** Monday Preview: Senate Committees To Discuss Affordable Housing Reforms, Education Priorities

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Teresa Ruiz and Joseph F. Vitale which would provide financial assistance to individuals and families as part of the “New Jersey Economic Assistance and Recovery Plan” was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 35-0, receiving final legislative approval.

“As the national economic meltdown continues to drive down stock prices and increase the volatility in the banking and loan industries, it can be very easy to lose sight of the human impact of the crisis,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union, and a member of the Budget Committee. “However, the bad state of the economy has very real consequences for families struggling to make ends meet. These are people who are at the lowest ends of the economic spectrum and may face foreclosure, extreme poverty and homelessness as the cost of living climbs higher and higher – and they need our help.”

TRENTON – State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, one of the prime sponsors of S-1, legislation which would allow same-sex couples to be married in the Garden State, issued the following floor remarks today in support of the bill:

“Throughout history New Jersey has sometimes been a leader in the evolution of civil rights in the United States of America and sometimes we’ve been a follower.

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, the Chair of the Senate Economic Growth Committee and sponsor of S-1, legislation which would replace the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) with a fair, market-drive approach to building affordable housing, issued the following remarks at the start of a Committee hearing on his bill. S-1 was ultimately approved by the Committee by a vote of 6-0:

“It’s impossible to support consolidation of government services and also support COAH.

“S-1 paints with a broad brush and thus will miss some fine points. COAH paints with a fine brush and sets up 566 different schemes so as not to miss anything. As a result, it misses the forest for the trees.

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, the prime sponsor of S-1, legislation to replace the failed Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) with common sense, achievable affordable housing regulations, issued the following remarks on the floor in support of the bill, which was approved in the Senate today by a vote of 21-16:

“The amendments concurring in S-1 as released by the Assembly will establish for the first time in 30 years, when passed by Assembly later today and signed into law by Governor Christie, a system of compliance with Mount Laurel that will result in more affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families, without the enormous costs imposed by COAH and without its disincentives which resulted in a loss of jobs and a loss of affordable housing opportunities.

NEWARK – A group of a dozen faith-based organizations, community development corporations (CDCs) and local development officials met on April 20th with State Senator Raymond Lesniak, D-Union, in a roundtable discussion at the Renaissance Church in Newark to discuss the positive opportunities that Senate Bill S-1, which proposes to significantly reform the state’s affordable housing law, offers to not-for-profit developers in their efforts to revitalize neighborhoods. The meeting was hosted by Pastor Thomas Riddick, whose CDC is actively engaged in the development of affordable housing as part of a larger mission that includes prisoner re-entry, substance abuse services, after-school programs, job training and family counseling.

The group supports the overall concept of switching the planning responsibilities for affordable housing to the local level where, as local CDCs, they can have their voices heard more effectively.

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, the Chairman of the Senate Economic Growth Committee and prime sponsor of S-1, legislation to abolish the failed Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) in favor of a fairer, market-driven model to create inclusionary zoning in New Jersey’s municipalities, issued the following statement after the Committee met today for the second time to discuss his legislation:

“Today’s hearing was productive, and will ultimately help us refine our legislation, which will lead to a better system to provide for our State’s affordable housing needs.

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, the Chairman of the Senate Economic Growth Committee and prime sponsor of S-1, legislation to abolish the Council on Affordable Housing for a fairer, market-driven approach to create affordable housing, announced that the public hearing scheduled for the bill on Monday, March 8 would be cancelled, and replaced by an availability with the media and members of the Committee to go over, in detail, the provisions of a Senate Committee Substitute for the bill.

“The purpose of Monday’s availability is to go over – in great detail – what the Senate Committee Substitute for S-1 actually does,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union. “Whether it’s coming from people who are in favor of the new approach to affordable housing outlined in S-1, or people who are opposed, there is a lot of misinformation being spread about this legislation. On Monday, we hope to put that misinformation to rest once and for all, so we can at least begin to discuss the bill for what it is.”

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, the prime sponsor of S-1, a bill which would abolish the dysfunctional Council on Affordable Housing and create a fairer model for municipalities to meet their affordable housing obligations, issued the following remarks before a Senate Economic Growth Committee hearing on the legislation today:

“Today, we’re going to take testimony on legislation which will abolish COAH and its complex rules and regulations which add unnecessary costs to taxpayers through a top-down, micro-managed system that serves no one well, except consultants, planners, lawyers and State bureaucrats, while doing a disservice to the goal of providing affordable housing for the residents of New Jersey, as well as to needed job creation and economic growth.

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Raymond Lesniak and Jeff Van Drew which would replace the failed Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) with common sense, achievable affordable housing regulations was approved by the Senate today by a vote of 28-3.

“New Jersey is not living up to its affordable housing responsibility,” said Senator Lesniak, D-Union, and chairman of the Senate Economic Growth Committee. “COAH has been an abject failure, and as a result, municipal officials have been saddled with unattainable, unrealistic mandates for housing, and little affordable housing has been built. This bill creates a fairer standard, and will result in more housing with less bureaucracy.”

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg today said the more the governor talks about providing lawmakers a choice in how to let marriage equality move forward, it becomes more and more clear that he is not allowing Republican members of the Legislature who support marriage equality to have any choice in the matter.

Weinberg singled out the governor’s now twice-repeated line that, “I will veto it, and I will work hard to make sure my veto is sustained in the Legislature,” as a signal that he will quash any attempt by individual Republican legislators to vote by the dictates of their own conscience. The governor made the comment at Tuesday’s Bridgewater “town hall,” and again yesterday at a State House press conference.

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak announced that on Monday, February 1st the Senate Economic Growth Committee, which he chairs, will begin hearing testimony on his bill S-1, co-sponsored by Senator Bateman. S-1 would abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) and establish a streamlined and simple process to comply with NJ Supreme Court mandates that require every municipality maintain a fair share of low- and moderate-income housing.

“The purpose of this bill is to repeal COAH’s top down, micro-managed, and complex bureaucracy. For decades, COAH has burdened property taxpayers with millions of dollars in unnecessary cost of compliance by municipalities with its maze of ever-changing rules and regulations. And, COAH has discouraged job creation by adding housing requirements and fees based on the number of jobs created and private dollars invested,” said Senator Lesniak. “COAH will be replaced by the State Planning Commission and by a system that establishes a standard of fair share low- and moderate-income housing for which a municipality can decide among three different compliance mechanisms.”

TRENTON – Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, the prime sponsor of S-1, legislation to abolish the Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) in favor of a fairer, market-driven model to comply with New Jersey’s Supreme Court’s Mount Laurel decisions, issued the following statement regarding a Senate Committee Substitute for his original legislation, S-1. The full text will be available to the public tomorrow:

“The New Jersey Supreme Court, in 1975, established the Mount Laurel doctrine, that municipalities had an obligation to provide by land use regulations realistic opportunity for low and moderate income housing. In 1983, Mount Laurel II was decided and the Court’s opinion reflected its frustration with the lack of effectiveness of its original decision, as if the Court could create homes of brick and mortar through judicial fiat. At that point, the Supreme Court became a legislative body.

TRENTON – Senate President Steve Sweeney, Majority Leader-Elect Loretta Weinberg and Sen. Raymond Lesniak today joined with marriage equality advocates in announcing legislation to fully recognize same-sex unions as “marriage” under state law will be introduced in the new session as S-1, making it the Senate’s first order of business.

“This is about doing what’s right and ensuring full equal and civil rights for all New Jerseyans,” said Sweeney (D-Gloucester/Cumberland/Salem). “Two years ago, I made a mistake in abstaining on marriage equality – a mistake that means same-sex couples continue to be denied the very basic civil right to live their lives as they wish. But today isn’t about me correcting my mistake, it’s about correcting a mistake for thousands of loving couples across the state who want nothing more than to be treated equally as their neighbors.”

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, issued the following remarks today in support of S-1, her bill to allow same-sex couples in New Jersey to be married under the same protections and classification offered to opposite-sex couples:

“Thank you, Mr. President, for posting this bill, and for having the courage to stand up for the rights of same-sex couples in New Jersey.

TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senators Teresa Ruiz and Joseph F. Vitale which would provide financial assistance to individuals and families as part of the “New Jersey Economic Assistance and Recovery Plan” was signed into law today by Governor Corzine.

“As New Jersey State Government comes to terms with the reality of a national economic recession, we have a responsibility to protect the most vulnerable State residents from falling through the cracks,” said Senator Ruiz, D-Essex and Union, and a member of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. “This bill represents the heart and soul of what government must be about – offering a helping hand to those in crisis, and giving people the resources and support they need to weather the current economic storm. Through this legislation, we will expand safety net programs for people at the lowest end of the economic spectrum, for whom access to food pantries and heating assistance means the difference between life and death.”