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Sal Risalvato
Executive Director
 

 

7/23/20
Speedway Sale Tipping Point?
A new report suggests this week could be a tipping point for the possible sale of the Speedway LLC chain of approximately 3,900 convenience stores. Several international companies are preparing to submit bids this week for the coveted U.S. prize of the third largest c-store chain in the United States. Canadian convenience store operator Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Japanese c-store operator Seven & i Holdings Co. Ltd. and U.K.-based private equity firm TDR Capital are among those preparing to submit rival bids for Marathon Petroleum Corp.'s Speedway LLC retail network, Reuters reported on July 22, citing people familiar with the matter. Murphy USA Inc., El Dorado, Ark., is also considering participating in the auction for Speedway, two of the sources said.

7/23/20
New Jersey Has Spent Only a Fraction of $2.4B Federal COVID-19 Aid, Legislative Sources Say
While Gov. Phil Murphy complained Wednesday about the latest federal stimulus proposal from Senate Republicans and its lack of funding for states, New Jersey has spent less than 3% of the almost $2.4 billion it has received from the federal government to cover general needs created by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of Wednesday, the state had spent $229 million from the Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF), the federal assistance giving states and local governments the most flexibility to use the money to offset impacts from the novel coronavirus, and allocated another $51 million for spending, according to legislative sources. That leaves almost 97.7% untouched about four months after the state learned how much it would receive.

7/23/20
Treasury Assessing Lottery Revenues to Get Clearer Picture of Pension Funding Shortfall
New Jersey Lottery sales have been mired in a lengthy slump during the coronavirus pandemic, adding to the budget headaches for Gov. Phil Murphy and lawmakers because those revenues help fund public-worker pension benefits. Initial estimates of the last full year of Lottery receipts fell well short of the total for the same 12-month period last year. The shortfall comes despite a modest rally in sales of Lottery tickets and games taking place over the last few months, according to the state Department of Treasury's latest report on tax collections.

7/21/20
Lawmaker Wants To Roll Back Fireworks Legalization
Three years after New Jersey loosened restrictions on fireworks, a state lawmaker wants to go back to the old days and ban virtually all fireworks in the state. "We opened a Pandora's box. We gave a little bit and they took it somewhere else," said Assemblymember Benjie Wimberly (D-Paterson), who has introduced a bill, NJ A4448, that would ban "nonexploding, non-aerial fireworks" like sparklers that were allowed beginning in 2017, when Gov. Chris Christie signed a law to slightly loosen New Jersey's ultra-strict fireworks laws.

7/21/20
Wawa to Open Its First Drive-Thru
The Wawa convenience chain is preparing to open its first drive-thru in a store being planned for Westampton, New Jersey, northeast of Philadelphia, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal. When completed later this year, the store's drive-thru will be open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. and feature a limited menu of items, including coffee, Sizzlis, built-to-order hoagies, soups, sides and smoothies. The drive-thru service is part of Wawa's efforts to provide alternative ways to access merchandise amid the coronavirus pandemic. If it proves a hit with customers, there could be more like it in the chain's future.

7/21/20
Bill Advances to Help Lower-Income Communities in NJ Block Projects that Could Increase Pollution
Despite pushback from the business community, an Assembly committee cleared a bill Monday that would give minority and low-income communities more leverage in blocking new projects that could increase pollution burdens in areas already suffering from adverse environmental impacts. The legislation (S-232), part of a two-bill package aimed at addressing environmental-justice issues impacting communities across New Jersey, is viewed by advocates as the most significant step ever taken to address unhealthy levels of pollution affecting many poor and urban communities in the state. The bill, approved by the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, would require state environmental officials to consider the cumulative impacts of locating new power plants or major new manufacturing facilities where residents already suffer from pollution from incinerators, hazardous waste sites, or waste transfer stations.

7/20/20
Fraud Concerns Loom Over Move To Forgive Small Business Loans
The banking industry is pressing Congress to convert millions of emergency small business loans into grants with minimal paperwork - an idea that some lawmakers and watchdog groups warn could expose the government to massive fraud. The banks are pushing the issue because businesses that took the so-called Paycheck Protection Program loans are beginning to file applications to have the loans forgiven, a time-consuming and confusing process for both lenders and borrowers. The $670 billion program stipulates that the loans can be forgiven if employers kept workers on payroll, a key incentive for businesses to participate.

7/20/20
New Jersey Employers and Physicians Unite Against Proposed Tax on Health Insurance
On Monday, July 20, leading New Jersey employer and physician organizations released a letter opposing a proposed new tax on health insurance moving through the New Jersey legislature, S2676 and A4389. The New Jersey legislation aims to raise $300 million by levying a 2.75% tax on health insurance coverage purchased by New Jersey employers, working-class families, and seniors on certain Medicare plans. Early estimates suggest the tax will increase health insurance premiums by at least $600 every year for New Jersey residents covered by the typical family health insurance plan.

7/20/20
COVID-19's Impact on Restroom Design
Retailers and businesses, plus educational institutions and governments, are taking a closer look at public restrooms in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Chain Store Age reports. "While cleanliness has always been a goal in designing restrooms, coronavirus has underscored the need for hygienic, sterile and safe environments," said Jon Dommisse, Bradley's director of strategy and corporate development. . .Here are six design strategies that will help keep germ transmission at a minimum in public restrooms.

7/17/20
FDA Orders Retailers to Stop Selling 13 Tobacco Products
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued Not Substantially Equivalent (NSE) orders for 13 tobacco products that had been provisionally permitted to be sold on the market since 2011. These tobacco products are now misbranded and adulterated and can no longer be distributed, imported, sold, marketed or promoted in the United States, the agency said.

7/16/20
The American Economy Is About to Drive Off a Cliff. Will Congress Build a Bridge?
The unemployment rate in the United States-11.1 percent as of last month-is higher than it's been at any point since the Great Depression (other than April and May). More than 1 million Americans have filed initial unemployment claims for 16 straight weeks; the record pre-pandemic was 695,000 in 1982. The International Monetary Fund projects the U.S. economy will contract by 8 percent in 2020, which would be the lowest annual figure dating back to World War II. And yet, things could have been so much worse.

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.