Senator Declan O’Scanlon, (R-Monmouth), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, make the following remarks in response to Governor Phil Murphy’s proposed budget:
Watch O’Scanlon deliver his remarks:
“This budget won’t lift up the middle class. It will leave generations of New Jersey residents with no hope for a prosperous future.
“Even if the Governor’s rosy projections – of both revenue and savings – are accurate, we are still only a fraction of the way out of the hole we’re in.
“We can’t tax our way out of this mess. Without major reforms, it is a very real possibility that young public workers won’t even have a pension by the time they retire.
“I urge Governor Murphy to come to the table and hammer out a compromise with us. There is no other option,” Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said.
Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Assemblywoman Serena DiMaso have introduced legislation that will increase certain animal abuse crimes to the second degree level. Convictions for second degree crimes carry penalties of five to 10 years imprisonment and fines of up to $150,000.
The legislation is named for River, a pitbull/mix that was rescued by a Good Samaritan, Jennifer Vaz of Highlands, who discovered the dog caged and left to drown on the banks of the Shrewbury River at Veterans Memorial Park last June.
The bill to raise the wage to $15 in increments and with exceptions by 2024 passed in committee in both the Assembly and Senate today. It is scheduled to be voted on in both chambers on Thursday.
Three Republican State Senators, including Monmouth County’s Declan O’Scanlon are willing to vote to legalize recreational marijuana in New Jersey if Governor Phil Murphy and Senate President Steve Sweeney deliver the return of the Energy Receipts Tax to municipalities, a dedicated 911 System and Emergency Response Trust Fund, funding for addiction recovery services and a guaranteed reimbursement fund for municipalities paying to train police officers as Drug Recognition Experts who can assess if a driver is impaired by cannabis, according to an article on NJ.com
As we prepare to go to the polls next Tuesday, I encourage Monmouth County residents to cast your votes for Freeholder for my friends Sue Kiley and Gerry Scharfenberger.
Sue Kiley and Gerry Scharfenberger have each demonstrated their abilities to deliver extraordinary government services while saving the taxpayers money. Throughout their lives, they have conducted themselves with dignity and integrity.
Seantor Declan O’Scanlon announced this morning that he plans to introduce legislation that would make aggravated animal abuse a second or third degree crime, depending on the severity of the offense.
Second degree crime convictions carry sentences of 5-10 years in state prison and fines of up to $150,000. Third degree crime convictions do not carry the presumption of incarceration but can carry sentences of 3-5 in state prison and fines up to $15,000.
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.
Senator Declan O’Scanlon announced this afternoon that Monmouth County will receive $6 million in “Local Bridge, Future Needs” grants from the NJ Department of Transportation. The money, which comes from the Transportation Trust Fund (gas tax) , will fund the reconstruction of bridges in Hazlet/Keansburg, Middletown, Neptune Township/Wall and Upper Freehold.
“This award demonstrates how the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund is employed to support vital local projects,” said O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth). “I want to commend NJDOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti and Monmouth County Engineer Joe Ettore for their efforts to ensure that this grant program funds bridge projects around the state in a fair and appropriate manner.”
So. This is what it’s come to. Incredibly, we just passed one of the largest tax increases in the history of the state…and we’re no more than one, infinitesimal, step closer to sustainable solvency than we were the day before. And trust me, we are very ($ billions) far away. We don’t need infinitesimal steps, we need bold leaps…and we need bold leadership willing to make them.
Senator Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth County) today issued praise to the Supreme Court Committee on Municipal Court Operations, Fines and Fees for their comprehensive report which, after a 16 month investigation, “revealed a number of significant concerns where aggressive reform is needed. Many of those issues identified by the Committee undermine both the administration of justice and the independence of the Municipal Courts.”
“In law enforcement and judicial systems, profit is the mortal enemy of justice,” Senator O’Scanlon said. “We must take real steps towards reforming municipal court and ticketing procedures. Policing for profit is an unacceptable practice that tarnishes the reputation of all our upstanding police officers and often results in devastating consequences for petty infractions.”
“Municipal Courts should be about the administration of justice, not a profit center to plug holes in local governments’ budgets,” O’Scanlon continued. “In the twenty-five years since our Courts were last reformed, too many towns have come to rely on fines to fund their municipal operations and too many local judges have turned into de facto tax collectors. This is not justice and it has to stop.”
Seantor Declan O’Scanlon announced this morning that he plans to introduce legislation that would make aggravated animal abuse a second or third degree crime, depending on the severity of the offense.
