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ASSEMBLY PANELS TO CONSIDER SHARED SERVICES, RESTORING AIDS DRUGS ELIGIBILITY & PROMOTING STATEWIDE ORAL HEALTH CAMPAIGN

(TRENTON) – Two Assembly committees will meet on Monday to discuss ways to promote shared services among municipalities to control property taxes and consider legislation to restore income eligibility for an AIDS drug distribution program, create a statewide oral health campaign and combat Huntington’s Disease.
The hearings will be streamed live at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.
The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to hear from state Department of Community Affairs Commissioner Lori Grifa and others on ways to facilitate service sharing among municipalities, particularly those subject to civil service.
The committee chaired by Assemblyman John McKeon (D-Essex) will also receive testimony on the impact the statutorily required reserve for uncollected taxes will have on a municipality’s ability to meet the new 2 percent property tax levy cap.
The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to consider legislation Assembly Democrats Celeste Riley (D-Cumberland/Gloucester/Salem) and Craig J. Coughlin (D-Middlesex) sponsored to restore the income eligibility for New Jersey’s AIDS Drug Distribution Program to the level it was at before it was slashed back by Gov. Chris Christie.
The budget signed by the governor in June reduced eligibility for the AIDS Drug Distribution Program from 500 percent of the federal poverty level to 300 percent. The bill (A-3268) restores income eligibility levels to 500 percent of the federal poverty level.
The panel will also consider legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Peter J. Barnes III, Patrick J. Diegnan Jr. (both D-Middlesex), Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex/Mercer), Ruben J. Ramos Jr. (D-Hudson), Linda Stender and Speaker Pro Tempore Jerry Green (D-Middlesex/Somerset/Union) to designate a statewide specialized long-term care facility for treatment of Huntington’s Disease.
It will also consider legislation sponsored by Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle to establish the New Jersey Center for Oral Health at UMDNJ Dental School.