Connie Wagner

*** THURSDAY’S ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES ***

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEES TO WEIGH FAIR DEBT COLLECTION, MEDICAL ERRORS, EXPANDING TRANSIT HUB TAX CREDIT

Panels Will Also Consider Regulating Bank Cards, N.J. College Savings Program

(TRENTON) – Assembly committees Thursday will consider legislation to combat harassing debt collection practices, require the state to publicly report hospital medical errors and expand a tax credit program designed to lure development to urban transit hubs.

Legislation (A-2493) sponsored by Assemblymen John J. Burzichelli, Matthew W. Milam and Wayne P. DeAngelo to combat harassing consumer debt collection practices will be considered by the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee.

Former Republican state Sen. Louis Kosco said that he occasionally gets calls from his friends who follow politics asking if he feels happy to see the Democrat who beat him in 2001 in legal trouble.

With Coniglio convicted today of six counts of mail fraud and extortion, Kosco, who moved to Lacey Township from Paramus four years ago, said he's just sad.

"People call me and say ‘aren't you happy about this,' I say ‘absolutely not,'" he said.  "It's not something that I'm gloating over, believe me," he said.

Kosco spent eighteen years in the Assembly and state Senate representing District 38, which was then a swing district.  Like Coniglio, he served on the Paramus Borough Council before the moving up to the Legislature.  He even lived ten doors down from Coniglio, though he said he did not know him well.

"I spent all those years in the legislature keeping that district as clean as it could possibly be. It just makes it look bad for all the honest politicians that are there, and there are a lot of them that do the right thing," said Kosco.

THREE ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATIC RENEWABLE ENERGY AND ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES BECOME LAW
 
(TRENTON) - Gov. Jon S. Corzine today signed into law three Assembly Democratic measures designed to improve energy efficiency, expand solar and wind energy production and promote solar energy usage in new homes.

ALBANO/MILAM/WAGNER ‘MADE IN THE USA’ FLAG BILL ADVANCES IN SENATE

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Nelson Albano, Connie Wagner and Matt Milam sponsored to require any United States or New Jersey state flag purchased with state funds be manufactured in the United States has been advanced by a Senate panel.

The bill passed the Assembly 78-0 in November. It was released Thursday by the Senate State Government Committee.

“It makes absolutely no sense to allow even one dime of the public’s money to be spent on an American flag made anywhere but in America,” said Albano (D-Cumberland /Atlantic/Cape May). “It is bad enough that our state and nation’s manufacturing bases have largely evaporated as jobs were shipped elsewhere. Buying the most-recognized symbol of our nation from overseas just adds insult to injury.”

LAMPITT/CHIVUKULA/WAGNER/VAINIERI HUTTLE/POU/GREENSTEIN BILL TO PERMIT WIND AND SOLAR FACILITIES IN INDUSTRIAL ZONE ADVANCES

(TRENTON) - Legislation sponsored by Assembly members Pamela R. Lampitt, Upendra Chivukula, Connie Wagner, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Nellie Pou and Linda R. Greenstein to permit wind and solar facilities in industrial zones was approved by the Senate.

The bill passed the Assembly 60-15 in October, and an amended version was approved 36-3 by the Senate on Monday. It now returns to the Assembly for final legislative approval.

Ridgefield Councilman Nicholas Lonzisero has filed a letter of intent with the Bergen County Republican Organization to run for assembly in Legislative District 38, according to the party's chairman, Bob Yudin.

So far, no other Republicans have come forward to run in the Democratic-leaning district, which some members of the party think maybe, just maybe could be put in play in light of the state's economic woes and the pending federal corruption trials of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) and ex-Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

"We're actively recruiting now," said Yudin.

WAGNER: KEY ANSWERS NEEDED ON PLANS TO OPEN HOSPITAL AT FORMER PASCACK VALLEY SITE

(PARAMUS) – Assemblywoman Connie Wagner (D- Bergen) today issued the following statement on plans for a hospital at the site of the former Pascack Valley Hospital., which closed in November 2007:

“While I’m delighted the emergency room has reopened at the Pascack Valley site, providing a vital service during times of crisis, key answers are needed as we weigh whether a new full-service hospital is needed.

BILL TO PROMOTE SOLAR, WIND AND BIOMASS ENERGY GENERATION IN NEW JERSEY ADVANCES

Measure Would Allow Solar, Wind, Biomass Energy Facilities and Equipment on Farms

(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assembly members Upendra Chivukula, Connie Wagner, Douglas H. Fisher and John F. McKeon to promote solar, biomass and wind energy generation on New Jersey farms was released today by an Assembly committee.

The bill (A-2859) would allow a person who owns preserved farmland to build, install and operate solar, biomass and wind energy facilities and equipment on the farm, provided it doesn’t interfere with use of the land for farming.

“This is yet another way for New Jersey to promote the production of clean, alternative energy that can boost our economy in this time of crisis,” said Chivukula (D-Somerset).

ASSEMBLY PANEL TO HOLD MONDAY HEARING ON COUNCIL ON ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ABUSE

(TRENTON) – The Assembly Human Services committee will meet Monday afternoon to hear from invited speakers regarding the Governor’s Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, which was recently criticized by the Office of the State Comptroller.

The committee is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m.. Monday, Jan. 26, in Committee Room 15, Fourth Floor, State House Annex, West State Street, Trenton.

Following the hearing, the committee will consider legislation sponsored by Assemblywomen Sheila Oliver, Connie Wagner and Elease Evans that responds to the audit by the state comptroller that found numerous problems within the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Addiction.