O’Scanlon celebrates 1st anniversary of the demise of Red Light Cameras in New Jersey

Even with his grimace, O’Scanlon is celebrating

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon is reminding New Jersey residents that the end of the Red Light Camera program, which occurred last December 16th, is one of the many things to celebrate this time of year.

“December 16 marks the one year anniversary of the termination of New Jersey’s failed experiment with for-profit traffic enforcement.  It is a blessed day for New Jersey drivers who no longer have to fear having their pockets picked by the predatory, corrupt and dishonest companies who operated the systems.

We proved in New Jersey – where the systems showed no safety benefit but cost drivers tens of millions of dollars – that red light cameras are merely a way for camera operators to legally steal from drivers.  If yellow lights are timed fairly there aren’t enough violators to even cover the systems’ costs – never mind generate profits for the municipal officials complicit in the scheme. Properly set yellow lights and properly engineered intersections also lead to genuine safety benefits – unlike completely ineffective red light and speed cameras.

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Bill introduced to put northern New Jersey casinos on 2016 ballot

HACKENSACK, N.J. — A casino could open in the Meadowlands sports and entertainment complex outside New York City as soon as 2017 if New Jersey voters approve a referendum next November allowing for two casinos in the northern part of the state. Senate President Stephen Sweeney, a Democrat, announced Friday that he has introduced legislation that… Read the rest of this entry »

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Sweeney plan to bypass Christie on N.J. public worker pensions clears first hurdle

TRENTON — A key state Senate committee on Thursday approved legislation to ask voters to revise the New Jersey constitution to require the state ratchet up contributions to the public pension system. The constitutional amendment relies on a big economic unknown: That the state’s natural growth will drum up at least $600 million a year in… Read the rest of this entry »

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NYC bomb plot revealed in guilty plea of N.J. ISIS supporter

NEWARK–A third member of a close circle of friends tied together in an investigation spanning across New Jersey, New York and to the Middle East, pleaded guilty Thursday of attempting to travel to Syria to join ISIS. Nader Saadeh, a 20-year-old from Rutherford taken into custody shortly after arriving Jordan last May, admitted in a court… Read the rest of this entry »

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Opinion: Time to Revisit the New Jersey-Pennsylvania Reciprocal Tax Deal

Money’s tight. Hardly a New Jersey news cycle goes by without some discussion lamenting our lack of fiscal flexibility in meeting a range of critical needs, from “fixing” the Transportation Trust Fund and shoring up local governments in fiscal distress to funding the state’s long-term pension and healthcare obligations. And let’s not forget the… Read the rest of this entry »

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Sweeney pushes forcing bigger N.J. pension payments by changing constitution

Senate President Steve Sweeney. file photo by Art Gallagher

TRENTON — State Sen. President Stephen Sweeney introduced legislation Monday that would cement state officials’ promises to fund government workers’ pensions in the New Jersey constitution. Such a constitutional amendment requiring the state to make payments into the public retirement fund was the expected to be the next step after the state Supreme Court this summer… Read the rest of this entry »

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Syrian family first to arrive in N.J. since Christie’s ban on state help

A family of seven on Monday became the first to arrive for resettlement in New Jersey since Gov. Chris Christie directed state agencies to stop helping Syrian refugees settle here. The international aid group Church World Service confirmed that a Syrian family it is helping arrived late Monday afternoon. So far, the group has received no… Read the rest of this entry »

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State gov’t internet access restored after 7-hour outage

New Jersey government offices had access to the internet restored early Friday afternoon after an outage by provider Verizon put them in the dark all morning. “We’re back up to full operations,” said Chris Santarelli, a spokesman for the N.J. Department of Treasury. The department’s Office of Information Technology expects to receive a report from Verizon… Read the rest of this entry »

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N.J. state government loses all internet access; MVC, other services down

All state access to the internet is down, impacting residents’ ability to conduct any business with state government today, according to a spokesman for the N.J. Department of Treasury.” The outage originates with Verizon, the state’s internet provider, said Chris Santarelli, a Treasurry spokesman. The outage was apparent when agencies opened this morning, said a spokeswoman… Read the rest of this entry »

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N.J. lawmakers takes action on surprise out-of-network medical costs

TRENTON — A state Assembly committee Monday approved legislation that would prevent consumers from getting surprise out-of-network medical bills that can saddle them with huge bills. The measure would require hospitals and doctors to disclose whether they are part of a person’s insurance network before treatment occurs. The bill was praised by consumer advocates and picked… Read the rest of this entry »

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