January 30, 2018

January 30, 2018 Snow showers early and cloudy later with high temperatures near 40 degrees. CHRISTIE JOINS ABC AS CONTRIBUTOR, APPEARS ON ‘GOOD MORNING AMERICA’ Former Gov. Chris Christie made his debut as an ABC News contributor this morning with an appearance on “Good Morning America” in which he talked about the abrupt departure of the deputy director of the FBI and what he expects to hear in tonight’s State of the Union address. FRELINGHUYSEN SAYS HE WON’T SEEK RE-ELECTION U.S. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, a 12-term Republican congressman from Harding Township, announced on Monday that he will not seek re-election, Politico.com reports. Frelinghuysen, chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, is the second Republican congressman from New Jersey to announce his retirement, joining Frank LoBiondo, who made his announcement in November. NJ DEMOCRATS INVITE ‘DREAMERS’ TO STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS Elizabeth Vilchis, an undocumented immigrant who was brought to the United States when she was 7 years old, will be Sen. Cory Booker’s guest for the State of the Union address tonight, The Record writes. Vilchis, of Ridgefield Park, is one of three New Jersey residents covered by the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy who will be in the gallery for President Donald Trump’s speech. MURPHY TO NAME KEVIN CORBETT TO HEAD TROUBLED NJ TRANSIT In a move that a number of news organizations reported a week ago, Gov. Phil Murphy will introduce Kevin Corbett today as his choice to head NJ Transit, The New York Times writes. Corbett is an executive at Aecom, a global construction and engineering firm. NJ LAWMAKERS TAKING UP ISSUE OF OUT-OF-NETWORK HEALTH CARE COSTS The Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee listened to comments from groups representing patients, business interests, physicians, hospitals, and insurance providers as the issue of high out-of-network health care costs gained renewed prominence in Trenton, NJ Spotlight reports. Meanwhile, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase, which all have operations in New Jersey, announced today that they would form an independent health care company to serve their employees in the United States, The New York Times reports.