BOGOTA – Senator Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, will hold a news conference at 11 a.m. on Thursday, October 19 in Bogota to discuss recently-introduced legislation regarding missing persons in New Jersey.
Senator Weinberg’s bill, S-2255, known as “Patricia’s Law” would work to help law enforcement personnel locate and safely return missing persons, to enhance the current system of notifying families of missing persons, and if necessary, the measure would work to improve the identification of human remains.
TRENTON – Senate President Richard J. Codey was presented with the “Mental Health Champion” award by NAMI-NJ (National Alliance on Mental Illness – NJ Chapter) at the Statehouse last week for his tireless advocacy on behalf of mental health issues in New Jersey.
NAMI-NJ is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals and families who are affected by mental illness. The award is given to individuals whose contributions lead to better quality care, treatment and understanding of mental illness.
TRENTON – The Legislature’s Task Force on Higher Education and the Economy will begin considering multiple merger options to create a world-class research university when it convenes for its first meeting on Thursday, November 9th, the panel’s two co-chairs announced today.
“We will consider several options for merging the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, the New Jersey Institute of Technology and Rutgers University to create the very best health science, technology and research university in the country,” said Senator Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union.
TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher which would prohibit the payment of temporary disability benefits when disability is incurred as the result of a fourth degree crime or gross misconduct was approved by the Senate Labor Committee by a vote of 3-0.
“The State Disability Fund should not be in the business of subsidizing illegal activities and dangerous misconduct,” said Senator Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer. “It should act as a safety net for people who are legitimately injured and cannot work due to their injuries. We need protections in place to ensure that the TDI fund is not plundered by greedy cons looking for a State handout and taking advantage of a worthwhile program.”
TRENTON – A bill sponsored by Senator Joseph F. Vitale which would give adoptees and certain others access to the adoptee’s original birth certificate and other related family information was approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee today by a vote of 9-0, with one abstention.
“Questions like ‘Where did I come from?’ cut to the very core of identity,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex, the Chairman of the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee. “For some adopted individuals, that question can lead to a lifelong search for birth parents, costing hundreds, if not thousands of dollars, and months, if not years, of their time. In New Jersey, we should give adoptees the support and resources needed to answer some of the most fundamental questions of identity, by allowing them access to their original birth certificates.”
TRENTON – Legislation sponsored by Senators Joseph F. Vitale and Nicholas J. Sacco to prohibit a temporary help firm from withholding or diverting wages from an employee was approved by the Senator Labor Committee.
“This measure is another way to both protect the temporary workers in New Jersey, and also crack down on the illegal van services used to commute to and from work,” said Senator Vitale, D-Middlesex. “This particular bill seeks to prevent temp agencies from forcing their clients to pay for illegal van services in order to get paid.
TRENTON – A proposal by Senator Shirley K. Turner to create a new joint committee in the Legislature to monitor the State’s efforts in providing affordable housing to its residents was approved today by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee.
“New Jersey has a widespread affordable housing shortage that in some communities is approaching crisis proportions,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer and a leading Senate advocate for more affordable housing. “Ask New Jersey families trying to get by on low-wage jobs or seniors living on fixed incomes about their struggles to pay the rent each month and it becomes obvious that we need to do more about the cost of living in New Jersey.”
TRENTON – Senator Shirley K. Turner today said New Jersey should respond to the “plague of violence in our society” by placing police officers in every high school and middle school in the State.
“It’s a sad, but necessary response to the plague of violence in our society that police officers should be on the job at every high school and middle school in New Jersey,” said Senator Turner, the Chair of the Senate Education Committee.
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 – Legislation sponsored by Senator Ronald L. Rice to allow a municipality to grant short-term tax exemptions for organizations using volunteer labor when rebuilding houses destroyed by fires was approved today by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee.
“Trying to rebuild a home in the wake of losing so much to a major disaster is devastating,” said Senator Rice, Chairman of the Committee. “We need to do what we can to lessen the burden on homeowners. Without tax exemptions, the owners may no longer be able to afford their homes because of the higher taxes assessed to the now, significantly more valuable home.”
TRENTON – Senator Nia H. Gill today applauded the legislative progress of her bill, S-494, to authorize needle exchange programs which will bring New Jersey closer to containing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Senator Gill’s measure, which would authorize trial needle exchange programs in six municipalities, was approved today the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee and now goes to the full Senate. It advanced with a $10 million appropriation that is to be used solely to expand drug treatment programs.
TRENTON – Citing the fact that federal law makes it too easy for financial institutions to sell their clients personal information, Senator Barbara Buono welcomed committee approval of her bill that would require that individuals “opt-in” before their private information could be shared by banks and credit card companies.
“Most people don’t realize that they have to sign a form with their credit card company saying they want to keep their financial information private,” explained Senator Buono. “It makes no sense that by default, financial institutions can sell such sensitive information about an individual. With identity theft the big threat it is these days, we need to make sure every reasonable safeguard is in place to protect consumers.”
EDISON – Senator Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, announced during her keynote address at yesterday’s Metuchen-Edison, Woodbridge Childhood Obesity Summit that she would introduce legislation today requiring all chain restaurants in New Jersey to display basic nutrition information on their menus. Dr. Marlene Schwartz, also a speaker at the Summit and the Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy at Yale University, supported Buono’s bill as an effective strategy to respond to the growing obesity epidemic, especially among our children.
“We know that Americans are eating out more and more. In 1970 Americans spent just 26% of their food budget on eating away from home,” said Senator Buono. “Currently, we spend almost half of our food dollars dining out. This bill will give families an effective tool to make informed choices and hopefully reduce the incidence of obesity and its related diseases.”
TRENTON – Senators Paul A. Sarlo an Loretta Weinberg today introduced legislation designed to prevent political opportunists from accepting State matching funds for one election and then using the money to promote themselves for another elective office.
“It’s despicable that some candidates are all too willing to rip off a good system for their own selfish motives,” said Senator Sarlo, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic.
TRENTON – During roundtable discussions held today, the Joint Legislative Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform heard from numerous public employee unions and local government advocacy organizations during broad-ranging discussions that covered topics from two-tiered benefits systems to pension system funding to flexibility in choosing health care coverage.
The roundtable discussions took place as part of the panel’s continuing examination of pensions and health benefits provided to state, county, municipal, and school employees. The committee’s co-chairs – Senator Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) and Assemblywoman Nellie Pou (D-Passaic) – invited representatives from 14 groups to provide varying perspectives on the pensions and benefits and their impact on property taxpayers.