News & Releases

LAWRENCEVILLE – Senator Barbara Buono joined with Congressman Rush Holt on today in calling for the quick passage of “The School Environment Protection Act of 2005” (H.R. 110), a bill that uses Senator Buono’s successful 2002 legislation to set national standards for the use of pesticides in schools.

“New Jersey demonstrated its leadership in environmental protections years ago by passing landmark legislation which responded to growing medical evidence linking exposure to pesticides with an increased risk of developing chronic asthma or childhood cancer,” said Senator Buono, D-Middlesex. “The new peer-reviewed study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, ‘Acute Illnesses Associated With Pesticide Exposure at Schools,’ confirms what had been common sense to parents – that the poisons used to control insects, vermin and other pests at our schools causes certain chronic and acute illness in children. However, the study found an increased incidence of certain pesticide-related illness in school employees as well.”

TRENTON – Senator Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer, a leading advocate for ethics reforms in State government and a proponent of legislation which would ban the practice of trading in campaign contributions for lucrative contracts, commonly known as pay-to-play, issued the following statement regarding a federal court decision yesterday stating that New Jersey’s recent pay-to-play reform law is not in compliance with federal bidding standards for transportation contracts:

“The Court’s decision that New Jersey’s current pay-to-play ban violates federal contract-bidding standards is a blow to efforts seeking to go further to end this damaging practice and restore faith in our political system. Moving forward, I will continue to work with our federal representatives to ensure that New Jersey has the blessing of the federal government to stamp out corrupt practices within our State’s borders.

“The are many challenges that both our schools and our communities must address in order to curb the frightening growth of steroid abuse we are seeing. Action must be taken to limit access to illegal steroids, reduce the pressure on students to use steroids and educate athletes, parents and coaches on the dangerous side effects steroids can have on teenagers and young adults.

“The individuals who have volunteered to be a part of the Task Force have the broad range of expertise in athletics, medicine, and education needed to find the root causes of the rise in steroid use and develop comprehensive solutions to deal with these concerns. As both a legislator and an educator, I look forward to hearing the suggestions put forth by the Task Force and working with the Governor, the Legislature and school officials statewide to put those recommendations into action.”