Shirley K. Turner

TRENTON – The Senate Labor Committee gave unanimous approval today to legislation sponsored by Senator Shirley K. Turner that would deny state and local development subsidies to any business found to employee illegal aliens.

“Development subsidies are only effective if the company receiving those funds reinvests them into the community,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer. “When companies receive loans, grants and tax breaks it is with the intention of creating more jobs and expanding the local tax base. When illegal aliens are employed instead, our communities lose all of the benefits of these subsidies.”

TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner today announced that she would redouble her efforts to pass her legislation putting a new truck ban in place now that the U.S. Supreme Cout has made a final ruling that that State’s truck ban is illegal.

“It’s just plain wrong to let huge trucks risk the lives of children walking to school or parents dropping their kids off at daycare,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer and a long-standing supporter of truck restrictions on local roads and highways. “There is nothing more important than the safety of our citizens and we cannot let this decision cow us into allowing trucks to run roughshod over every New Jersey road.”

TRENTON – The Senate approved legislation today sponsored by Senator Shirley K. Turner that would expand the list of those individuals authorized to administer emergency epinephrine at a school to include more school personnel and the allergic students themselves.

“An allergic reaction can go from manageable to disastrous in a matter of minutes, and timely administration of epinephrine can be the difference between life and death,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer and Chair of the Senate Education Committee. “Children who face the threat of anaphylactic shock every day are more likely than not trained in how to use an ‘epi-pen’ when necessary. It makes no sense to stop them from doing so while in school.”

TRENTON – Senate President Pro Tempore Shirley K. Turner introduced legislation yesterday that would require that companies employing undocumented aliens pay back any development subsidies they receive from a state or local governmental entity.

“We spend tens of millions of dollars in subsidies to businesses with the promise that they will create new jobs and bolster the New Jersey economy,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer. “When these companies go and hire illegal aliens to fill these new jobs, they are violating that agreement and ultimately defrauding the taxpayers of New Jersey. Those companies who break the law have no right to retain the benefits of a development grant.”

TRENTON – The Senate approved legislation today sponsored by Senator Shirley K. Turner that would require businesses receiving development subsidies from the State to submit information that would allow the State to monitor the effectiveness of those programs.

“New Jersey spends millions of dollars each year on tax breaks and subsidies to lure businesses to New Jersey,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer. “Programs like the Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) and the Business Retention and Relocation Assistance Grant (BRRAG) Program, are funded year after year because of claims that they help create new jobs in New Jersey. As budgets continue to look tight for the future, we need to prove that the programs we fund really do pay off with job growth.”