Student Survey Bill Watch

From Carolee Adams:

Note that A3242 may become more commonly known by its Senate Bill Number: S1696. Don’t let that confuse you. If you lose track of the numbers, refer to it simply as the Student Survey Bill.  Please thank Asw. Angelini ([email protected]) for withdrawing her sponsorship and encourage her to vote NO when/if it comes before the Assembly. Keep calling Gov. Christie (609.292.6000) to ask him to veto this Student Survey Bill if it passes the Assembly. Reasons why: dishonors parental rights; it’s an invasion of student privacy; it will cost taxpayers – and possibly in added lawsuits; how will this help academics when the state educational system is already experiencing such unrest; the old bill was a good bill. Why fix what ain’t broke?!

Further, consider this Bill is being pushed by a powerful, influential lobby that wants more taxpayer funded “health” programs in schools. Think recent legislation about bullying for a clue…

These Surveys are a sneaky means for schools to get at the pot of gold in the taxpayer funded CDC to create more “health” programs. (Try and track the spending, though!) However, the federal Protection of Pupil Rights Act should still be honored. I don’t believe this new NJ bill meets that.

I’ve been told none are on the Assembly Board List yet for a vote. However, I’ve also been guided that that could change the calendar day before the Assembly votes. Further, Bill numbers have been known to change, and/or Speaker Oliver could force it during quorum on Monday – even without another Education Committee meeting. Such despicable maneuvers would add weight for Governor Christie to veto.

In case you missed it, the Student Survey Bill would give school districts the authority to administer surveys that ask students intimate personal information about themselves and their families, without parental consent.  The information authorized includes sexual behavior and attitudes, mental health and psychological problems, political affiliation, the names of doctors, lawyers and ministers, income, and social security number. 

Informed parental consent to these surveys was required by a law signed in 2002.  The current bill would amend the law to allow the surveys to be administered if parents are notified and do not respond to the notification.

MMM first reported on this bill last Tuesday evening.   Opposition to the bill spread through other blogs and social networking sites resulting in Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini withdrawing her sponsorship of the bill.  The Assembly Education Committee pulled the bill from its scheduled hearing calendar last Thursday.   MMM received a tip that proponents of the bill are working to circumvent the normal legislative process by persuading Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver to post the bill for a vote before the full Assembly without a committee hearing.

The full Assembly meets today for a Quorum call at 1PM.  It meets again for a voting session on Thursday.  The bills to be voted on have not been posted yet.

Opponents of the bill are encouraged to bombard their representatives with phone calls and emails urging them to vote no on the Student Survey bill should it come up for a vote.   Urge your friends and families to do the same.

Contact information for all members of the Assembly can be found by clicking here.

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Pension crisis! Tear gas over Trenton…

Editors note: The following column by Dan Jacobson was originally published in the June 16, 2011 edition of the triCityNews.  It was written before the recent agreement of pension and health care reform struck by Governor Christie, Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Oliver.

By Dan Jacobson

Any day now, you’ll see our Republican Governor and Democratic legislative leaders announce a deal to “reform” our state pension system.

Don’t believe it. This is a problem requiring 20 years of fiscal discipline. These people can’t see beyond the next election in 20 weeks.

Our state government is $121 billion short of what’s needed to pay projected pension and retiree health benefits. How bad is it? This year’s proposed state budget is only $29.4 billion.

In other words, we’re bankrupt.

Remember the rioting in Greece last year? You bet there could be tear gas over Trenton if this isn’t fixed. And I’m not optimistic.

Last week, I announced I’m running for the state Assembly as an Independent. So let me piss off everyone by outlining what needs to be done. And it’s ugly. No way around it.

First, this problem must be ripped away from the politicians. I’d propose a state constitutional amendment – requiring voter approval – to establish an independent Board of Trustees to administer the pension and retirement health benefits system.

Each year, these independent Trustees would recalculate the total projected shortfall the state faces. No fudging the numbers by politicians. And the Board of Trustees would develop and oversee a long-term plan to restore the system – and thus the state’s finances – to solvency.

In addition, the Board would determine the annual contribution to the system – and it would have to be paid by the state. The elected officials have underfunded it for 15 years. With a constitutional amendment, that would end. No more cheating. We’d pay what’s needed to fix the problem.

And the Board of Trustees would be empowered to do what the politicians can’t: Set up a plan of benefit cuts and tax increases to fix the system by spreading the pain as widely as possible. And the wider it’s spread, the less it hurts everyone individually. Everyone has got to take a hit. We’re all in this mess together.

By the way, those benefit cuts would affect current and future retires already in the system. There’s no other way to do it. Elected officials only talk about changing the benefits for new employees. That’s not enough. So I envision everyone equally screaming – taxpayers, retirees, future retirees – when the Trustees propose a plan to fix this mess. Ironically, that way you know it’s fair.

But this is not a dictatorship. The rescue plan from the Board of Trustees would be submitted for voter approval.

If voters reject it, the Pension Trustees would simply take what’s needed every year from the state Treasury to ensure the system’s solvency. In that scenario, the three-ring circus in the State House – the Governor, the Assembly and the Senate – would figure out how to pay that annual bill. Of course, that will be a mess. But the bill would be paid. No more underfunding the system. No more postponing Judgment Day. I’d rather face it on our terms.

There you have it. That’s the basic outlines of my proposal. Here’s some more details:

The Board of Pension Trustees would be non-political like Judges. They’d be appointed by the Governor with the consent of the state Senate. None would have business or financial connection to unions for at least a decade, if not more. They’d have long and staggered terms as Trustees to minimize political interference.

And in putting together a rescue plan, their directive in the constitutional amendment would be quite specific: To implement a mix of both benefit cuts and tax increases – and it would specifically require both – to spread the burden as equitably as possible across all the citizens of this state.

Sure, that would require subjective judgments. There’s no mathematical formula to achieve this. But at least a rescue plan by the Trustees would be made in good faith by non-political appointees – not politicians seeking reelection. And voters would have the final say.

In other words, we’d face this problem like adults. We’d empower an independent group of people to tell us the truth. And propose a solution for us to consider. We’d then make the final call in a statewide vote.

Sure sounds better than tear gas canisters fired at protestors when a bankrupt state can’t pay its bills – and people become more outraged than anything we’ve ever seen in New Jersey.

But maybe all is not lost. Take the sentiment of retired state worker Vincent Lobascio, 85. He’s ready to sacrifice some of his benefits. Let’s hope most other citizens share his views – or we’re done.

“I’m willing to make my contribution, and I’m a retired guy,” the World War II combat veteran told the Asbury Park Press in a story about the pension crisis. “But don’t kill me.”

I’m with Mr. Lobascio. This 49 year-old taxpayer would pay more to solve this mess – just don’t kill me either. We’re all adults. We all know something must be done. Just spread that burden around as widely as possible. In the end, the solution is likely reasonable.

But politicians can’t do that because they’re competing for the support of blocs of voters – whether liberal union members or anti-tax conservatives. It’s all about getting elected. In fact, both those voter blocs I just mentioned will be outraged at this column.

Oh well. So I’ll get to remain a private citizen. Wow, what a tragedy.

So when you see our Republican Governor and Democratic legislative leaders announce some deal to address this problem, remember this: It’s all about the election in five months when the Senate and Assembly are up for grabs. It’s not a permanent deal. It can always be reversed or changed later. And you bet that will happen when the economy starts to do better and no one is paying attention.

Sure, they’ll make some progress with their deal – just enough to con you to think something is getting done. But not on a scale that really solves this problem. There’s not enough political upside and way too much political downside. The state has never faced a challenge this big. Plus, I don’t believe any figures or estimates these clowns throw around. They’re all biased toward getting reelected.

But a constitutional amendment empowering an independent Board of Trustees goes a long way toward eliminating political mischief.

And in my proposal, we’d even get to vote on any rescue plans from the Trustees. If they want to modify a rescue plan later, we’d all vote on that too. If any plan is rejected, the state would still fully fund the retirement system every year and stop the cheating.  Imagine how different everything would be if that was done for the past 15 years.

Hey, such a constitutional amendment sounds reasonable to me. That means it doesn’t have a chance in Trenton.

So in the most unlikely event I get elected to the Assembly – only one Independent has done so in 50 years – at least there’d be one person down there speaking the truth about the most dangerous problem this state has ever faced.

(The 11^th District where I’m running includes: Asbury Park, Long Branch, Red Bank, Ocean Township, Neptune, Neptune City, Interlaken, Deal, Allenhurst, Loch Arbour, West Long Branch, Eatontown, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls, Colts Neck, Freehold Township and Freehold Borough.)

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A3242 May Not Be Dead Yet

By Art Gallagher

Assembly bill A3242, the one that would allow school districts to ask, without your informed consent, your sons and daughters if they have ever had oral sex and how much money you earn, may not be dead yet.

The bill was pulled from the Assembly Education Committee’s calendar yesterday due to the overwhelming response in opposition to the bill from MMM and RightDirection readers.  That should have killed the bill until at least the fall when the legislature returns from its summer recess.

However, our spies deep within the Democratic Assembly Caucus tell us that the bill’s remaining sponsors are prevailing upon Speaker Shelia Oliver to post the bill for a vote before the full Assembly next Thursday, bypassing committee hearings.

Sneaky sneaky sneaky.  Good thing we have spies.

The Assembly does have a voting session next Thursday, the 23rd, but none of the bills to be voted on have been posted yet.

MMM will be monitoring the board.  Be ready to make phone calls and send emails.  Even if A3242 is not posted, it is likely that there will be at least one bill (A3839 — end of life counseling AKA death panels) that will need opposition.

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Legislature, School Boards, Readying To Adapt Scamming Tactics To Gather Your Private Information

By Art Gallagher

There is a sales technique that scammers and “legitimate” businesses, like your credit card company, use whereby a consumer is offered a free trial of a product or service for a defined period of time after which, if the consumer takes no action, he or she if obliged to pay a monthly fee charged to their credit card.

I vaguely remember falling for one of these scams years ago.  I don’t remember what the product or service was but it got me into the habit of responding to those friendly callers who are lucky enough to get through to me by saying, “You are welcome to send me your free trial, but you are not authorized to charge my account unless you specifically hear from me in writing.”   Miraculously, I don’t get those offers very much anymore.

Obviously, the marketeers are counting on the fact at a certain percentage, probably a large percentage, of their customers are not going to proactively cancel the product or service, or will miss the deadline to do so.  They reap the profits for at least a month or two purely from their customers’ inertia, not from any satisfaction the customers may have with the product or service.

The technique must have a name among the marketeers.  If anyone knows what its called, please post it in the comments.

Turns out that our State Legislature is on the verge of authorizing New Jersey’s school districts to employ a similar technique in gathering personal information about their students and their families, i.e., your kids and you.

The information the school districts want to gather includes (1)political affiliation, (2) mental or psychological problems that are potentially embarrassing to the student or their family, (3) sexual behavior and attitudes, (4) illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, and demeaning behavior, (5) critical appraisals of other individuals with whom a respondent has a close family relationship, (6) legally recognized privleged or analogous relationships such has those of lawyers, physicians or ministers, (7) income and (8) social security number.

Back in 2001 there was a bill passed and signed into law that prohibited school districts from gathering such information unless that had the informed written consent of the student’s parent or guardian.

Now the legislature is on the verge of amending that law (P.L.2001, c.364) so that the school districts can gather the information from students so long as the parents have been notified in writing, NOT consented in writing.

I kid you not.

The Senate version of this bill, S1696, passed on May 23, 2011 with a vote of 26-12.  I’m told the Assembly version, A3242 will be heard in the Assembly Education Committee Thurday, June 16th.

The rational for amending the law to require parental notification of information gathering rather than informed parental consent to the information gathering, according to the statement included in the bill, is to “mitigate the negative impact” that parental consent has made on “New Jersey’s ability to collect data important to public health and safety issues affecting the State’s student population. Numerous nonprofit agencies and federal grantees have halted their surveys or are seriously struggling to comply with the provisions of P.L. 2001, c.364 (C.18A:36-34)”

You could bet the house that a federal grantee or nonprofit would struggle to get my consent for such a survey to be taken.

Like the marketeers who assume you will be too busy or disinterested to cancel your book club or credit monitoring service, the Legislature and the school districts are assuming that parents are not giving consent to the schools asking about their political affiliation, sexual behavior or embarrassing mental illnesses because they are too busy, don’t care, or haven’t opened their mail.

Maybe parents just don’t want the government prying into their personal lives like that.

Maybe parents just don’t want their kids giving the government that kind of information.  Maybe the government, schools and nonprofits are counting on parents being too busy or not getting around to responding to the notifications so that they can scam the information and then come up with new nanny state programs funded by tax payers and the People’s Republic of China’s treasury department.

I wish I could tell you that this legislation is being pushed by the nanny state progressive socialists Democrats in the Assembly.  Sadly, it is being sponsored by district 11 Republican Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini.

If you don’t mind the schools, federal grantees and nonprofits having intimate personal information about you and your family, as reported by your children, there is nothing to do.

If you do mind, contact your Assembly members as soon as your read this.

You can find their contact information here.

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Meeting Vin Gopal

By Tommy DeSeno

Everyone has certain ideas that they’d like to be remembered for.  When you write a weekly column, you end up with a few of them.

One of mine is this:  “Politics is 1% of who we are.  Never let that stop you from getting to know the other 99% of a person.”

Last night I went to a party in Asbury Park to honor this year’s Independence Day Parade Grand Marshal, Hazel Samuels.

As I was handshaking and hugging old friends I hadn’t seen for some time, from the other side of a large round table someone introduced me to Vin Gopal. 

Since candidates become captive audiences during campaign season to anyone who wants to talk to them, I figured I’d go over and get a sense of the 11^th District Assembly candidate for the Democrats.

I ended up meeting a very likable fellow.  Vin’s physical demeanor is comfortable.  He sat in his chair sort of laid back and to the side rather than stiffly composed.  He wasn’t trying to dominate the people around him. His conversational tone was just that.  There were no contrived candidate sound bites. No “handlers” trying keep our conversation brief.  Although I’m sure he was “working the room” as candidates do, he did so in a way that made it seem he belonged in the room – that he was one of the gang.  A real natural.

 I did want to get into some issues, so I did the right thing and let Vin know that I am a journalist and asked him if I could go on the record with him so I wouldn’t sandbag him.  That’s the right way to handle that by the way.  There is a wrong way to do that, for instance if I were a member of the Highlands Republican Club, I wouldn’t go to a meeting as a club member, secretly decide everyone was on the record without telling them, and report what I heard, like you know who did. 

Anyway, Vin made some interesting points that conservatives might like. Let me share one in particular:

Something that irks Vin Gopal is unemployment insurance in New Jersey.  Vin is a small business owner.  He thinks unemployment is too easy to get, too easy to stay on and too easy to take unfair advantage of against employers.  He wants the system revised to be friendlier to business.

Very interesting!  I would have expected an answer like that from a Republican at a Chamber of Commerce meeting.

One last point:  None of the Republican candidates were at the Asbury Park dinner, nor was Dan Jacobson.  I’ll note that when Sean Kean was the assemblyman and senator here, even though Asbury Park never voted for him, Sean supported and attended every Asbury Park function.  Thanks for being there, Vin Gopal.

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The Lincoln Club Announces Focus Candidates for 2011 Legislative Races

Princeton – June 8, 2011 –The newly formed Lincoln Club of New Jersey wasted no time in jumping into the debate for New Jersey’s future by announcing its support for three challengers in the 2011 legislative elections, all of whom are first-time candidates for statewide office. Club President and 2010 Congressional candidate in NJ-12, Scott Sipprelle, said,” We cannot solve a problem by re-electing the problem. The time has come for a new breed of public servant, connected to the people, committed to problem-solving and willing to make the honest and difficult decisions required to restore our sickly state to health.”

Sipprelle continued, “There is a large void in American politics for new entrants, people who choose to enter the arena despite having limited resources and few political connections. The Board of Directors of the Lincoln Club has decided to provide support and assistance during this election cycle to send to Trenton three fresh faces committed to serving the public good. We strongly believe that these independent-thinking New Jerseyans, if elected, will work courageously to challenge the broken status quo.”

Lincoln Club Focus Candidates

Marcia Silva for Assembly in District 18

Marcia is the former Assistant Prosecutor for Middlesex County, where she spent seven years taking dangerous criminals off the streets. She currently has her own law practice in her hometown of South River and she takes pride in providing pro bono legal assistance to local veterans groups. Marcia has witnessed first-hand the struggles of small businesses and the ideal that we call the American Dream. Her father immigrated from Brazil to New Jersey, where he labored as a factory worker until he was able to start his own small business. Starting with a small masonry operation, he eventually built a successful real estate company. Marcia is a single mother of two young children.

Shane Robinson for Assembly in District 19 Shane recently graduated from Sacred Heart University only to return to his home state of New Jersey to find, like many other young people, a distressingly unattractive job environment. Shane is the son of the Rev. Winston Robinson of Faith Fellowship Ministries, a large ministry in his hometown of Sayreville. As a young, underemployed African-American, Shane represents multiple different constituencies that have been hard hit by the economic downturn and which are also strikingly under-represented in the state legislature. His presence in Trenton would bring a fresh and youthful perspective to addressing the ills affecting our state. Shane serves on the Sayreville Board of Health and has remained active in politics as he continues to pursue employment opportunities.

About The Lincoln Club of New Jersey The Lincoln Club of New Jersey is an independent political club engaged in ideas and actions for a better governance in New Jersey. More information at www.LC-NJ.org.

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Give Me My “Smash Mouth” Governor

By Art Gallagher

Since the “chopper gate” story hit the fan last week, The Record’s Charles Stile has been gleefully making the case that the media and partisan noise about Governor Christie’s use of the State Police helicopter has been so ferocious because of “smash mouth” style.  Stile, and other NJ media elites, have cited two recent polls, both taken before the chopper hullabaloo, that showed Christie’s approval ratings slipping as evidence that his style is wearing thin on New Jersey voters.

Stile has noted correctly that the chopper noise has been so harsh, despite the facts that Christie’s use of helicopter has been far more frugal than that of his predecessors and that  his use of the chopper didn’t cost taxpayers anymore money than if he had traveled by SUV, because of Christie’s “in your face” plain spoken style.   Christie’s political opponents and their media lapdogs have been laying in wait for an opportunity bash him back.

Stile has joined The Star Ledger’s Tom Moran in arguing that Christie should be nicer and more polite while turning Trenton upside down.  Stile and Moran would have Christie’s compromising more and reforming less.

The irony here, from my point of view, is that over the last few months Christie has been nicer and more compromising.   He’s toned it down.   His opponents have subsequently stepped it up.

Maybe Christie’s poll numbers have slipped because he’s toned it down.  Last spring he was railing against the NJEA and urging voters to defeat school budgets where unions wouldn’t compromise.  Voters responded by defeating budgets in record numbers.  Christie’s polls were strong.  This spring Christie was silent on the school budgets.

Is there no more waste in our public schools?  Has the the problem of excessive compensation, pensions and benefits been solved?

Since the GOP lost the legislative redistricting battle, Christie and Senate President Steve Sweeney announced a compromise over Supreme Court nominee Anne Patterson’s nomination that had been held up for a year.  Part of the compromise included a promise by Sweeney that a hearing to fill the Court seat of former Justice John Wallace, which has been vacant for a year because Sweeney didn’t like that Christie did not reappoint Wallace, would take place next March.  By making that agreement Christie acknowledged that Sweeney would still be Senate President in March, meaning Republicans are not going to win control of the State Senate in the coming election.

That the Democrats will retain control of the Legislature after the November election is probably realistic calculus on Christie’s part.  He probably made a strategic decision that he can get more of his agenda accomplished by compromising than by fighting.  That might be the best decision, but it also means that New Jersey will only have incremental improvement to our dysfunctional governments, rather than real reform…turning Trenton upside down reform…for the rest of Christie’s term.

I’d rather have the confrontational governor we elected.  Even if it means stalemates and the shutting down of government, I’d rather Christie ridicule and embarrass the Trenton cesspool than compromise with it.  Christie has only been in office less than 18 months.  The cesspool has spent decades putting us into the mess we’re in.

As a matter of style, the chopper hullabaloo demonstrates that the media/establishment cesspool is not going to respond to a kinder, gentler Christie in kind.  As a matter of substance, today’s news that the Democrats are going to attempt to increase education spending more than the Supreme Court has ordered and increase income taxes, demonstrates that the cesspool will always try to maintain and protect the status quo that makes them fat at the taxpayers’ expense.

Christie came into office promising to govern as if he only had one term to get the job done and without consideration for whether or not he’d be re-elected.  Since then he has admittedly fallen in love with the job and become enamoured with national attention and presidential wooing his in your face style has brought to him.

Christie’s “in your face” style works.  His adjustments should be by adding humor and charm to his ridicule, like Reagan did, not by compromising and being more polite. 

If Christie has concluded that he has accomplished all he can in New Jersey with confrontation, he should get ready quickly and run for President.  New Jersey and the United States both face horrendously serious problems.  Compromise and tinkering around the edges of a broken system will not do.

We need Chris Chirstie’s unabashed leadership in New Jersey and in America.  As Christie advised the new Republican leadership in Washington, we need to put up or shut up.  

Shutting up is not an option.

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Democrats Welcome Jacobson Into 11th District Assembly Race

The following is a statement from District 11 Assembly candidates Marilyn Schlossbach and Vin Gopal on Dan Jacobson’s entrance to the 11th District race:

“We have both known Dan for quite some time and we appreciated him personally reaching out to both of us to give us a heads up that he would be running. We believe more people should run for public office and we welcome Dan to the race. This is a representative democracy and the voters, after examining all the candidates running, will have to make an educated decision on whom they believe will be best to represent the 11th Legislative District.”

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Jacobson files for Assembly In The 11th

By Art Gallagher

Former Democratic Assemblyman and tri-CityNews publisher Dan Jacobson has filed his petition to run for Assembly in the 11th legislative district as an Independent.

Jacobson’s candidacy creates a five way race for two Assembly seats.  The Republican candidates are incumbents Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini.  The Democratic candidates are restaurateur Marilyn Schlossbach and publisher Vin Gopal.

Jacobson said told MMM that his candidacy is not a reflection upon his opponents, but on the process.  “Legislative elections in Monmouth County are stale and rarely competitive,” said Jacobson, “this is an opportunity for me to say my peace in a way that most candidates can’t because they are beholden to their party and special interests.  If I can do that and perhaps make the race more interesting and competitive, that in itself will be a public service.”

Jacobson considers himself a Libertarian on economic and social issues.  He said economic issues are paramount in this race. School vouchers are an example of where he thinks both parties have failed the public.

“What is an more important issue for the poor than educating their children? When I was last ran for the Assembly in 1993 I advocated starting a voucher program in the urban districts and then phasing them in throughout the state.  Since then the Republicans have had control and the Democrats have had control and there has been no improvement with how we educate our kids.”

Public employees unions are another area of government that Jacobson wants to reform.   “It is wrong that unions are collecting mandatory dues from our public employees and using that money for political purposes. Unions should set up PACs and let their members contribute voluntarily is they so choose.”

Of his opponents, only Angelini returned a call for comment.  “Dan is a friend.  I welcome him into the race and look forward to hearing his take on the issues,” said Angelini, ” I think there will be many common themes between us.”

 “I don’t understand why he is doing this,” said Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vic Scudiery, “Dan should worry about his newspaper.”  Scudiery was chairman when Jacobson last served in the Assembly.

Jacobson filed 77 signatures with his petition.  He said he was told that 50 are required.

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Double, Triple Dippers In The Legislature

By Art Gallagher

36 of the 120 members of the NJ Legislature, 9 of them Republicans, hold additional government jobs, according to this piece at NJ.com.

Hudson County Senator Nicholas Sacco is the biggest money maker, pulling in $214,260 as an assistant school superintendent in North Bergen.

Union County Assemblyman Joe Cryan, the majority leader and former state Democratic Chairman makes $111,772 as a Union County Undersheriff.

Of the Monmouth County legislative delegation, only Senator Sean Kean is on the list.  Kean makes “at least” $25,000 per gig as an attorney for Tinton Falls and Howell.  Kean also makes less than $10,000 as an attorney for Union Beach, according the the graphic in the NJ.com piece. 

Kean is the only practicing attorney in the Monmouth County delegation.  Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande is an attorney but is not practicing.  She is a full time legislator and a full time mom.

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