Combating Dangerous Trend of Pointing Laser Pointers at Aircraft, Protecting College Students from Credit Card Offerings, Lottery Winner Anonymity, Veterans Housing & Consumer Price Shopping for Electricity Also on Tap
(TRENTON) – Help for domestic violence victims, holding utilities accountable for service outages, targeting scrap metal thieves and allowing online voter registration top Monday’s Assembly committee agendas.
Combating the dangerous trend of pointing laser pointers at aircraft, protecting college students from credit card offerings, lottery winner anonymity, improving affordable housing for veterans and consumer price shopping for electricity are also on tap.
Hearings are scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and will be streamed live at:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.
Highlights include:
· Legislation to better protect and assist domestic violence victims. One bill (A-1122) sponsored by Angel Fuentes (D-Camden/Gloucester) and Gabriela Mosquera (D-Gloucester/Camden) would create a domestic violence tuition waiver program. The other (A-2919) sponsored by Fuentes, Mosquera and Celeste Riley (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) would create the New Jersey Security and Financial Empowerment Act\ to assist victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. Both will be heard at 2 p.m. by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
· A bill (A-2760) requiring the BPU to establish uniform statewide reliability standards for utilities and electric power suppliers and outrage responses, including the ability to levy fines against utilities that fail to respond timely enough. It’s sponsored by Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset/Middlesex) and Celeste Riley (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) and will be heard at 10 a.m. by the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee.
· Legislation (A-2870) to permit the submission of online voter registration forms through a secure Department of State Internet site. It’s to be heard at 2 p.m. by the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee and is sponsored by Gabriela Mosquera (D-Gloucester/Camden), Tim Eustace (D-Bergen/Passaic), Matthew Milam (D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland), Daniel R. Benson and Wayne DeAngelo (both D-Mercer/Middlesex) and John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex).
· Legislation (A-3169) designed to combat the dangerous trend of pointing laser pointers at airplanes near airports by prohibiting the sale of laser pointers that exceed certain power output. It’s sponsored by Nelson Albano (D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland) and will be heard at 11 a.m. by the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee.
· A bill (A-1688) to prohibit public institutions of higher education from permitting direct solicitation of students for credit card accounts. It’s to be heard at 10 a.m. by the Assembly Higher Education Committee and is sponsored by Celeste Riley (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland).
· A bill (A-2982) sponsored by John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) and Annette Quijano (D-Union) to give state Lottery winners the option of remaining anonymous for one year. It’s to be heard at 10 a.m. by the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee.
· Legislation (A-3222) to combat increasing concern about metal theft, especially from public infrastructure, by revising state scrap metal sale law. It’s sponsored by Angel Fuentes and Whip Wilson (both D-Camden/Gloucester), Celeste Riley (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) and Shavonda Sumter and Benjie Wimberly (both D-Bergen/Passaic). It will be heard at 1 p.m. by the Assembly Regulated Professions Committee.
· A measure (A-2490) sponsored by Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset/Middlesex) to require the state to promulgate rules and regulations providing for veterans’ affordable housing assistance preference. It will be heard at 2 p.m. by the Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee.
· A measure (A-2132) requiring the state to promulgate regulations requiring electricity providers to provide information so customers can compare prices and services. It’s sponsored by John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland), Daniel R. Benson (D-Mercer/Middlesex) and Celeste Riley (D-Gloucester/Salem/Cumberland) and will be heard at 10 a.m. by the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee.
· Legislation (A-1015) to increase the penalties for drunk driving with a minor as a passenger. It’s sponsored by Charles Mainor (D-Hudson) and will be heard at 2 p.m. by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.
· A bill (A-1657) to help sexual violence victims by requiring mandatory sexual violence training for law enforcement, judicial and prosecutorial personnel. It’s sponsored by Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen) and will be heard at 2 p.m. by the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee.
· Legislation requiring insurance coverage for off-label uses of certain drugs, in particular for those suffering from a terminal or chronically debilitating illness (A-1830). It’s to be heard at 10 a.m. by the Assembly Health panel and is sponsored by Herb Conaway M.D. (D-Burlington), Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) and Ruben J. Ramos Jr. (D-Hudson).