Murphy Nominates Zimmerman for DOBI Commissioner
Today, Governor Phil Murphy announced his nomination of Justin Zimmerman as Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance. As Commissioner, he will lead the department in regulating the banking, insurance, and real estate industries.. Zimmerman currently serves as Acting Commissioner of the department and will continue to serve in his current role pending his confirmation by the Senate.
“In addition to the time he has already spent serving as Acting Commissioner, Justin’s prior experience as the department’s Chief of Staff makes him more than qualified for this position. His skilled leadership and thorough understanding of banking and insurance policy have helped countless residents throughout our state and will serve him well as he continues to lead this department,” said Governor Murphy.
Zimmerman joined the Department in January 2018, serving as the department’s Chief of Staff, where he oversaw the executive management team and managed all aspects of the department’s policy implementation under the direction of former Commissioner Marlene Caride. Following Commissioner Caride’s recent departure to join the judiciary as a judge of the New Jersey Superior Court, Zimmerman took on the role of Acting Commissioner.
ROI-NJ Profiles Shuffler’s role as President of Minor League Baseball Team
Last week, ROI-NJ published an article entitled, “ Owning a baseball team is a lot of fun – and a lot harder than it looks” that profiled RCSG’s Founding Partner Eric Shuffler’s role as President and Co-Owner of the Staten Island FerryHawks of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball.
Shuffler, who is in his 2nd year of running an independent league team, maintains his passion and commitment amid constant challenges.
The FerryHawks recently hosted one of the nation’s most popular minor league teams, the Savannah Bananas for a two-game series at their home park, Staten Island University Hospital Community Park.
The sellout crowds of approximately 6,000 brought electricity to the ballpark that Eric and the FerryHawks ownership group have dreamed of since bringing minor-league baseball back to the area in 2021.
The games have been the biggest highlight of an ownership effort that has been a true labor of love, one that has been much harder than Shuffler ever imagined and filled with a rollercoaster of emotions.
“I’m completely passionate,” Shuffler said. “I’m at the stadium almost every day — there’s not an aspect of the operation that I’m not intimately involved with and overseeing. And I am very fortunate to have great partners in my ownership group and John Catsimatidis as my business partner — we meet every week to review operations, performance, marketing and how we improve the organization.”
NJ Gas Tax to Increase Next Month
Last week, the New Jersey Treasury Department announced that New Jersey’s gas tax will increase by 0.9 cents per gallon beginning Oct. 1 after tax collections came in lower than expected last year.
The adjustment will increase the tax rate on a gallon of gasoline to 42.3 cents, and the rate on diesel fuel will rise to 49.3 cents per gallon.
Treasury’s announcement marks the end of two consecutive years of decreases in the gas tax, including an 8.3-cent reduction in 2021 that was driven by a surge in demand for motor fuels in the wake of widespread shutdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A state law enacted in 2016 requires the tax rate be adjusted each October to ensure it generates roughly $2 billion per year in revenue to support the Transportation Trust Fund, a program to pay for critical infrastructure improvements to New Jersey’s roads and bridges. The rate rises or falls each year based on a formula outlined in the law.
Poll: Support for Offshore Wind Drops
According to the results of a Monmouth University poll released last week, 4 in 10 New Jersey residents think wind farms could hurt the state’s summer tourism economy and just under half see a connection between wind energy development and the recent spate of whales washing up on New Jersey beaches. Few see wind energy as leading to major job growth in the state.
Just over half of New Jersey residents (54%) favor placing electricity-generating wind farms off the state’s coast while 40% oppose this action. In 2019, wind energy support stood at a much higher 76%, with just 15% opposed. Prior to that, support for offshore wind farms was even higher, ranging between 80% and 84% in polls taken from 2008 to 2011.
The decline in wind energy support has been largely partisan. Republican backing has gone from 69% to 28% in the past four years and support among independents has dropped from 77% to 52%. Democratic support, however, has remained stable at 79% in 2019 and 76% now.
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