Under the Dome: Final Lame Duck sessions & committee meetings

by: Jason Springer

Mon Jan 11, 2010 at 09:30:00 AM EST

Probably the big news makers of the sessions will be legislation to allow for the compassionate use of medical marijuana and allowing undocumented residents to qualify for in-state tuition rates at public institutions of higher education. Another bill that has gotten a good deal of attention is Ricci's law, which revises ignition interlock device requirements for certain drunk driving offenses.

Still another bill getting some attention has already passed the Senate and is up for a vote in the Assembly would force groups to wait a decade between tries to change the way municipal governments are elected. Legislation in the Assembly would create a permanent public school choice program to allow parents to move their kids to schools located across district lines. The Enviropolitics blog took a look at all of the environmental legislation that is in play today.

If you can't make it to Trenton, you can follow along by clicking here. I'll put the full list of legislation below the fold.

Under the Dome: Lame Duck voting sessions and committees

by: Jason Springer

Thu Jan 07, 2010 at 09:30:00 AM EST

There are over 70 bills up in the Senate voting session and over 60 bills up in the Assembly.  The Senate will see the Commerce, Community and Urban Affairs, Education, Judiciary, Transportation and Health Committees meet. In those committees, 21 bills will be considered. The Judiciary committee will also consider nominations. Following the Community and Urban Affairs committee meeting, a public hearing will be held on the The New Jersey  State Commission of Investigation (SCI) Report: "The Beat Goes On" - Waste and Abuse in Local Government Employee Compensation and Benefits; the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA), Division of Local Government Services Performance Audit of the City of Newark.

Marriage Equality has it's day in the Senate as Legislators will stand up and be counted. It appears to be an uphill climb for passage of the bill, but much attention will focus on this debate and vote. Another hot button topic up for a vote is legislation that would allow in state tuition rates for undocumented students. A bill in the Assembly that would put a delay on water rules is opposed by environmental groups and now the EPA as well. The Assembly will also vote on domestic violence legislation.

While the spotlight will shine on those bills, there is plenty more up for a vote. I'll put the full list of bills up for consideration either in the committees or sessions today below the fold. If you can't make it to Trenton, you can follow along live here. NJN will be broadcasting

I need your help with New Year's resolutions

by: Deborah Jacobs, ACLU-NJ Executive Director

Wed Jan 06, 2010 at 10:48:43 AM EST

Let freedom ring in the New Year.

Like many of you, the ACLU-NJ has a list of resolutions for 2010. However, unlike most New Jerseyans - but keeping in good company with Blue Jersey's politicos - we only have about a week to see results. Here's our list, and we need help to keep it.

1. To save money (while making government records more accessible). We're working to pass a bill that would bring the government's fees to copy public records in line with what it actually costs to copy them. Cities have charged as much as $10 for the first three pages - far higher than what you'll find at your local copy shop. It protects our democracy, and it makes cents. Read ACLU-NJ Open Government Attorney Bobby Conner's op-ed in The Star-Ledgeron lowering the cost of copies.

2. To treat people fairly. The ACLU-NJ is fighting to make sure all families in New Jersey are equal by giving same-sex couples their right to marry. Read ACLU-NJ Legal Director Ed Barocas' piece in The Philadelphia Inquirer about marriage.

3. To help people when they need it most. Our criminal justice system doesn't do much to stop crime or mete out justice. A package of bills offers reforms proven to help people avoid resorting to crime once they re-enter the real world. The bills offer food stamps to former prisoners, remove barriers to finding work, help prisoners get their GED and, perhaps most important, end huge fees families must pay to collect calls from their loved ones. Read my op-ed in The Record about redemption through intelligent criminal justice reforms.

If you help us keep our resolutions by calling your legislators TODAY, we'll help you keep yours. (As far as we're concerned, exercising your right to free speech absolutely counts as exercise.) So get active (on the issues) and call your legislators to suggest some resolutions, before the clock on opportunity strikes midnight.

Happy New Year,

Deborah

p.s. If you need to look up your legislators, enter your address here, and then find your officials' information.

Under the Dome: Senate and Assembly Committees

by: Jason Springer

Mon Jan 04, 2010 at 08:45:00 AM EST

The Assembly has the Appropriations, Education, Environmental, Financial Institutions, Housing, Human Services, Judiciary, Labor, Regulated Professions, State Government and Transportation committees meeting. They will consider a total of 98 bills.

The Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens committee will hear testimony from Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr. and invited guests on federal health care reform, and its implications for New Jersey.

The Assembly Education Committee will conduct a discussion with invited participants on charter schools, urban education, and strategies to address the needs of low-income students.

Here are stories about some of the Legislation that is pending before the Committees in Trenton. I'll put the full list of bills up for consideration in the committees below the fold. With everything that is on the agenda, an omission is the Marriage Equality legislation that has been sent back over to the Senate. Garden State Equality will still be holding their Lobby Day in Trenton hoping for a vote to come.

If you're not in Trenton, you can listen along to the hearings here.

The McBride nomination was the surprise they all knew about

by: Jason Springer

Mon Dec 21, 2009 at 10:15:00 AM EST

So, let's go back. On November 12, Christie and Corzine met face to face for the first time since the election. They were joined by the ArchBishop of Newark, because the meeting took place after the blue mass. There, they discussed transition and according to Corzine some appointments the Governor was hoping to make in the coming weeks before leaving office.

Was there an actual agreement? hard to say. But if there was at least a gentlemen's agreement, at some point it deteriorated. Perhaps it was the sheer number of nominations and appointments Corzine asked for: 180.  The Christie people feel that this is an attempt to jam through unpopular appointments at the 11th hour. Or perhaps it was the nomination of Chief of Staff Ed McBride to a judgeship. Here is where this gets tricky. The Corzine camp says it was made clear as early that Newark meeting that McBride was one of the appointments he'd like to make. They think for Christie's people to object now is disingenuous.

The same situation happened with Senator Phil Haines, who for months was speculated to get a nomination for judgeship.  Then he gets the nomination he's been seeking and rumored to have and he turns it down. He didn't turn it down because he doesn't want it, in fact he really does. He just will wait until Christie nominates him again. In fact, Haines pending nomination became an issue in the local Medford Council race last cycle, where his rumored successor Chris Myers was called on to withdraw from the race and answer questions on the matter.

Along with those situations, you have Tom Kean Jr. crying about a nomination to the BPU when he himself stood in the way of the potential nomination of Linda Stender long before it came to this.

Whether or not the Governor should have made appointments before lame duck is a separate issue from whether the Republicans are just trying to score political points and run out the clock before he can make the appointments and nominations. And even though two wrongs don't make a right, the 257 lame duck nominations the GOP approved when Don DiFrancesco left office in 2001 shows that they know how the game has been played and only have born again opposition to it because of how Corzine is now leading the way. To act like they didn't know is beyond disingenuous.  This is the surprise they all knew about in advance. Doesn't that mean it's not really a surprise at all?

Quote of the Day: "I guess I've passed the mantle to his son"

by: Jason Springer

Sun Dec 20, 2009 at 03:56:08 PM EST

Kean also criticized Corzine's delay in filling the BPU spot. But The Auditor has learned the Republican himself prompted it. Earlier this year, the senator invoked "senatorial courtesy" to block Corzine's planned nomination of Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Union) to the post. All that was publicly known was that Corzine wanted to put Stender on the board, but backed off without explanation. She would have been easily confirmed if the nomination were allowed to go through.

"Talk about hoisting yourself up by your own bootstraps," said Kean's fellow senator from Union County, Democrat Ray Lesniak, who supported Stender's BPU nomination. Lesniak noted that back in the 1980s he was criticized by Kean's father, the popular governor, for blocking nominations. "Governor Kean called me 'the King of Senatorial Courtesy'," Lesniak said. "I guess I've passed the mantle to his son."

Under the Dome: Senate Committees 12/14

by: Jason Springer

Mon Dec 14, 2009 at 09:00:00 AM EST

No committee meetings or floor votes are planned. But the quorum call will allow for new bills to be added to the Legislature's potential plate when it comes back to town in January. When the Assembly left after this past Monday's voting session, the plan was to not reconvene until Jan. 4th.

The Senate Budget and Appropriations committee has just four bills listed including small wind energy legislation and dam restoration projects. The Commerce committee has the largest agenda with twenty five bills getting their day in Trenton. Some of those include medical malpractice liability insurance concerns, Tree care licenses and one that permits a three year payoff of accumulated deficits of municipal health insurance funds.

The Environment and Economic Growth Committee each have five bills up for consideration.  Highlights include permitting for energy facilities, a fix to the site remediation act and renewable energy legislation.

I've put the full board list below the fold and you can listen along to the hearings here.

Blue Jersey Radio LIVE Tonight at 8:00 p.m.

by: Jeff Gardner

Tue Dec 01, 2009 at 03:00:00 PM EST

This Week: We'll be talking about the, ahem, "courage" of our members in the legislature on Marriage Equality. And, we'll do some talking about Jon Runyan's playing footsie with football and congress. Of course, we'll have to talk about the unholy (and lucrative!) alliance between Hal Turner, Chris Christie and the FBI. And, time permitting, we may even get to talk about how New Jersey's broke, we're not giving towns loot and it's getting worse by the day.

Oh yes - this promises to be a happy episode indeed. /snark

Sound fun? Well, go ahead and drop in a comment with your thoughts. Or, feel free to give us a call, and share what's on your mind. Remember, it's all LIVE, so don't be afraid - join us!

That number again is: 646-652-2773.

Talk to you then!

Taking the wrong message away from the election

by: Jason Springer

Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 10:00:00 AM EST

A poll released last week showed that New Jerseyans narrowly support gay marriage.

But enthusiasm for the bill has waned since Christie, a social conservative, beat Corzine by 100,000 votes on Nov. 3. The election was widely viewed as a referendum on high property taxes, strangling state debt and continued unemployment...

...making some lawmakers skittish about taking on a potentially divisive issue like marriage equality.

Under the Dome: Lame Duck kicks off

by: Jason Springer

Mon Nov 23, 2009 at 09:30:00 AM EST

On to the legislative agenda:

Six Senate committees meet. Included on the agendas are bills that let judges waive the mandatory minimums now required for drug-free school zone violations; expand prevailing wage rules to cafeteria contracts; require chain restaurants to put nutrition information on their menus; and boost penalties for repeatedly driving drunk or with a suspended license.

Seven Assembly committees meet. The bills on the docket include proposals to require more state revenue from casino taxes on seniors' transportation; extend prevailing wage rules to cafeteria contracts; prohibit smoking e-cigarettes  in indoor workplaces and public places; and create a registry for adults with autism.

Blue Jersey Radio - Preparing for Lame Duck - LIVE Tonight at 8:00 p.m.

by: Jeff Gardner

Tue Nov 17, 2009 at 03:00:00 PM EST

This Week: we'll look ahead to the final two months of Governor Corzine's term (it's still 4 years y'know!). We're LIVE at 8:00 p.m. tonight with our 3-man roundtable - me, Jason and Adam - figuring out just what's about to happen during the lame duck session.

And, we'll be joined by some surprise guests with insight into what we should expect.

So, go ahead and drop in a comment with your thoughts. Or, feel free to give us a call, and share what's on your mind. Remember, it's all LIVE, so don't be afraid - join us!

That number again is: 646-652-2773.

Talk to you then!

We know the schedule, just not what's on the agenda

by: Jason Springer

Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 12:30:00 PM EST

On the Assembly side, committees are scheduled to meet on November 23 and 30, with committees at the call of the speaker scheduled for December 3 and January 4 if needed.  Voting sessions are scheduled for December 7, along with January 7 and 11.

The Senate is scheduled to hold committee meetings on November 23, December 3, 7 and 14, with committees at the call of the President scheduled for January 4 if necessary. Voting sessions in the Senate are scheduled for December 10, January 7 and 11. The Senate will swear in new Senators Beach and Doherty on November 23.

Other controversial bills could be added to the lame-duck agenda. One measure would eliminate the politically coveted property-tax rebate checks, instead converting them to credits on homeowners' tax bills. One would cut aid for five years to towns and cities where residents refuse a state recommendation to merge. Another would launch a drivers amnesty from surcharges and fees if they pay for some outstanding infractions. And before the election, Corzine said he would favor providing in-state tuition for undocumented immigrants.

"The post-election session, the so-called lame duck session is generally a time when unfinished business gets finished says Roberts, "For me personally I'd like to see us do a little bit more on regionalization and shared services. I think that's important.........I also would like us to spend a little bit more time on issues that effect the autistic community in New Jersey. We've made tremendous strides, but there are a few things that we have to do there."

SL on Marriage Equality: There is simply no justification for denying equality under the law

by: Jason Springer

Mon Nov 16, 2009 at 09:30:00 AM EST

And in the end, this is not about gut feelings anyway. Gay people in New Jersey are not asking the Legislature for love and acceptance. They want equality under the law. And there is simply no justification for denying that.

This is a gut-check moment. It's time for the people who work in our statehouse to lead, as they promised the voters they would when they were elected. Our leaders should go on the record regarding whether they support equality under the law for all of New Jersey's residents. Here's what Senator Lesniak had to say:

"There's no doubt that there are quite a few legislators who would rather see this go away than have to vote for or against it," said Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union), who supports gay marriage. "I don't think we should duck this issue."