Senator Gill Notes Progress Of Life-Saving Needle Exchange Plan

TRENTON – Senator Nia H. Gill, D-Essex and Passaic, the prime sponsor of legislation enabling a sterile syringe access program to reduce the rate of infection of HIV/AIDS among intravenous drug users in New Jersey, issued the following statement regarding the bill’s approval in the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee today by a vote of 5-2, with one abstention:

“This year marks the 25th anniversary of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and New Jersey is the only state in the nation that does not permit needle exchange programs to reduce the spread of HIV/AIDS.

TRENTON – Senators Shirley K. Turner and Joseph Coniglio welcomed approval by the Assembly Labor Committee today of their bill that would ban the use of overseas labor in State contracts.

“Off-shoring is a serious concern for the future of New Jersey’s workforce,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer. “A recent report from New Jersey Policy Perspective showed that 1 in 8 New Jersey jobs could potentially be moved overseas, threatening the livelihoods of almost half a million New Jersey families. The State itself needs to lead by example and make sure that every service contract we sign is done using American labor.”

TRENTON – Senators Shirley K. Turner and Joseph Coniglio welcomed final legislative approval by the Assembly of their bill that would ban the use of overseas labor in contracts entered into by the State or an authority under its control.

“When New Jersey signs a contract with a company for the performance of services, that service should be done by American citizens,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer. “Off-shoring is a serious concern for the future of New Jersey’s workforce, and we need to make sure that the money of New Jersey’s taxpayers doesn’t go toward companies that employ this practice. The State itself needs to lead by example and make sure that every service contract we sign uses American labor.”

TRENTON – Senator Nia H. Gill today praised the start of Atlantic City’s syringe-exchange program as “a long-overdue action that will save thousands of lives” by reducing the spread of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

“Lives that would have been lost to the consequences of addiction will now be saved,” said Senator Gill who sponsored the law which authorized select municipalities like Atlantic City to conduct pilot programs where clean needles are given free to those who seek them.

TRENTON – Following today’s Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee hearing on Medicaid fraud and waste detection, Senators Stephen M. Sweeney and Joseph Coniglio renewed their calls to create a statewide preferred drug list (PDL) for all state-run prescription drug benefit programs.

“We’ve had this bill before the Senate for the past three sessions. It’s time to stop delaying on implementing a preferred drug list and move forward with this legislation,” said Senator Sweeney, D-Gloucester, Cumberland and Salem. “Given what we heard about Medicaid fraud and waste today, the savings a preferred drug list would bring could greatly cut costs and focus more dollars on treatment.”

TRENTON – Governor Richard Codey signed into law today legislation sponsored by Senators Shirley K. Turner and Joseph Coniglio that will ban the use of overseas labor in contracts entered into by the State or an authority under its control.

“Everyday, hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents are desperately seeking employment in order to support their families,” said Senator Turner, D-Mercer. “It is foolish for the State to send taxpayer dollars abroad to hire workers in foreign countries when these same jobs can be preformed by the unemployed here in the United States. Not only are we loosing the benefits those jobs bring to the individual and their families, but we also lose all of the tax and economic growth benefits those jobs bring to the State.”

MONTCLAIR – Senator Nia H. Gill, D-Essex and Passaic, the sponsor of legislation establishing pilot syringe exchange programs in New Jersey, issued the following statement on the announcement today by the Department of Health and Senior Services that it has granted approval to the first participants in the pilot program:

“Today we have taken responsibility to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in the State, by establishing the pilot programs for syringe exchange. The programs to be implemented in Newark, Paterson, Camden and Atlantic City will highlight the success of syringe exchange programs in combating the AIDS epidemic, and be an example for the rest of the State to follow. For those at risk of infection, this is a matter of life and death.

TRENTON – Senator Nia H. Gill, D-Essex, released the following statement today regarding Governor Jon Corzine’s signing of S-494, the “Blood-borne Disease Harm Reduction Act,” or “Needle Exchange” bill, which permits the establishment of sterile syringe access programs within municipalities:

“I am here today because we are saving lives.

“Today we take a major step in saving the many lives of New Jersey residents from the AIDS pandemic that is ravaging the word and our state. By enacting this legislation, we can begin to turn back the hands of time to change inaction to life-saving action.