Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger, PhD has introduced his first bill.
A3284 would mandate that the Energy Receipts Tax, the fees that public utilities pay in lieu of property taxes, be paid directly to the municipalities they are intended for, rather than diverted into the State’s General Fund.
“Our message in New Jersey as Republicans has always been one of fiscal responsibility and civility,” said Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick (R-21) in an interview with WNYC radio. “I want people to know that as a Republican in this state, I want to respect people and bring people together. And, if that message is not coming from Washington, it is going to come from me.”
Bramnick, like Kevin Bacon in Animal House, is preparing to take another beating and to politely ask for more.
Josh Welle and Amber Gesslein could run for the Dem nominations for Assembly in LD 13 next year.
Assemblywoman Amy Handlin’s announcement that she will not seek reelection next year inevitably creates speculation on who will run to replace her. While party leaders on both sides of the aisle would rather their troops stay focused on the election coming up next month, the jockeying has started given how infrequently a vacancy occurs in the 13th district.
Democrats, who normally lose badly in the district will likely have a contest for the two Assembly nominations next year, given Handlin’s vacancy and Serena DiMaso serving her freshman term. DiMaso put something of a target on her back with the Dems when she made a robocall criticizing LD 11 Assemblymembers Eric Hougtaling and Joann Downey for voting for Governor Murphy’s tax increases. Houghtaling and Downey responded to DiMaso’s robocall with an ethics complaint.
With the Assembly on top of the ballot next year, Dems will likely be motivated and funded, even in LD 13.
Potential Democrat Candidates for LD 13 Assembly in 2019 who are running for other offices this year:
New Jersey MVC will no longer be provide information about resident motorist to companies that operate red-light and speed cameras for other states, if bipartisan legislation introduced by Senators Declan O’Scanlon, Nick Sacco, Nicolas Scutari becomes law.
The Camera Enforcement Inoculation Act prohibits the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission from providing identifying information to camera enforcement entities, thus making it impossible to issue tickets for automated enforcement infractions to New Jersey motorists.
This is such a great idea that Governor Phil Murphy should instruct MVC Commissioner Sue Fulton to implement the practice immediately while the bill works its way through the legislature.
While New Jersey narrowly avoided a second straight government shutdown, the budget agreement that was achieved at the last minute will have a serious impact on area taxpayers that will be felt for years to come.
As a member of the Assembly Budget Committee, I participated in a number of meetings and listened to hours of testimony on Gov. Phil Murphy’s proposed budget that sought to increase spending by more than 7 percent and raise taxes by $1.7 billion. Gov. Murphy and the Democrat majority in the Legislature then spent much of the spring and early part of summer arguing over which of our taxes to raise.
Never, it seems, did they consider reducing government spending nor did the conversation appear to focus on reducing the burden on some of the most overtaxed citizens in the country. In fact, during the debate, serious consideration was given to additional tax hikes, including proposals to increase the realty transfer fee and add taxes to short-term home rentals — two ideas that would have dramatically impacted Monmouth and Ocean County residents. Read the rest of this entry »
Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth County) announced that he will introduce two bills tomorrow in the NJ Senate tomorrow that, if enacted, would lessen the destructive aspects of a state government shutdown.
Governor Phil Murphy and the Democrat leaders in the legislature, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, are thus far deadlocked over their competing proposals to raise taxes on New Jersey residents, tourists and businesses. If they are unable to come to an agreement, and get the legislature to concur, by midnight tomorrow, the government will shutdown.
Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso (R-Monmouth), along with her colleagues Assemblywomen Nancy Munoz (R-Union) and Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen), today called on the legislature to take action on a 10 bill package they introduced last week to address school safety in light of the recent shooting in Parkland, Florida and other tragic incidents.
The proposed legislation is based on recommendations from two panels of experts that were set-up in the wake of the 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Conn, DiMaso and Munoz said in a joint statement. The groups included government officials, education leaders, law enforcement, community members, school officials, teachers and parents. Read the rest of this entry »
Declan O’Scanlon, the Assembly Republican Budget Officer and the Senator-elect from the 13th Legislative District, today urged Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto to allow the New Jersey General Assembly to vote on permanently extending the interest arbitration cap for public worker salaries.
Lt Governor Kim Guadagno. Photo credit: Tim Larsen/Governor’s office
Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno today called on Governor Chris Christie, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto and Senate President Steve Sweeney to set aside the Horizon bill that is causing the deadlock in Trenton and instead take up a bill sponsored by Assembly Members Declan O’Scanlon and Nancy Muñoz that freezes existing government employee unused sick time payouts at the amounts already accumulated while eliminatinating the practice of lump sum payouts for unused sick time for new employees.
With New Jersey’s state government on the verge of shutting down because the Democrat controlled legislature has failed to pass a budget, Lt.Governor Kim Guadagno, the GOP nominee for Governor, has called on her Democrat opponent, former Goldman Sachs banker Phil Murphy, to intervene in the impasse.
“What is happening with the state budget is a disgusting display of Trenton politics that threatens to grind our state to a halt,” Guadagno said. “With so many problems in New Jersey from property taxes to healthcare, our leaders should be communicating with each other to pass a budget that puts the taxpayers of New Jersey first and separate the Horizon bill from negotiations so it can be thoroughly reviewed. Phil Murphy – as the head of his party – should immediately call his political bosses who are orchestrating this and tell them to stop playing politics with the lives of the people who will be hurt by a government shutdown.”
