Groundhog Gerry On Current Legislation

by: Bill Orr

Thu Dec 08, 2011 at 12:30:00 PM EST

The lowly groundhog has been relegated to having expertise only on the coming of warm weather. His predictive skills, however, have been grossly underestimated. Groundhog Gerry goes where others fear to tread. His reactions on the following New Jersey legislation:

Provides tax credits to entities contributing to scholarships for low-income children, euphemistically known as the Opportunity Scholarship Act. Groundhog Gerry has been laying low and shown little expectation for the soon arrival of Christie's vaunted education bills. However he has shown some stirring on this vouchers act. It has been approved in committees with several Democrats supporting it in the Senate (Lesniak, Vitale, Beach, and Ruiz) and in the Assembly (Coutinho, Lampitt and Fuentes.) S1872/A2810

Appropriates $139 million for Aid to Localities. The governor five months ago vetoed this much needed aid to our hardest hit (but Democratic) urban cities, stating it should include administrative and monitoring expenses. With $1.5 million added for such expenses, Gerry is definitely stirring. The Assembly overwhelmingly passed the bill and a Senate committee will review it today at 1:00 PM. The groundhog hopes it will be placed on a fast track. S3118/A4373

Permits pharmacies to sell needles/syringes without a prescription. It will decrease the transmission of HIV, Hep C and other blood-borne illnesses. Although the governor has not said whether he will sign the bill, Gerry is positively excited as the bill passed both the Senate and Assembly with votes, which if they remain the same, are veto-proof. (S958)/A1088

Decriminalizes possession of 15 grams or less of marijuana. The bill would still fine such individuals, but Gerry feels that too much government money is spent on combatting pot, too many people needlessly being incarcerated and that pot would strengthen his own predictive abilities. He knows that 21 Assemblypersons (Republicans and Democrats) led by Reed Gusciora (D-15) sponsor the bill, but he is not holding his breath. A4252

Bill Orr :: Groundhog Gerry On Current Legislation

Tags: Chris Christie, Joseph Vitale, Vincent Prieto, Ray Lesniak, Reed Gusciora, (All Tags)

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Groundhog Gerry On Current Legislation | 3 comments

Oh, that Gerry (0.00 / 0)

Groundhog FTW.

It's not a particularly snappy signature, but here's what I think we need in the next NJ Democratic State Chair.

by: Rosi Efthim @ Thu Dec 08, 2011 at 17:41:51 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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gerry not holding his breath... (0.00 / 0)

...on marijuana decriminalization?

activist for hire.

by: Jay Lassiter @ Thu Dec 08, 2011 at 21:03:48 PM UTC

by: you @ soon

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He hold his breath when inhaling (0.00 / 0)

but not with expectations of rapid passage of this awesome bill.

"The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die." - Sen. Ted Kennedy

by: Bill Orr @ Thu Dec 08, 2011 at 21:35:05 PM UTC

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