(TRENTON) – Assembly committees on Monday will consider legislation to, among other things, help create jobs and economic development, help families pay for college, improve coastal evacuations, help residents combat mold that can occur after flooding, improve fire safety in new homes and protect against abuse of common cold and cough medicines are also on tap.
Hearings begin at 10 a.m. Audio of the hearings will be streamed live at: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.
Key bills include:
· Measures that would provide tax incentives to job creating businesses (A-4306), create a loan program for small business expansion (A-4336) and create the New Jersey Business Action Center to help keep state businesses competitive (A-4337). The bills are to be heard at 2 p.m. by the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee and are sponsored by Albert Coutinho (D-Essex), Daniel R. Benson (D-Mercer/Middlesex) and Herb Conaway M.D. (D-Burlington/Camden).
· The Assembly Higher Education Committee will consider legislation (A-4259) sponsored by Annette Quijano (D-Union) to provide a gross income tax credit for interest on student loans and a bill sponsored by Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden) and Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. (D-Middlesex) to improve the NJ STARS and NJ STARS II scholarship programs. That hearing is at 10 a.m.
· The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee at 10 a.m. will consider legislation to permit limited pharmacy sales of syringes and needles without a prescription (A-1088) to help curb the transmission of HIV/AIDS and other bloodborne diseases. The bill is sponsored by Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen) and Craig J. Coughlin (D-Middlesex).
· The Assembly Appropriations Committee at 2 p.m. will consider a bill (A-3224) to implement recommendations to improve coastal evacuations. The bill is sponsored by Matthew W. Milam and Nelson T. Albano (both D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland).
· The panel will also consider legislation (A-3773) to require the state to devise standards for mold hazards in residential buildings. It’s sponsored by Benson and Celeste Riley (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland).
· It will also consider a bill (A-4104) to improve and enhance New Jersey’s job-creating Urban Enterprise Zones, which have suffered funding cuts under the Christie administration. It’s sponsored by Majority Leader Joseph Cryan (D-Union), Coutinho, Quijano, Coughlin and Lampitt.
· The Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee at 2 p.m. will consider legislation (A-3278) to require fire suppression systems in new single- and two-family homes. It’s sponsored by Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex), Speaker Pro Tem Jerry Green (D-Union/Middlesex/Somerset) and Mila Jasey (D-Essex).
· The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee at 2 p.m. will consider a bill (A-650) to regulate the sale of a common ingredient in over-the-counter cough and cold medicine that has been increasingly abused by adolescents. The bill is sponsored by Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester/Camden) and Gusciora.
The complete agendas can be found at:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislativepub/legcal.asp.
