions and potential health risks endured by nail salon workers.

Part 1 The Price of Nice NailsMAY 7, 2015

 

Part 2 Perfect Nails, Poisoned WorkersMAY 8, 2015

 

The swiftly assembled plans, while still taking shape, are the start of an effort to reshape an industry that has been a major entry point for immigrants into the city’s economy, but in which exploiting the people who toil over hands and feet appears to be, in many instances, simply the way business is done.

Salons will be required to publicly post signs that inform workers of their rights, including the fact that it is illegal to work without wages or to pay money for a job — a common practice in the nail salon industry, according to workers and owners. The signs will be in half a dozen languages, including those most spoken in the industry — Korean, Chinese and Spanish.

The emergency measures announced on Sunday will become permanent in the coming months, the governor’s office said.

Under new rules, manicurists must wear gloves to reduce the risks of contracting skin conditions, such as fungal infections and warts, and developing burns from handling chemicals.

The plan currently will also require masks, though occupational health experts say the hospital-style masks that manicurists sometimes wear give only the appearance of safety. Such masks do almost nothing to prevent exposure to chemicals, such as dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde, that are used in nail products and have been linked to leukemia and fetal defects. And salons will be required to be ventilated, to reduce the chemical fumes.

The state’s Health Department, one of the agencies in the task force, will conduct a study of the most effective safety practices, and the eventual rules put in place may change in scope depending upon the findings.

Salons will now be required to be bonded — which is intended to ensure, through a contract with a bonding agency, that workers can eventually be paid if salon owners are found to have underpaid the workers. The move is an attempt to counteract the phenomenon of salon owners’ hiding assets when they are found guilty of wage theft.

Many workers are undocumented and fear exposing themselves to the authorities, so they rarely speak up. The agencies involved in the task force do not inquire about workers’ immigration status as part of their investigations, the governor’s office said. An education campaign will also be introduced through community groups to inform workers they have the right be compensated fully, regardless of their immigration status, and encourage them to report mistreatment.

The framework for the emergency measures began to take shape shortly after the first article was published on Thursday, according to Alphonso B. David, counsel for the governor. Staff members from several agencies reacted strongly, and began to call one another upon reading the findings, convening on Friday for hours of brainstorming sessions to hash out the plan. A decision was made to take emergency measures rather than go through the usual route by which policies are updated, which involve time-consuming steps like periods of public comment, Mr. David said.

“The article highlighted a significant problem in New York State,” Mr. David said. “We cannot wait to address the problem.”

Cuomo Orders Emergency Measures to Protect Workers at Nail Salons - NYTimes.com