Joseph Vitale

JERSEY CITY – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale which would give the Governor and the State Commissioner of Health greater authority to declare a public health emergency and give them access to the tools necessary to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the emergency was signed into law today.

Vitale joined Acting Governor Albio Sires when he signed the bill at Jersey City Medical Center.

TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale, sponsor of a bill to legalize clean needle exchange programs, today said a State appeals court ruling blocking one in Atlantic City, heightens the need for his bill’s enactment.

“The longer we delay, the more lives we lose to dirty needles,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “Our action in the Legislature will overcome this judicial blockade.”

TRENTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee, issued the following statement regarding a committee hearing today on S-2760, a bill which revises guidelines for involuntary commitment for the mentally ill into outpatient treatment programs:

“Today, we heard good testimony on both sides of the issue of involuntary commitment and our State’s response to mental illness. It is evident that there is a deep commitment from both proponents and opponents of involuntary outpatient commitment to the welfare of those suffering from mental disorders.

HAMILTON – Senator Joseph F. Vitale, D-Middlesex, the prime sponsor of legislation to restructure the State’s FamilyCare program to provide affordable or no-cost health insurance to the working poor, issued the following statement today on the bill’s signing into law:

“With the stroke of Governor Codey’s pen, New Jersey is once again at the forefront in the quest for universal health care for our State’s neediest residents.

HAMILTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Barbara Buono which would overhaul the State’s FamilyCare health insurance program for the working poor, to provide accessible, quality health care to all New Jerseyans was signed into law today by Governor Codey.

“Health care is not a privilege — it is a basic right that every New Jersey family should be entitled to, regardless of their financial status,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. “For years, New Jersey FamilyCare offered affordable or no-cost health insurance to working families, but the program was scaled back during recent budget shortfalls. This new law would restore FamilyCare, and ensure that no one in New Jersey will ever again have to go without quality, long-term health care because of their economic circumstances.”

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale which will reinstate the Public Advocate as a watchdog agency to protect the interests of everyday New Jerseyans was signed into law today by Governor Codey.

“New Jersey now has a centralized Public Advocate who will fight for the rights of New Jersey’s most vulnerable and least vocal citizens,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “The Public Advocate will demand a higher level of public service from the State, and will work to make sure New Jersey is more responsive and attentive to the needs of its residents. The Public Advocate will ensure that everyone in New Jersey, not just the politically well-connected, has the ability to be heard.”

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale which would move New Jersey’s presidential primary date to the last Tuesday in February in order to make New Jersey relevant in national elections was signed into law today by Governor Codey.

“The issues facing New Jerseyans every day are the same issues playing out in our nation’s capital, and across the United States,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “We are, in so many ways, a microcosm of the larger national picture, and as such, we deserve to have a voice in the national decision-making involved in picking a party’s presidential candidate. In the next presidential election, candidates from both parties will have to discuss the needs of New Jersey if they are going to secure the support of their respective political parties to run.”

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Bob Smith to authorize local governments to issue five-year bonds for the reimbursement of an ambulance, rescue vehicle or similar public safety vehicle was approved by the Senate yesterday by a vote of 36-1.

“The fleets of public safety vehicles that serve New Jersey residents are a vital component in the State’s network of rapid response health care,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “A state of the art ambulance or rescue vehicle can mean the difference between life or death for patients being transported to a hospital or other primary care facility. Municipalities need to have access to greater bonding ability to keep their rescue vehicles and ambulances in top condition.”