Governor Chris Christie Eases Access to New Jersey’s Medical Marijuana Program for Sick Children

Calls for Lifting Three-Strain Cultivation Limit, Allowing Edible Consumption for Children and Giving Parents Choice

Trenton, NJ – Acting with the belief that parents, and not government regulators, are best suited to decide how to care for their children, Governor Chris Christie today acted to ease access for sick children to New Jersey’s medical marijuana program. The Governor acted to lift the three-strain cultivation limit on authorized growers and to make the treatment available to children in edible form. His actions will provide qualifying minors a wider variety of treatment options under the state’s program and empower parents to make choices based on their own reflections, study and physical consultation to provide their children appropriate treatment consistent with their age and medical needs.

“As I have repeatedly noted, I believe that parents, and not government regulators, are best suited to decide how to care for their children,” said Governor Christie in his conditional approval of the bill. “Protection of our children remains my utmost concern, and my heart goes out to those children and their families who are suffering with serious illnesses. Today, I am making commonsense recommendations to this legislation to ensure sick children receive the treatment their parents prefer, while maintaining appropriate safeguards. I am calling on the Legislature to reconvene quickly and address these issues so that children in need can get the treatment they need.”

Governor Christie added that medical review and doctor sign-off before entering the program should be maintained. Media reports have mischaracterized the current requirements and regulations: while a qualifying minor must be approved by both a pediatrician and a psychiatrist, no additional approvals are required if either one of those physicians is registered with the program. This approach is endorsed by the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Governor believes it should remain in place.

While the Governor believes that children should have access to edible forms of medical marijuana, he made modifications to the bill to ensure that these forms will only be available to qualifying patients who are minors.

A copy of the Governor’s message is attached.

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In Boston at RNC gathering, Christie sounds like a presidential candidate

Governor Chris Christie and Danny Shields in Highlands earlier this year. Shields, an owner of Windansea, is Sen. Jennifer Beck’s husband.

Governor Chris Christie sounded like a candidate for President of the United States during an address to a private luncheon of the Republican National Committee this afternoon in Boston, according to a report at Politico.

The meeting was closed to reporters at Christie’s insistence, Politico said, but the site obtained a recording from someone in attendance.

Christie’s theme: Republicans need to stop debating, focus on winning and he knows how to win.

“We are not a debating society,” Christie said. “We are a political operation  that needs to win.”

“I’m in this business to win,” he said. “I don’t know why you’re in it…I think  that we have some folks that believe that our job is to be college professors.  Now college professors are fine, I guess. You know, college professors basically  spout out ideas that nobody ever does anything about. For our ideas to matter,  we have to win because, if we don’t win, we don’t govern. And if we don’t  govern, all we do is shout into the wind. So I am going to do anything I need to  do to win!”

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Who Makes The Best Vodoo Shrimp? #STTS

Drew Araneo

The Food Network’s Chef Bobby Flay will face off in a Voodoo Shrimp Throw Down against Keyport’s Drew Araneo of Drew’s Bayshore Bistro  Thursday afternoon at Keyport’s Waterfront on American Legion Drive.

The event sponsored by New Jersey Stronger than the Storm and the Keyport Bayfront Business Cooperative starts at 2PM.  The gates open at 1pm.  Bring a chair.

Governor Chris Christie will be on hand to kick off the festivities. The Culinary MC, Billy Harris is the Master of Ceremonies.

Disco Queen Gloria Gaynor will survive as a celebrity judge and never says good bye to good shrimp.  James Oseland, editor-in-chef of Saveur Magazine and former NBA star Darryl Dawkins will also be celebrity judges.

There is no charge to attend the event.

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Christie on Restoring the Shore: We have to do it together

Halloween Inflatable

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Monmouth Poll: Christie looks like a lock for reelection

A Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press Poll released this morning echoed the recent Quinnipiac and Rutgers-Eagleton Polls.  Over 70% of New Jersey voters approve of Governor Chris Christie’s performance and over 60% favor his reelection.  Christie is trouncing presumptive Democratic gubernatorial nominee Senator Barbara Buono by more than 40 points.

78% of voters haven’t heard enough of Buono to form an opinion about her.  Polling Director Patrick Murray said the race is likely to narrow to a 20% gap in favor of Christie and the Democratic challenger becomes better known.

“There is a long history that shows horse race polling has little predictive value this far out from an election. This is especially true when there is a popular incumbent and a largely unknown challenger. The important number here is that 6-in-10 voters support Gov. Christie’s re-election,” said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute. “This suggests that the race should close in on a 20 point margin as the campaign progresses and Buono becomes better known. The question remains whether the challenger can peel off Christie supporters to shrink that gap even more.”

Murray says that jobs, property taxes, schools, storm recovery and gun control are very important issues to the New Jersey electorate.   Minimum wage is an important issue with most voters supporting an increase.  However, Christie’s conditional veto of a minimum wage increase has not hurt his support with most voters.

According to Murray’s analysis, Buono has the potential to motivate 7% of the electorate to switch from voting for Christie to voting for her. If she gets all of them, Christie still wins with over 50% of the vote.

Monmouth polling staff attempted to identify voters who could potentially be motivated to switch support from the incumbent because of this issue. This group includes voters who: feel Gov. Christie deserves re-election, are dissatisfied with his veto, say they will vote to support a minimum wage ballot measure, and report that the issue is very important to their vote for governor. Analysis shows that this group comprises about 7% of the total electorate. Hypothetically, if Sen. Buono were able to convince all of these voters to abandon their support for Christie, his re-election support would remain above the 50% mark.

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Oxley’s confimed by Senate

Photo credit: Scarcini, Hollenbeck

Former Monmouth County Sheriff Joe Oxley’s nomination to the Superior Court was confirmed by the State Senate this afternoon after having been unanimously approved by the New Jersey Senate Judiciary Committee earlier in the day.

Four of the other nominees confirmed today will be joining Oxley on the Monmouth County bench.  Angela White Dalton of Howell, a former Township Councilwoman, Katie A. Gummer of Rumson,  Arnold L. Natali, Jr of Little Silver and Mara E. Zazzali-Hogan of Shrewsbury are each expected to be confirmed by the Senate today.  Zazzali-Hogan is the daughter of former NJ Chief Justice James R. Zazzali.  Zazzali was Chief Justice for seven months, October 2006 until his mandatory retirement in June of 2007,  after being nominated for the top post by Governor Corzine.  He became an Associate Justice in June of 2000.

Monmouth County Assignment Judge Lawrence M. Lawson told MMM last December that the Court has been operating with six vacancies.  Kathy Sheedy of Cream Ridge was nominated by Governor Christie on Monday to fill the final vacancy.

Lawson was not available when MMM called this afternoon to ask what the assignments will be for the new judges.

Monmouth County Senators Jennifer Beck and Joe Kyrillos issued the following statement praising the New Jersey Senate’s confirmation of five Monmouth County residents to be judges of the Superior Court:

            “Monmouth County, like counties across the state, has had a number of judicial vacancies that have caused backlogs in our court system. We are pleased that the New Jersey Senate has finally taken action to confirm qualified nominees. By filling judicial vacancies, we can ensure that all kinds of legal proceedings, from criminal trials to divorce proceedings, can be heard in court in a timely manner.”

UPDATE and CORRECTION 2/8/13

Judge Lawson told MMM this afternoon that despite his Monmouth County residence, Natali will be assigned to the Middlesex County Vicinage. If Sheedy is confirmed by the Senate, the Monmouth Court will still have a vacancy.

A second vacancy will occur if Judge David F. Bauman is confirmed as an Associate Justice of the State Supreme Court.  Bauman and Board of Public Utilities President Robert Hanna were nominated to the Supreme Court by Governor Christie on December 10, 2012.   Senate President Steve Sweeney said this week that he wouldn’t be rushed into holding confirmation hearings for the two Supreme Court nominations.

Lawson said that the new Monmouth Judges will be assigned in either Family Court or Civil Court.  He has yet to determine who will be assigned where.

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Were taxpayers gouged on Sandy cleanup?

In the immediate aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, Governor Chris Christie and Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa warned New Jersey businesses, gas stations, hardware stores, food stores, hotels and other retailers who had electricity and were able to sell life sustaining products and services to a vulnerable public against price gouging.  By the end of November, one month after Sandy hit, Chiesa’s office was investigating thousands of gouging complaints and had filed at least 10 civil rights lawsuits against hotels and gas stations.

In the November 28 release announcing the lawsuits, Christie said,

“The  last thing people put out of their homes in a natural disaster should have to  confront is price gouging from unscrupulous profiteers,” said Governor  Christie. “It’s illegal, offensive and completely opposite the spirit of  cooperation we saw just about everywhere else in our state in the aftermath of  Hurricane Sandy. I encourage more of the same treatment from the Attorney  General for any other instances of price gouging he discovers.”

A Star Ledger article posted Tuesday morning raises questions as to whether the State and 43 municipalities were gouged by the Florida contractor, AshBrit Environmental, that was awarded a $100 million no-bid contract to clean up state roads and waterways and allowing municipalities to hire the firm without going out to bid.

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The New Jersey SAFE Taskforce Builds On Governor Christie’s Record Of Taking A Comprehensive Approach To Addressing Violence, Addiction And Mental Health Issues

THE WHOLE PICTURE

CURBING GUN VIOLENCE IN NEW JERSEY

Governor Christie Is Committed To “Strictly Enforcing” New Jersey’s Gun Laws, “Which Are Some Of The Most Aggressive In The Country.” (Press Conference, 7/31/12)

• The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence Ranked New Jersey’s Gun Laws The Second Strongest In The Nation Behind Only California. (Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence, “Brady 2011 State Scorecards: New Jersey,” Accessed: 1/17/13)

• The Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence Gives New Jersey An “A-” For 2012, Tied For The Highest Grade They Awarded. (“New Jersey State Law Summary,” The Law Center To Prevent Gun Violence, 11/14/12)

New Jersey Is Leading The Nation In Gun Safety:

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Christie will not take State matching funds for the primary cycle

Governor Chris Christie’s reelection campaign announced today that they will not be accepting taxpayer funds for the primary election.

“In response to Governor Christie’s decisive leadership and clear record of historic, bipartisan reform, we’ve seen an unprecedented level of financial support from donors across all 21 counties in New Jersey.  This positive reaction during such a short period of time only continues to grow daily which is why Governor Christie’s campaign has decided not to pursue matching funds for this primary election cycle” said Bill Palatucci.

“I would also like to thank Todd Christie, Jon Hanson and the entire finance committee for their continued efforts. They have been a tremendous help in reaching the campaign’s fundraising goals.”

Christie’s campaign reported raising $2.139 million in the fourth quarter of 2012 and $2.08 million cash on hand.

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Governor Christie Announces Sandy Job Initiatives Program In Bradley Beach

Bradley Beach Restoration Project Uses Administration Grant Dollars to Hire Unemployed Residents for Clean Up Project

Trenton, NJ – With the recovery and rebuilding process fully underway, Governor Chris Christie today toured a restoration project in the storm-impacted community of Bradley Beach where workers hired through a National Emergency Grant (NEG) are on the job repairing the town’s beachfront area. Bradley Beach is one of dozens of communities in 11 New Jersey counties that have put 428 unemployed people to work on storm clean-up using the $15.6 million grant obtained by the Christie Administration in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Another 650 people are slated to be brought in up to five other counties.

Sandy was the worst storm to strike New Jersey in 100 years. It damaged or destroyed 346,000 homes, knocked out power to nearly 7 million people and 1,000 schools, and caused the evacuation or displacement of 116,000 New Jerseyans – 41,000 of whom are still displaced from their homes. The storm also cost the state over 8,000 jobs in November, making the Governor’s job and recovery initiatives essential to getting people back to work.

“New Jersey is rebuilding from Sandy with pride and determination,” said Governor Christie. “With the NEG grant and the $26 million being released through three programs we have initiated — Recovery4Jersey, Skills4Jersey and Opportunity4Jersey – we are helping Sandy-impacted businesses and workers, as well as investing in our future economic growth. New Jersey, its citizens, communities and businesses are resilient and I assure you that we will leave no stone unturned in bringing the Garden State back better than ever.”

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