It's been a few months now since the governor finally caught up with science and reality and ended the COVID lockdowns — although he didn't end everything as teachers are still subject to absurd testing and kids and first responders are still facing discrimination and segregation based on their medical choices.

Beyond the never-ending health "emergency," there's the basic issue of affordability, which the governor and the Legislature have not addressed effectively in years.

Phil Murphy
AP
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Just this week, the governor pushed through a budget with the complicit Democratic majority that offered no relief for overburdened and struggling businesses. Then the state Senate pulled a bill that would have paid off a significant debt for the Unemployment Insurance Fund.

The bottom line is a huge tax increase for NJ's small business community.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of hot air coming from both sides of the partisan aisles in Trenton, but no action.

The good news? We're building a coalition of like-minded people across the state in every community and county to get NJ back on track.

The first thing you can do is become a citizen signer of my Small Business Protection Act. This is the basis for action that will either be introduced as individual bills or become a guideline for pro-small and family business Executive Orders when NJ elects a new governor in 2025.

The next thing is to join our Common Sense Coalition as a volunteer or candidate for local school boards and boards of education.

Check out our list of ALL open seats that we're looking at for the November 2022 election and beyond. It's broken down by county and town. Find your town here:

The post above reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Spadea. Any opinions expressed are Bill's own. Bill Spadea is on the air weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m., talkin’ Jersey, taking your calls at 1-800-283-1015.

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New Jersey's new legislative districts for the 2020s

Boundaries for the 40 legislative districts for the Senate and Assembly elections of 2023 through 2029, and perhaps 2031, were approved in a bipartisan vote of the Apportionment Commission on Feb. 18, 2022. The map continues to favor Democrats, though Republicans say it gives them a chance to win the majority.

2021 NJ property taxes: See how your town compares

Find your municipality in this alphabetical list to see how its average property tax bill for 2021 compares to others. You can also see how much the average bill changed from 2020. For an interactive map version, click here. And for the full analysis by New Jersey 101.5, read this story.

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