Peter Chen
@ptrchn1.bsky.social
Senior Policy Analyst, NJPP. Deranged Cubs fan.
New from me: New Jersey lawmakers steered state money to employers, relatives and clients www.politico.com/news/2026/06...
New Jersey lawmakers steered state money to employers, relatives and clients
Add-ons to the state budget have become an annual tradition for the Democrats who control the state Legislature.
politico.com
In a win for Elizabeth tenants—and democracy!—a judge rejected a lawsuit from landlords seeking to block a ballot measure to restore the city’s longstanding $20 cap on annual rent increases for rent-controlled apts. Thx @maketheroadnj.bsky.social & @law.rutgers.edu: law.rutgers.edu/news/clinic-...
“NJPP’s impact comes from a talented team, strong partnerships, and a shared commitment to policy that improves people’s lives in New Jersey. I look forward to building on that foundation,” said @ptrchn1.bsky.social. Read the full announcement: www.njpp.org/media/press-...
NJPP Names Peter Chen as Next President, Succeeding Nicole Rodriguez - New Jersey Policy Perspective
TRENTON, NJ — New Jersey Policy Perspective’s (NJPP) Board of Trustees announced today that NJPP Senior Policy Analyst Peter Chen will become the organization’s next President, succeeding Nicole Rodri...
njpp.org
Exciting news! Senior Policy Analyst @ptrchn1.bsky.social will become the NJPP's next President, succeeding @nicolenjpp.bsky.social, who is stepping down after four years as President. We're thrilled to welcome Peter into this new role and wish Nicole the best on the next part of her journey!
I'm sick of it too. If only there were something to do about it!
George Pearkes@peark.es · yesterdaylol *BESSENT: 'I GET SICK OF HEARING ABOUT THIS K-SHAPED ECONOMY'
People potentially subject to the nyc pied-à-terre tax are being treated with 1% of the administrative hostility of SNAP and Medicaid applicants, and they’re throwing 100x the fit
The Trump regime made the largest healthcare cuts in history, slashing more than $1 trillion from Medicaid, Medicare, and the ACA. At the same time they gave away $1 trillion in tax cuts for the richest one percent.
Frank Amari @frankamari.bsky.social · 6d agoOn this date in 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed amendments to the Social Securities Act (1935) that established Medicare and Medicaid.
“Experts worry that the litany of unanswered questions surrounding medical frailty will lead to more vulnerable people getting kicked out of the program. Preliminary estimates from the Congressional Budget Office suggest over 7 million people will lose coverage in coming years.”
Chronically ill people face confusion over new Medicaid work rules and ‘medically frail’ exemption
Patients, advocates, and experts fear the difficulty in documenting a frailty exemption to Medicaid work requirements will lead to millions losing coverage.
statnews.com
Private prison companies exploit incarcerated people and their loved ones and are finding new ways to profit off of them. New Jersey cannot allow these profiteers to continue to go unchecked. We must end prison communication fees. newjerseymonitor.com/2026/07/29/n...
Switch to new digital tablets in NJ prisons prompts civil rights lawsuit • New Jersey Monitor
NJ switched to a new provider of electronic tablets for prisoners' personal use. A new lawsuit says inmates will lose content they purchased.
newjerseymonitor.com
Other than climate change (and honestly linked to climate change), this might be the biggest problem that world governments need to team up to solve. The creation of a class of outrageously wealthy individuals, with outrageously low tax rates due to avoidance, needs a global solution.
ProPublica obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing. From the archives:
The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax
ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, ev...
propublica.org
"Tonk" is a Border Patrol slur that refers to the sound a metal flashlight makes when used to beat a migrant in the head. And that's the word that Border Patrol agents under the direct command of Greg Bovino were using when bragging about their arrests in Los Angeles last year.
Los Angeles Times@latimes.com · last wk.Immigration agents used racial slurs referring to Latinos in text messages, video obtained by ACLU
New analysis from @ptrchn1.bsky.social: The digital economy relies heavily on collecting personal data. Now, a first-in-the-nation law will charge companies escalating fees based on how much New Jerseyans' data they collect and sell. www.njpp.org/publications...
New Jersey Makes Data Brokers Pay for Collecting Your Information - New Jersey Policy Perspective
A first-in-the-nation law charges companies escalating fees based on how much New Jerseyans' data they collect and sell.
njpp.org
‼️ ICE goons kidnapped a U.S. citizen in Passaic, NJ ‼️ Prior to this video being taken, he was confronting ICE for trying to kidnap his neighbors. Video from 8:25am on 7/23/26
i can't believe i have to say this but you do not, in fact, ever gotta hand it to the white supremacists
NEW @us.theguardian.com investigation into allegations that Amazon pushed smaller companies into raising prices: “They’d say, ‘You need to go to Target. You need to go talk to Walmart to get them to raise their price.’” www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
‘We were at their mercy’: inside the Amazon tactics that hiked prices across the internet
Internal emails revealed in court and interviews with ex-employees describe how Amazon’s practices drove up prices for competitors like Walmart and Target. Amazon denies price-fixing claims and says i...
theguardian.com
Ah glad to see the anti-big-government conservative position is now "comply with all commands of government agents or we'll execute you"
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2w agoHoman on people getting killed by ICE: "It comes down to one simple fact -- these people failed to comply with law enforcement ... all they had to do is comply. If they did, they'd be alive today."
Just finished recording a podcast on (the desperate need for) SSI reform. Hope to be able to share with you all later this week.
5-year-old Camila's crayon drawings in detention look just like my 5-year-old's drawings. We need this to end, and then we need prosecutions for everybody who had a hand in harming these families. www.ctinsider.com/news/article...
5-year-old spent 118 days on her own in federal immigration custody in CT
On any given day there are more than two dozen immigrant children detained without a parent or guardian in programs run by Connecticut nonprofits.
ctinsider.com
Nothing says the party of free speech like saying "shut up or we'll kill you"
Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 3w agoTom Homan: "It all go backs to the Dems ... there's still gonna be more bloodshed unless they shut their mouth and let ICE enforce the laws that they enacted."
We're monitoring Philly air quality today on our wildfire smog blog. Air quality has already fallen to unhealthy levels. With @robtornoe.bsky.social, Frank Kummer and more www.inquirer.com/weather/live...
The list of problems with implementation of the new NJ e-bike law is long — and lawmakers who passed it aren’t talking. - MVC is backpedaling on multiple issues - People w/disabilities are out of luck - insurance requirement doesn’t cover e-bike rider I dove into as many angles as possible ⬇️
Cyclists are frustrated, upset. Is NJ's new e-bike law already broken?
New Jersey's new e-bike law - the strictest in the country - goes into effect July 19, but it's causing confusion for cyclists, tourists and even MVC.
northjersey.com
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and Joan Sebastian Guerrero weren't murdered because of car pursuits. They were murdered because the men driving those cars felt comfortable recklessly killing. None of this ends until we shut down ICE completely.
NBC News@nbcnews.com · 3w agoBREAKING: ICE orders officers to stop pursuing people in vehicles after fatal shootings in Maine and Texas, according to a current senior DHS official and two former senior DHS officials.
"CLIMATE CHANGE IS A WOKE HOAX," I shout as I stare at my 100 degrees with patchy wildfire smoke forecast
Full poll from here: www.monmouth.edu/polling-inst... Shout-out to the true diner sickos going several times a week.
Ariel Edwards-Levy@aedwardslevy.bsky.social · 5mo agoPart 3: bsky.app/profile/aedw... Part 4: 201. Monmouth poll of New Jersey diner patrons, 2007: "Many diner waitresses in New Jersey call their customers 'Hun'. Do you like when this happens to you, dislike it, don't care much either way, or doesn't this happen to you?" (Bonus: fav diner order?)
Part 3: bsky.app/profile/aedw... Part 4: 201. Monmouth poll of New Jersey diner patrons, 2007: "Many diner waitresses in New Jersey call their customers 'Hun'. Do you like when this happens to you, dislike it, don't care much either way, or doesn't this happen to you?" (Bonus: fav diner order?)
Ariel Edwards-Levy@aedwardslevy.bsky.social · last yr.1 like = 1 historical poll result from @ropercenter.bsky.social that has somehow ended up saved to my laptop* *offer good until I run out of screenshots and/or get bored or busy with something else
Other than McConnell, no senator did more to build the Supreme Court's six-justice conservative supermajority than Lindsey Graham. He saved Kavanaugh when many Republicans (even Trump) were ready to give up, and his flip-flop on election-year confirmations got Barrett over the finish line, too.
The Supreme Court That Lindsey Graham Built
The Supreme Court’s six-justice conservative supermajority probably does not exist without Graham, who would do anything for an attaboy tweet from the president.
ballsandstrikes.org
