Bipartisan Legislation Advances Administration’s Commitment to Development of Renewable Energy Resources in New Jersey
Trenton, NJ – Taking action that continues the Christie Administration’s commitment to fostering the development of renewable energy resources in New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie today signed into law bipartisan legislationto strengthen and encourage the continued growth of New Jersey’s solar industry, while protecting ratepayers from increased costs. The bill, S-1925, couples an acceleration of the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for solar energy with a reduction of the solar alternate compliance payments, meeting an important goal of the Governor’s 2011 Energy Master Plan (EMP), strengthening the solar market in New Jersey, and securing the state’s place as a national solar energy leader.
“Since my time running for office, I made it clear that my Administration would be unrivaled in our aggressive support for the development of renewable sources of energy in New Jersey. Renewable energy not only helps meet our goals of increasing sustainability and protecting the environment, but can be an engine for economic growth and the creation of good-paying jobs for the people of our state,” said Governor Christie. “The bill I am signing today furthers these goals and will help us remain a national leader in the solar energy industry as we continue to promote innovative approaches to solar development, like developing landfills and other unusable lands and transforming them into sources of usable clean energy, all while holding down costs for families and businesses.”
New Providence, July 23… The healthcare industry will soon face record high tax increases, and medical device manufacturers, like C.R. Bard Inc., will be hit especially hard.
The medical device industry provides 63,400 high-paying jobs in New Jersey, and contributes $12.6 billion to the state’s economy. That is all at risk starting January 1, 2013 as the 2.3% Menendez medical device tax, a funding source for the Affordable Care Act, will go into effect.
Senator Kyrillos toured New Jersey based medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard Inc. today in New Providence to see first-hand how this new tax, among others, will affect their business and service to the consumer.
“This tax will effectively diminish the ability of medical device manufacturers, like C.R. Bard, to innovate and produce quality medical products for their consumers,” said Joe Kyrillos.
“Companies will be forced to raise prices in order to remain solvent due to this tax. That increase in price will then be passed along to the consumer in the form of more expensive health insurance, or more out-of-pocket healthcare spending. This tax will also greatly diminish the amount of money the industry will be able to set aside for research and development, making us less competitive and advanced in the global marketplace.
“Our healthcare spending as a country already far surpasses what it should. We need real reform that deals with the most basic problems of our healthcare industry. Senator Menendez is clearly mistaken if he thinks that higher taxes within a convoluted matrix of new laws and regulations is real reform.”
A May 2012 study by the Pacific Research Institute found that medical research and development will decrease by nearly $2 billion as a result of this tax. Another study, produced by the American Action Forum, found that this tax will force the medical device industry to decrease its workforce by up to 47,100 people, or 10% of the entire workforce.
(Source: ATR.org: ‘Obamacare Excise Tax will Keep Medical Devices out of Patients’ Hands’ http://atr.org/obamacare-excise-tax-medical-devices-patients-a7023)
Patricia Smith of Wall Township testified before Congressman Chris Smith’s committee
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Capitol Hill was the frontline in the battle against Lyme disease at a congressional hearing held Tuesday by Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04), Chairman of the House congressional panel that oversees international global health issues.
“As I have met scores of patients suffering the devastating effects of Chronic Lyme—who only got well after aggressive treatment by a Lyme-literate physician—I have been dismayed and angered by the unwillingness of some to take a fresh, comprehensive look at this insidious disease,” said Smith, who co-chairs the House Lyme Disease Caucus. “It will be necessary for the physicians, scientists, government leaders, and media to be discerning – to evaluate the evidence to see if it is based on the best science and to scrutinize the studies and the critiques of those studies to determine whether they are of high quality. We need scientists to speak out in an unfettered way. We need government agencies to show leadership and to forcefully say what we know and what we don’t know based on the best available evidence.” Click here to read Chairman Smith’s opening remarks.
Smith is the sponsor of the federal legislation H.R. 2557 to expand federal efforts on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases through the establishment of a Tick-Borne Diseases Advisory Committee.
Patricia Smith of Wall, President of the Lyme Disease Association, testifying before a congressional committee
One of the witnesses, Patricia Smith of Monmouth County, N.J., the president of the Lyme Disease Association, said many doctors refuse to diagnose outside certain limited federal criteria and subsequently insurance companies can refuse to pay for care.
“Thirty-seven years after Lyme was recognized, sick patients cannot get diagnosed and not be treated because of antiquated, unsubstantiated tests which may pick up 50 percent of cases,” Patricia Smith said. Click here to read Patricia Smith’s testimony.
Other witnesses, including researchers and Lyme disease advocates and patients, were:
Stephen W. Barthold, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of the Dept. of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology Center of Comparative Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine at the Univ. of California;
Raphael Stricker, M.D., Vice President of the International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society;
Mark Eshoo, Ph.D. Director, New Technology Development, Abbott Laboratories;
Will Serve Veterans & Their Families in Monmouth, Ocean, Burlington, Middlesex Counties Who Are at Risk of Homelessness
Washington, Jul 17 – A $1 million federal grant has been awarded to a non-profit organization to assist low income veterans in Central New Jersey who are at risk of losing their homes, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) announced today.
“This funding will provide much needed housing assistance and stability to veterans in Central New Jersey so that they can remain in their homes even when times are difficult,” said Smith, who worked with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in support of the grant application.
The grant was awarded this morning to Soldier On, a leader for community-based homeless and at-risk veterans’ housing and services. Soldier On has 15 years of experience developing transitional and permanent housing and successfully creating innovative homeownership opportunities in underserved areas—addressing both the urban and rural needs of local communities. The funding will be provided by through the VA’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF) grant program.
“Unfortunately, right now, the concentration of veterans and their families in Central New Jersey are without access to prevention and rapid re-housing resources,” said Smith. “With the VA’s green light, Soldier On will now be able to provide very specialized services to address the needs of a very specific population in Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Burlington Counties thereby enabling a federal-private partnership that will truly help our veterans.”
The ObamaCare backstory gets worse all the time, Save Jerseyans.
We can never really know what happened in chambers. That said, emerging anonymous accounts seem to comport with what we can plainly observe about this repugnant capitulation to unconstitutional, unrestrained big government by Chief Justice John Roberts.
It was supremely political.
Be assured, I’m not leveling this charge simply because I don’t like the decision! The Chief Justice simply didn’t do a very good job of masking his purely tactical motivations.
If you read the conservative Kennedy-Alito-Thomas-Scalia dissent (click here – pdf), one of the first things you’ll notice is how the dissent frequently refers to the majority opinion as the “dissent.” Is the current batch of High Court clerks just sloppy? Or is something else going on here?
NJAW customers still under strict non-watering mandate
TINTON FALLS, NJ – The Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management, in consultation with New Jersey American Water (NJAW), lifted the outdoor watering ban today for all non-NJAW customers.
However, the mandatory outdoor watering ban remains in effect for all NJAW customers in order to maintain water pressure and supply throughout the lines as repairs continue.
“Even though the ban has been lifted for many residents, public safety officials urge everyone to continue conserving water,” Freeholder Director John P. Curley said. “We look forward to further progress in the days ahead.”
The state of emergency remains in effect for all NJAW customers. The ongoing water emergency means that:
Customers of New Jersey American Water are under a mandatory water restriction that bans all outdoor water use and encourages indoor water conservation. It is illegal for NJAW customer to water lawns, shrubs or gardens, fill swimming pools and wash cars;
All restrictions for non-NJAW customers have been lifted, although conservation is urged.
New sod or newly seeded lawns and planted shrubs can be watered to an appropriate level;
Indoor conservation measures include refraining from using washing machines and dishwashers, limiting showering times and flushing toilets less frequently; and
Commercial businesses that rely on water for their operations are not subject to these restrictions.
Because a state of emergency still exists, law enforcement will continue to enforce the ban for NJAW customers.
“Monmouth County residents should be commended for their cooperation and support during this critical time,” Sheriff Shaun Golden said. “Their efforts helped improve the situation enough to remove some of the bans that had been put in place.”
The emergency was created by the collapse of three large water pipes June 29 at the water company’s water treatment plant at Swimming River Reservoir.
The American people are “demanding that we realign our country’s compass with its founding principles” in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution! So says the Republican Party’s “Pledge toAmerica,” which champions smaller, more accountable government, economic freedom, lower taxes, and fiscal responsibility. The Tea Party’s “Contract fromAmerica” calls for fiscal responsibility and limited government “consistent with the U.S. Constitution’s meaning,” asserting that “our moral, political, and economic liberties are inherent, not granted by our government.”
Republicans and Tea Partiers want the smallest possible federal government that taxes the least and interferes in daily life the least. Toward that end, they want to slash government spending, privatize and curtail Social Security and Medicare, defund and repeal the Affordable Care Act (deridingly referred to as “Obamacare”), eliminate Environmental Protection Agency regulations, and cut programs that mainly serve low-income Americans.
Are these policies and programs consistent with the core values and ideals underlying the Declaration and the Constitution? Only a probing analysis of the meaning and intent of our founding documents can help us answer this question. In We Hold These Truths (Macmillan 1987), the renowned 20th Century philosopher and educator Mortimer J. Adler called the Declaration of Independence, “the architectural blueprint” of theUnited States, from which “we can derive the fundamental principles of republican or constitutional government.” He wrote that from the Preamble of the Constitution, the articles that follow it, and their subsequent amendments, “we can come to understand the elaboration of those articles of political faith in terms of governmental aims, governmental structures, and governmental policies.”
Good afternoon, Lt. Governor Guadagno, Senate President Sweeney, Speaker Oliver, and all the members of the Legislature. I take my constitutional powers and responsibilities seriously, as I know you do. When there are pressing matters that I believe must be addressed, it is my responsibility to call our Legislature into special session.
Giving the certainty of tax relief to our citizens and making our state more competitive with our neighbors in job creation—today—will allow us to put more New Jerseyans back to work this summer. What could be more important for us to do today?
I know it’s been a long year and I know over the last few weeks each of you have been working hard to bring this legislative session to a successful conclusion. We did many great things together. But there is one greater thing left to do—lock in tax relief today that will help to create new jobs tomorrow.
Trenton, NJ – Determined to reverse the path chosen by Democrats in the legislature to impose an $800 million tax hike on New Jersey residents, while holding middle-class tax relief hostage, Governor Chris Christie today called for a special session of the state legislature Monday.
In a letter to Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Governor Christie noted the fundamental choice confronting Democrats in the legislature:
“Continue to move forward by letting people, and not government, enjoy more of the earnings produced by their own labor, or take a step back to repeat the days where taxes are the answer to each and every challenge,” said Governor Christie.
Yesterday, for the third year in a row, Governor Christie signed into law a constitutionally balanced budget that delivers on key priorities for the people of New Jersey without raising taxes – despite attempts to inflate spending and raise taxes.
“That budget, which contained billions of dollars in spending, failed to address the single issue that strikes at the heart of our shared interests, and our continued prosperity. Lowering the tax burden imposed on every New Jersey resident is a matter of unique and critical public interest that demands our immediate and full attention,” the Governor wrote to the legislative leaders.
Beginning with his budget address in February, Governor Christie sought to reach agreement on tax relief and, for a time, received numerous commitments from legislative Democrats to not raise taxes – only to have those commitments pulled back in favor of a massive tax increase. The Governor said in his letter today that he seeks to address both houses of the legislature to communicate his objections to bills which together betray those promises.
The Governor closed his letter to Senate President Sweeney and Speaker Oliver by noting the impending celebration Wednesday of Independence Day. It was 236 years ago that the forefathers recorded in the Declaration of Independence that they had united against the “history of repeated injuries and usurpations” imposed by government, including the imposition of taxes “without our consent.”
“Today, our citizens deserve the same opportunity to decide whether a new direction, embodied in the recommendations I will share, is needed to end the cycle of tax increases that has paralyzed our State’s growth, and stunted our citizens’ progress,” the Governor said.
“When you convene this Monday at 11:00 a.m., I will ask for the opportunity to address your members on the two paths that face all who are fortunate enough to serve as elected representatives.”
All Monmouth County residents to follow mandatory water restrictions
Photo credit: Tony Fiore
TINTON FALLS, NJ – The Monmouth County Office of Emergency Management, in consultation with the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders, declared a countywide state of emergency following a water main break at the Swimming River Reservoir Friday afternoon. All county residents have been directed to follow water restrictions.
Eighteen towns serviced by New Jersey American Water Co. have been directly affected. Three large water mains broke Friday afternoon, causing a reduction or total loss of water pressure or supply.
All county residents are directed to discontinue nonessential outdoor water use and limit indoor use. New Jersey American Water Company customers are urged to follow a “boil-water advisory.”
“All of Monmouth County is in a state of emergency because New Jersey American Water Co. may have to feed off other utilities throughout the weekend,” Freeholder Director John P. Curley said. “We need to pull together during this critical time and help one another by conserving water.”
“The Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office is working closely with local law enforcement agencies to ensure that an outdoor water ban will be strictly enforced,” Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden said. “These restrictions are not just for New Jersey American Water customers, but for everyone in Monmouth County. Cooperation is necessary in order to maintain public safety.”
The mandatory restrictions for all Monmouth County residents include the following:
