Alison McHose

While not exactly Hudson County, the race for the Republican State Senate nomination in the 24th district in Sussex and Morris counties was indeed brutal.  The contest for veteran Bob Littell's seat attracted two candidates: seven-term Assemblyman Guy Gregg, and Steven Oroho, a Sussex County Freeholder and Littell's handpicked successor.  Gregg was viewed as the front-runner, but he had expected to run against Littell's forty-year legislative record and not watch the race become a referendum on his own votes in Trenton.

The Private Enterprise Political Action Committee (PENPAC) has endorsed Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose for re-election. “PENPAC is proud to support candidates who have embraced free market principles of limited government, reduced regulation and less spending.” said Chairman Richard Goldberg, “Assemblywoman McHose has demonstrated a commitment to these principles and the General Assembly would benefit from her return.”  PENPAC has endorsed Guy Gregg for State Senate in the same district.

LITTELL/MCHOSE SCOOTER BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
Legislation victory for the mobility challenged

Legislation sponsored by Senator Robert Littell and Assemblywoman Alison McHose (both R-Sussex, Morris, Hunterdon) which would require local municipalities to allow persons with mobility related disorders to operate personal scooters on public roads was signed into law today by the Governor. The bill, S-1074, was drafted in response to a case in Sussex County where a mobility impaired young man, Matthew Tempe of Hamburg, was ticketed for operating his scooter on the public roads.

LITTELL/MCHOSE “SCOOTER� BILL SIGNED INTO LAW
Legislation victory for the mobility challenged

Legislation sponsored by Senator Robert Littell and Assemblywoman Alison McHose (both R-Sussex, Morris, Hunterdon) which would require local municipalities to allow persons with mobility related disorders to operate personal scooters on public roads was signed into law today by the Governor. The bill, S-1074, was drafted in response to a case in Sussex County where a mobility impaired young man, Matthew Tempe of Hamburg, was ticketed for operating his scooter on the public roads.

CONSUMER AFFAIRS PANEL ADVANCES
PRO-SHOPPER LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE
Measure to Require Stores to Charge Customers
Advertised 'After-Rebate' Prices Among Bills OK’d

(TRENTON) -- The Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee today released a package of legislation aimed at enhancing shoppers' rights through more transparent pricing, product labeling, and disclosure policies.

Assemblyman Guy Gregg appears to be getting closer to an announcement that he will challenge veteran State Senator Robert Littell in the 2007 Republican primary. Gregg has been meeting with consultants and staff and Republican insiders in Northwestern New Jersey say he has decided to run.

The conventional wisdom is that Littell wants his daughter, Assemblywoman Alison McHose, to suceed him in the Senate seat his father held from 1943 to 1954. Some insiders say that Littell could decide not to run next year, setting up a primary between the 41-year-old McHose, a former aide to Lynne Cheney, and Gregg.

The 70-year-old Littell, who has had major health issues in recent years, has been in the Legislature since 1967; he moved up to the Senate in 1990. Gregg, 57, one the Legislature's leading conservatives, has served in the Assembly since 1994.

Republican sources in Northwestern New Jersey say that Assemblyman Guy Gregg is leaning toward a bid for the State Senate against longtime incumbent Robert Littell in the GOP primary. Littell has not yet announced his plans for the 2007 campaign, although one GOP leader close to his family says that he plans to seek re-election.

The 70-year-old Littell, who began his 39th year in the Legislature last month, has had some health problems in recent years, and numerous GOP sources confirm that he wants to see his daughter, Assemblywoman Alison McHose, take his 24th district Senate seat. Gregg, 56, has been in the Assembly since 1994, when he won a Special Election Convention. He briefly sought the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate in 2002, but dropped out on filing day when he was unable to raise enough money to compete. He served as Assembly Minority Conference Leader in 2004 and 2005, but lost his leadership post late last year after a split with Minority Leader (and fellow Morris County Republican) Alex DeCroce.

Some Republicans say that Gregg, one of the "Mountain Men" -- a group of more conservative GOP legislators -- might have a better chance in a primary with Littell than in a contest against McHose. Littell's voting record includes four decades of tax increases, and more recently, votes to support Governor James E. McGreevey's budget and the controversial Highlands proposal. His daughter has compiled a more conservative record since winning a 2003 Special Election Convention following Scott Garrett's election to Congress.

Representing the Northwestern part of the state in the Senate has required considerable patience. Littell spent 22 years in the Assembly waiting out the career of Wayne Dumont, a former Senate President and gubernatorial candidate who held the seat for 36 years. Littell's father, Alfred Littell, represented Sussex County in the Senate from 1943 to 1954. If McHose goes to the Senate, Gregg -- no longer in the Assembly leadership -- might be forced to spend the remainder of his political career in a sort of purgatory.

Geography may be holding Greeg back: he lives in Morris County, which makes up just 25% of the GOP primary voters in the 24th district; 70% of the Republicans come from Sussex County (McHose's base) and 5% come from Hunterdon -- the only county of the three with an organization line. Gregg also knows not to take the Littell's lightly: the Littell family (including the Senator's wife, former Republican State Chairwoman Virginia Littell) have a reputation for running aggressive campaigns when the family business is threatened. This happened in 1991 and 1993, when George Daggett, a former Sussex County Prosecutor, challenged Littell in the GOP primary.

A Littell/Gregg primary will open up an Assembly seat, and a Gregg/McHose primary would create two open seats.

LITTELL, BUCCO & MCHOSE BLAST CANCELLATION OF BEAR HUNT
Governor Acts In Defiance Of The Law

Senators Robert Littell, (R-24), Anthony Bucco, (R-25), and Assemblywoman Alison McHose, (R-24) issued the following joint statement regarding Governor Corzine's refusal to permit the routine re-approval of regulations re-authorizing the fish and game code.

LITTELL & McHOSE ASK GOVERNOR TO EXPEDITE BEAR HUNTING PERMIT PROCESS

Senator Robert Littell and Assemblywoman Alison McHose R-Sussex, Morris and Hunterdon released the following statement in conjunction with a letter they sent today to Governor Corzine asking his office to approve the Division of Fish and Wildlife’s readoption of its regulations under the Administrative Procedure Act. The letter is attached.

The population level of black bears in this part of the state is at a critical level and their numbers must be controlled to protect people, property and domestic animals. Hunting is the most efficient method to control the bear population and is an important tool in wildlife management, and we urge the Governor to take all necessary steps to expedite the permitting process. He must act now to make bear hunting permit applications available to the public so that the bear hunt scheduled for early December can proceed without delay.

Just a short sampling of what's on the Legislature's plate these days: State Senator Martha Bark and Assemblyman Ronald Dancer have sponsored legislation that "prohibits the slaughter of horses and sale of horseflesh for human consumption." Assemblymen Peter Biondi and Christopher Bateman want to make it a crime for someone to marry or have sexual relations with their brother, sister, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew. Assemblymen Francis Bodine and Larry Chatzidakis want to make the "theft of human remains for unauthorized use crime of first degree." Assemblymen Guy Gregg and Herb Conaway have a bi-partisan measure that "establishes sexual penetration or sexual contact with an animal as a crime." Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula introduced a resolution in January 2006 designating "September 2004 as Handwashing Awareness Month in New Jersey and memorializes the Governor to issue a proclamation calling upon the people of the State to observe this month with appropriate ceremonies and activities." The very patriotic Assemblymen from the 26th district, Alex DeCroce and Joseph Pennachio, want a law that "requires flags of US and NJ to be displayed at or near major highway entrances to the State" -- perhaps so people from Delaware, Pennsylvania and New York don't doubt New Jersey's national pride. Assemblyman Mims Hackett is the sponsor of the potentially landmark "Tattooing and Body Piercing Practice Act." Four Assemblymen -- David Mayer, Robert Gordon, Douglas Fisher and Paul Moriarty -- want the "Motor Vehicle Commission to create a yellow and blue version of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) license plate." What about FOP members who have "a previously issued non colored FOP plate"? No worries. They "may choose to exchange the plates for the newer version." Senator Sharpe James wants to "require school districts receiving at least 51% of net budget through State aid to adopt dress code." State Senators Robert Martin and Joseph Doria propose amending the Senate rules to allow Senators to specifically abstain on a vote, rather than cast no vote at all. "Passage of the resolution would require hardware and software changes to the Senate's electronic voting system. An "abstain" button would need to be added to each Senator's desk and a third "abstain" column would need to be added to the voting boards together with appropriate wiring and software changes." One popular idea is legislation sponsored or co-sponsored by twenty legislators that requires "general hospitals that employ residents" to impose a limit of "an average of 80 hours per week over a four-week period" -- a policy instituted earlier this season on the ABC series "Grey's Anatomy." And finally, Assemblywoman Alison McHose has sponsored legislation that "establishes an annual solar photovoltaic manufacturing incentive grant program." This website isn't quite sure what that is, although watching McHose explain it to some of her colleagues has to be worth watching.