Now that the era of scandal and corruption is on its way out at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, it’s time to think again about the benefits that a merger of UMDNJ and Rutgers University could bring to our state.
The playing field has changed substantially since 2002, when a commission led by former Merck CEO P. Roy Vagelos first recommended the consolidation of UMDNJ, Rutgers and the New Jersey Institute of Technology.
On July 29, 1994, Megan Kanka a 7 year-old resident of Hamilton Township was abducted. The next day, she was found dead.
Megan’s parents did not know that a twice-convicted sex offender was living across the street until that neighbor was charged with the brutal rape and murder of their daughter. Unfortunately, the police department was prohibited from disclosing the presence of this child molester because at the time the law did not allow for the release of sex offender information to the public.
The following was intended as Floor Remarks for the December 12, 2005 ceremony honoring the retirement of Senator Byron M. Baer, D-Bergen:
Every so often in life, we get to know a most unusual type of man, one who stands out from the rest of us because he actually lives by his ideals, because he actually stands for a set of principles which actually guide his actions in life.
Such a rare man is Byron Baer. We salute him today for a life of public leadership and legislative accomplishment.
The harsh reality of the pain inflicted on residents of the Gulf Region from horrific hurricane damage has not blown out to sea. Instead, it has widened its swath and refocused its eye on economies far to the north including our own State of New Jersey.
Like the mistaken judgements of those who thought they could ride out the fury of Katrina from their living room rockers in New Orleans, we in New Jersey would be foolish to sit back and ignore the signs of what is surely to come.
There’s nothing quite like the ability of a nearby smoker to spoil the taste of a dinner out at a good restaurant. Likewise, in some areas of New Jersey, there’s nothing quite like an outright ban on smoking in public places to arouse the wrath of bar patrons and restaurant owners who cater to those who love to ‘light’em up’ wherever they still can.
The truly combustible forces involved in this conflict might just be ready for a compromise to break a legislative stalemate between those who believe the right to breathe smoke-free air should be universal and those opposed to governmental restrictions on their personal behavior.
In heeeeeeeeeeeere!
In heeeeeeeeeeeere!
When people ask me what’s happening with “fast-track,” I smile and say, “You mean,‘Smart Growth,'” and then I say, “We’re getting there.” I just hope we get there ahead of the next new traffic jam or before another strip mall rises in some corn field that was meant to be preserved.
For the last couple of years, I’ve been attacked for sponsoring the Smart Growth law, a statute crafted to fight sprawl by encouraging growth where it’s wanted locally. It’s been held up by politics, some legitimate and some asinine.
Some may find it hard to believe, but right now, if an employer is so inclined, there’s a good chance that a woman could lose her job in New Jersey for getting pregnant. Likewise, it’s not clear under existing law whether employers are required to make accommodations in the workplace for employees who become pregnant.
The State Division on Civil Rights believes existing New Jersey law needs a definitive requirement that employers make it easier for pregnant women to work at store check out counters by, for example, allowing them to sit on stools. I agree.
The United States is a nation at war. Whatever your politics, we can all agree that the young men and women we send to foreign lands, protecting our way of life, deserve our support.
Right now, our men and women are being tapped for active military service overseas as members of the Army National Guard and the United States Army Reserves.
Technology is power, but it can have both economic and social consequences. Technology-based businesses have become a fast growing commodity and a very lucrative industry around the world. Verizon has become one of the largest providers of communications services worldwide.
Currently, Verizon is profiting from the telephone, cellular phone and broadband internet connection services that it provides to New Jersey customers, and the company is hoping to increase its profits by expanding into a cable television service. I worry that Verizon’s efforts to bring a high-tech television service to New Jersey will discriminate against the poorer communities and hurt them financially.
The Bergen County Administration along with local legislators are working with NJ Transit to develop a passenger rail lineon the East Corridor of Bergen County. I am in full support of this initiative which will bring near immediate service to the towns of Tenafly, Englewood, Leonia, and Palisades Park and surrounding towns in District 37. This rail line will connect them with Ferries at Weehawken and the Hudson/Bergen Line in Hoboken. This plan is only the first step in a comprehensive plan that will provide one seat transportation into NYC (via the arc), and will be able to make connections to other parts on New Jersey within the next 15 years. The current plan utilizes existing freight lines and Diesel Multiple Unit (DMU) technology.
There are those who favor “light rail”, the electric trains which require new rail lines to be built. This idea would cost over a billion dollars and could not be implemented for another 10 years. In my nearly 40 years in the State Legislature I have seen Bergen County miss out on too many opportunities to provide public transportation. There is fierce competition for Federal transportation funds from dozens of districts seeking to reduce automobile traffic, increase mobility between towns and to New York City, and bring commerce and economic development.
In this time of national uncertainty regarding our country’s security, and with our extended commitment overseas in various theaters in the War Against Terror, the military bases dotting the United States are more important than ever to establish success in our efforts to defend and expand the promise of liberty and to protect the safety of our troops in hostile war zones.
That said, the constant threats whispered from the direction of Washington of potential base closings in New Jersey do not make any sense. Why, at this juncture in our nation’s history, with our Armed Forces valiantly fighting a many-faceted war, would anyone in a leadership position in this country condone cuts in the training and research necessary to keep troops safe?
As the author of the Camden Revitalization Act, I’ve read with some concern recent reports citing Camden as the most dangerous city in America. While I do not believe that the high crime rates in the City of Camden will slow the momentum towards revitalization one bit, I do believe we have to look to ways to mitigate this disturbing trend.
We’ve always realized that the high crime rates in Camden would be a hurdle to revitalization efforts. However, even as Camden was being given its now-infamous distinction, we’ve seen $3 billion in private capital being invested into the city’s neighborhoods, it’s downtown and the waterfront. Revitalization is happening as we speak, and I doubt very much that the pace will be diminished due to new evidence of a problem we always knew was there.
New Jersey families deserve nothing less than a fully trained and experienced Director of Counter-Terrorism whose ONLY job is to identify and detect would-be terrorists before they strike.
New Jersey was a staging ground for both the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and for the horrific mass murders of September 11, 2001, which stole the lives of nearly 700 state residents.