Handlin Wants SCI To Investigate Allegations That Fulop Planned Traffic Jams At Holland Tunnel and Port Jersey

Jersey City Police Chief Robert Cowan has responded to his announced demotion by Mayor Steve Fulop by alleging that the mayor order traffic jams at Port Jersey and the Holland Tunnel.   That Cowan objected and interfered is the reason he is being demoted, he says, according to reports in the Jersey Journal.

Fulop announced plans to sue the Port Authority of NY/NJ for $400 million. Cowan’s attorney said Fulop’s plan was “designed solely to create havoc for the Port Authority.”

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Middletown) wants the joint legislative committee that is investigating the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures to investigate the allegations against Fulop as well.

In a letter dated today to Senator Loretta Weinberg and Assemblyman John Wisniewski, Co-Chairs of the New Jersey Select Committee on Investigation,of which Handlin is a member, the assemblywoman asked that the committee immediately issue subpoenas to Fulop and Cowan

As you know, the mission of the New Jersey Legislative Select Committee on Investigation is to “investigate all aspects of the finances, operations, and management of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and any other matter raising concerns about abuse of government power or an attempt to conceal an abuse of government power including, but not limited to, the reassignment of access lanes in Fort Lee, New Jersey to the George Washington Bridge.”

Because the allegations against Mayor Fulop raise significant concerns about the repeated abuse of government power directly related to the Port Authority, I respectfully ask the committee to investigate this matter including the immediate issuance of subpoenas to Mayor Fulop and Chief Cowan.

Handlin’s letter can be found here.

Fulop is widely considered to be a contender for the Democratic nomination for Governor in 2017, or sooner if Governor Chris Christie does not complete his term.

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Assemblywoman Amy Handlin named to Bridgegate Investigation Committee

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin (R-Middletown) has been named to the Special Assembly Committee that will investigate the September lane closures on the George Washington Bridge that have dominated the state and national news for the last week since The Record published emails that revealed that Governor Chris Christie’s then Deputy Chief of Staff, Bridget Ann Kelly, ordered the lane closures with an email to Port Authority’s then Director of Interstate Capital Projects, David Wildstein.

During her public service career as an Assemblywoman, Monmouth County Freeholder and Committeewoman in Middletown, Handlin has earned a reputation as a ethics hawk and outspoken critic of governmental excesses.

Handlin is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Monmouth University and the author of Crony Capitalists in our Backyards: Who they are, What the do and How to fight back.

Joining Handlin on the twelve member committee are eight Democrats; Chairman John Wisniewski, the Assembly Transportation Committee Chair who has spearheaded the Bridgegate to date, Marlene Caride (Bergen/Passiac), Lou Greenwald (Mercer), Gordon Johnson (Bergen), Paul Moriarty (Gloucester), Linda Stender (Union) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (Mercer).

The other Republicans on the committee are Michael Patrick Carroll (Morris), BettyLou DeCroce (Morris), and Holly Schepisi (Bergen).

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Trends Toward Greater Doctor Shortage Worry State Legislators

New Jersey policymakers looking to address a looming shortage of doctors in the state need to act quickly, as the problem appears to be getting worse and more quickly than predicted. More of the state’s medical residents are planning to leave the…

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NJ Right To Life Defends Kyrillos And Handlin Against Bellew’s ‘Misinformation’

Pro-Life Advocate Endorses O’Scanlon In LD13 Primary

Marie Tasy, Executive Director of New Jersey Right to Life issued a statement last night refuting the “misinformation” being circulated by State Senate Candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew and her Bayshore Tea Party Group backed running mates in the 13th legislative district Republican primary.

Tasy was quoted in a mailer sent by the Bellew/Bayshore Tea Party slate as saying that Senator Joe Kyrillos voted in favor of partial birth abortion.

In her statement to MoreMonmouthMusings, Tasy went into painstaking detail to list Kyrillos’s votes against partial birth abortion. She said that bill cited in Bellew’s mailer that Kyrillos voted for, S1909, was a “bill filled with very technical, scientific jargon that was rammed through the Senate at breakneck speed.” The bill legalized embryonic stem cell research and cloning, NOT partial birth abortion.  Tasy said that many Senators voted for the bill without fully understanding it.  Subsequently, Kyrillos voted against the funding of embryonic stem cell/cloning research with increased taxes and bonding.

Tasy noted that Assembly Members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon were not legislators when the partial birth abortion and embryonic stem cell/cloning research bills were voted on.

Tasy’s statement is particularly extraordinary because Kyrillos is pro-choice on abortion.  Tasy said she is not defending Kyrillos, but setting the record straight on the misinformation campaign.

 I am not writing to defend Senator Kyrillos’ record and well known position on abortion, but to set the record straight on the misinformation campaign that is being circulated regarding his voting record and the positions of Assemblyman O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Handlin.  It should be noted that Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin were NOT  in the legislature at the time these bills were voted on and  therefore did  not vote on any of these bills.

“It says a lot about our opponents who call themselves conservatives that someone as highly respected in the Pro-Life community as Marie Tasy would take the time to refute the misinformation in their literature,” said O’Scanlon, “This is further confirmation of what I’ve been saying throughout the campaign, Bellew, her running mates, and the Bayshore Tea Party Group’s leadership have no integrity.”

Neither Bellew nor Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez responded to an invitation to comment.

Tasy’s statement can be read in its entirety below:

I am writing to set the record straight regarding some misinformation that is being circulated in mailers to voters in the the 13th legislative district. Read the rest of this entry »

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O’Scanlon Endorsed By NRA PAC

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon has been endorsed by the NRA Political Victory Fund for the June 4th Republican primary in the 13th legislative district.

In an email to their members in the 13th district, NRA-PV said,

“Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon is rated “A” by the NRA-PVF and has been a proven Second Amendment supporter throughout his tenure in the state legislature.  He has been vocal in his support of your Second Amendment rights and has stood strong against anti-gun lawmakers pushing their radical agenda in Trenton.  Declan O’Scanlon has stood by gun owners in New Jersey by consistently voting against onerous gun proposals, including sweeping ammunition bans, magazine capacity restrictions, one-gun-a-month limitation, and more.

On Election Day, remember your gun rights are at stake and Vote Freedom First by voting to reelect Declan O’Scanlon for Assemblyman in District 13.”

O’Scanlon welcomed the endorsement as a confirmation of his conservative credentials by “one of the most effective advocacy groups in the nation.”

“This is confirmation that my opponents have be lying about my record and confirmation that my opponents have no integrity,”O’Scanlon said, “The NRA knows enough to say away from my opponents,

“As the only candidate endorsed by the NRA-PV in the district, I enthusiastically endorse Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin.”

Barbara Gonzalez, co-founder of the Bayshore Tea Party Group which is supporting O’Scanlon’s opponents in the primary did not respond to a request for comment.

UPDATE

Gonzalez responded to MMM late last evening, declining to comment. “Nope….your blog has become trashy.  Just….nope,” she wrote.

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Why I am voting against Leigh-Ann Bellew on June 4

By Art Gallagher

Yesterday I was interviewed by The Star Ledger and went on the record saying that I would be voting for Joe Kyrillos for State Senate in the 13th Legislative District Republican primary on June 4th.   Consistent with my slogan of being fair and biased, it is appropriate that I tell you, my readers and the reason my opinion matters to The Star Ledger, that MMM is now part of the story and that I have made a decision that can’t help but color my coverage of the rest of the campaign.

MMM is part of the LD 13 story, instead of just covering the story, because we’ve provided the bulk of the media coverage of the primary campaign to date and because Kyrillos’ challenger, Leigh-Ann Bellew, attacked this site in a press release, according to The Star Ledger.

On many important issues, Life and The Right to Bear Arms in particular, I am in more philosophical agreement with Bellew than I am with Kyrillos.   Despite my philosophical differences with Kyrillos, the choice between him and Bellew has become a very easy one.  Kyrillos is a very good State Senator.  Bellew is a deeply flawed candidate.  She never should have exposed herself, her family, and friends who care about her deeply to the rigors and vetting of this campaign.

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Bellew, Gonzalez, Boracchia Attack LD 13 Incumbents, Blogs

By Art Gallagher

Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez pinning Sen. Joe Kyrillos during happier times.

After over three weeks of media silence, the Bellew for Senate campaign issued a scathing 920 word press release this afternoon accusing State Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assembly members Amy Handlin and Declan O’Scanlon of hypocrisy, liberalism, slander, ducking debates and being mean.

Also blasted by Bellew Jersey, was “an organized army of cronies (that) have waged a campaign of personal attacks and character assassination on members of the Tea Party.”

“They have used surrogates in a legion of non-journalistic blogs and Internet attack machines to call the Tea Party “nut jobs.” To the Tea Party, this closely resembles Obama campaign style tactics of personal destruction. In fact, it mirrors what the IRS is now in trouble for doing – trying to silence their critics. Conservatives know this destroys any credibility Joe Kyrillos, Declan O’Scanlan, and Amy Handlin and their liberal Republican establishment team could possibly claim to have in support of the patriots fighting for limited government.”

The release, which was sent out by and paid for by Bellew for State Senate, quotes Senate Candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew, Bayshore Tea Party Group co-founder Barbara Gonzalez, and Assembly Candidate Steven Boracchia.   Assembly Candidate Edna Walsh was mentioned but not quoted in the statement which can be read in its entirety here.

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Handlin’s Legislation Will Spur Job Growth

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Legislation that would eliminate the scheduled 10% surcharge on employers’ unemployment insurance tax was cleared by the Assembly Labor Committee today.

The bill, A-4112/A-3675, sponsored by Assemblywomen Amy Handlin (R-13, Monmouth) and Alison Little McHose (R-24, Hunterdon, Morris, Warren and Sussex), postpones the implementation of the surcharge, which is currently scheduled to go into effect on July 1, for one year.  An identical bill, S-2404, passed the State Senate unanimously in February.

The Office of Legislative Services estimates that eliminating the surcharge will save employers $300 million in the coming fiscal year.

“The timing of this legislation is critical as we approach the summer season and with the effort to restore the Jersey Shore well underway,” stated Handlin. “Rebuilding communities involves both residential and commercial redevelopment. Companies who invest in our economy would face significant unemployment insurance increases which could impact their hiring decisions. This legislation ensures that the strides made in putting people back to work will  not be affected by the cost increases that would have been felt under this  surcharge.”

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Bayshore Tea Party Backed Slate Claims Momentum With Polling Data In LD13

Won’t Say Who Is Doing The Polling Or Reveal Data

UPDATED: 1pm

townhall photo

Bellew for State Senate campaign manager Dwayne Horner called from Texas to say that the campaign polled 5,000 Republican voters in LD 13 on Sunday evening and that 83% said they favored replacing the incumbents.  Horner refused to name the polling firm, saying only that its a well respected Republican firm that worked for the Romney campaign in Florida and several Texas congressional campaigns.

Horner declined to say what questions were asked of those polled, saying he would not get into the specifics of the poll.  Twice MMM asked if the incumbents were named in the polling questions.  Twice Horner declined to answer.

“83% said the incumbents should not be re-elected,” Horner said. “Did you tell them who the incumbents are?” we asked. “I’m not getting into the specifics of the poll, but Leigh-Ann Bellew’s name was mentioned,” Horner responded.

Horner challenged Senator Joe Kyrillos and the anonymous Republican political operative quoted below to go door to door and find 8 of 10 voters who plan to reelect Kryillos.

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The slate of candidates challenging LD 13 legislative incumbents, Senator Joe Kyrillos, Assemblywoman Amy Handlin and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon claim they have polling data that indicates “voters overwhelming want to fire the incumbents.”

An email sent to Bayshore Tea Party Group members by co-founder Barbara Gonzalez reads, in part, as follows:

Momentum  is on the side of the candidates of R4CL.  Voters overwhelmingly say they are ready to fire the  current incumbents. Internal polls show that voters are ready to support  a new slate of candidates.

Gonzalez told MoreMonmouthMusings that she does not know who is conducting polls for the primary challengers led by state senate candidate Leigh-Ann Bellew or what the numbers say. “That message was sent over by the campaign, I just cut and paste and sent it out,” said Gonzalez, “but my internal poll agrees with it.  Everyone I talk to wants a change.”

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Handlin & Casagrande to Submit 1,500 Objections to JCP&L’s Proposed Rate Increase

Monmouth County Legislators  to Present Petitions Against JCP&L’s Rate Hike at Tomorrow’s Public Hearing  in Freehold

Assemblywoman Amy Handlin

Assemblywomen Amy Handlin and Caroline Casagrande plan to present  petitions tomorrow signed by 1,500 ratepayers opposed to a proposed electricity  rate hike by Jersey Central Power and Light (JCP&L).

“We will speak for the hundreds of ratepayers who are tired of paying  more for less service,” Handlin, R-Monmouth, said. “This proposal to take about  $85 more per year from hard-working families lacks credibility because JCP&L  has yet to answer very serious charges of pocketing corporate profit instead of  investing in the improvements that would have made our service more reliable and  our rates more tolerable.”

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