BURZICHELLI INTRODUCES BILL TO REQUIRE INSURERS TO COVER ANESTHESIA FOR COLONOSCOPIES
Assemblyman John Burzichelli has introduced legislation to require health insurers to cover the costs of anesthesiology services for a patient undergoing a colonoscopy when a physician deems such pain-killing measures as medically necessary.
For More OLIVER/QUIGLEY/GREENSTEIN BILL TO PROTECT ROADSIDE EMERGENCY WORKERS ADVANCES
WISNIEWSKI, LAMPITT BILL TO ADD DRIVER DISTRACTIONS TO POLICE ACCIDENT REPORTS CLEARS COMMITTEE
ASSEMBLY PANEL RELEASES CONAWAY MEASURE TO LICENSE TATTOO, BODY-PIERCING ARTISTS
The Assembly Regulated Professions Committee today released legislation Assemblyman Herb Conaway Jr., MD sponsored to require licensing of tattoo and body piercing artists operating businesses in New Jersey. Under the Conaway measure (A-2433), the state Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) would be required to establish standards for licensing and practicing invasive procedures such as tattooing and body piercing. Tattooing an body piercing currently are unregulated.
For More ASSEMBLY PANEL CLEARS PACKAGE OF BILLS TO IMPROVE HOSPITAL EFFICIENCY, ACCOUNTABILITY
CHIVUKULA BILL FOR PAPERLESS ELECTRIC, WATER BILLING RELEASED BY ASSEMBLY UTILITIES COMMITTEE
The Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities panel today released legislation Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula sponsored to give electric and water utility customers the option of paperless billing. “Paperless billing and electronic payments are the smart choice in terms of cost, convenience and minimizing the impact of paper bills on the environment,” said Chivukula (D-Somerset).
For More ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE CLEARS BILL TO CREATE AN ADVOCATE FOR AUTISTIC NEW JERSEYANS
CRUZ-PEREZ/MORIARTY/GUSCIORA/COHEN CONSUMER ELECTRONICS LEMON LAW ADVANCES
PAID FAMILY LEAVE BECOMES LAW
Legislation Assembly members Nelson Albano, Sheila Oliver, Linda Greenstein, and Wayne DeAngelo sponsored to provide workers across the state access to up to six weeks paid benefits when taking leave from their jobs to care for a pressing family need was signed into law today by Governor Jon S. Corzine. WATSON COLEMAN: NEW BIO-RESEARCH FACILITY WILL GROW JOBS, FIND CURES IN EWING TOWNSHIP
Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) today welcomed the announcement that a California-based bio-medical company, Stemcyte, will open a new research facility in Ewing Township.
For More CHIVUKULA: CONSUMERS DROWNING IN HIGH GAS, FOOD PRICES SHOULD NOT BE OVERBURDENED WITH WATER RATE INCREASES
Assemblyman Upendra J. Chivukula, chairman of the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee, today announced he will hold hearings to examine the sharp rate increases of up to 93 percent proposed by several New Jersey water utilities at a time New Jersey residents are facing record high gas and food prices.
For More COHEN APPLAUDS LATEST ADDITION TO NJ'S GROWING STEM CELL RESEARCH MARKET
ROBERTS: DOE DRAFT SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY REGS A SIGNIFICANT STEP TOWARDS REDUCING COSTS
ROBERTS: GIVE MUNICIPAL CONSOLIDATION COMMISSION 'TEETH'
ROBERTS COMMENDS MENENDEZ ON AUTISM EFFORT
Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. today applauded US Senator Robert Menendez on his sponsorship and introduction of federal legislation to heighten public awareness of autism and provide greater assistance to families of loved ones living with autism. |
The year 2007 was only a few days old when the leaders of the New Jersey Legislature vowed to make ethics reform the centerpiece of their legislative agenda. Fast forward to today and we find the same State House leaders again pledging to make ethics reform a key part of their legislative agenda. Looking ahead, one has to wonder if we will hear the same message at the beginning of 2009. The sad fact is that New Jersey has an abundance of public officials who are adroit at the "pay-to-play" game that re wards political donors with public contracts. A recent analysis by The Star-Ledger of Newark found that businesses that were paid about $5.2 billion by state, local and county governments in 2006 donated $11.6 million to candidates and fund-raising committees. Attempts have been made to toughen laws to further curb pay-to-play abuses, but they were thwarted in the Legislature. Similarly, attempts to prevent county political parties from passing campaign contributions among themselves ("wheeling") have gone nowhere. Will 2008, then, be another year in which politicians make unfulfilled promises? That doesn't have to be the case. This year presents a difference from past years: The Legislature is getting a makeover, with 15 new senators and 25 new members in the Assembly. This infusion of new blood, we hope, will serve as a tonic that will spur lawmakers to be more bipartisan and willing to compromise. Every year starts with the possibility of accomplishing new goals. State Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-West Orange, and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden, have set an ambitious agenda for the new Legislature that convened Tuesday. They announced that they will make a united push for loophole-free pay-to-play reform, clean elections renewal, an overhaul of the legislative ethics committee and a modernized legislative ethics code. Speaker Roberts summed it up when he said, "We have a unique opportunity to restore the public's confidence about the integrity of their government institutions and their elected officials. We need to harness the Legislature's sweeping membership turnover as a vehicle for establishing higher ethical standards and new laws to fight corruption, malfeasance and influence ped dling." More from the Trenton Times
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Legislation sponsored by Assemblywomen Sheila Y. Oliver, Joan M. Quigley, and Linda Greenstein that would require New Jersey motorists to take specific safety precautions when approaching roadside emergency vehicles on the state's highways was released today by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.
Legislation Assembly members John S. Wisniewski and Pamela R. Lampitt sponsored to require police accident reports to include whether or not drivers involved in motor vehicle accidents were preoccupied by in-car distractions at the time of an accident was released by an Assembly committee today.
The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee today released a multi-bill legislative package aimed at stabilizing the long-term financial health of the state's hospital industry to stave-off future hospital closings.
The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee today released legislation Assembly members Joan Voss, Vincent Prieto and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. sponsored to establish an Office of the Advocate for Persons with Autism (OAPA).
The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee today released legislation Assembly members Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Paul D. Moriarty, Reed Gusciora, and Neil M. Cohen sponsored to extend the consumer protections of the state's stringent automotive lemon law to consumer-electronic products such as televisions, iPods, and home entertainment systems.
Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen today praised the decision by California-based stem cell research company StemCyte - one of the world's largest umbilical cord blood stem cell banks - to open a research facility in Ewing.
Seeking to address the problem of New Jersey's fractured and parochial governmental structure - one factor behind the state's highest-in-the-nation property taxes - Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr., today proposed granting the state's Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission (LUARCC) the powers it needs to recommend and effectuate municipal and county cost saving measures.
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