Gary Schaer

SCHAER & SCALERA BILLS PROVIDING FOR OPEN SPACE PRESERVATION AND PARKS GET FINAL LEGISLATIVE APPROVAL

(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assemblymen Gary Schaer and Fred Scalera to help preserve open space throughout the 36th Legislative District has received unanimous final legislative approval.

“This open space preservation was both supported by the voters and is a sensible approach to maintain and improve parks, recreation and ensure a strong environment as we strive for smart development,” said Schaer (D-Passaic-Bergen-Essex). “These efforts will benefit our families and communities for generations.”

PASSAIC - Standing in the midst of a melting pot audience, with Latinos, Jews and African Americans dominant in a crowd that also contained a smattering of Italians and Indians, and probably sprinklings of just about everything else given Passaic and Passaic pride, School Board member Salim Patel requested a hand for the first Dominican-American mayor in the United States.

There was clapping.

Then Mayor Alex Blanco stood, and the School No. 6 auditorium erupted.

As usual at these big ticket events here in Passaic, the mayor had top-tier love in the room in the form of Gov. Jon Corzine and U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken), who both backed Blanco for mayor earlier this year.  

"If you truly love Passaic, you must help him succeed, because in his success, the people of Passaic succeed," Menendez said.

Child of immigrant parents Blanco went to the podium early, but not before Menendez spoke, wringing a laugh-line out of a setup created by the cheering section for Councilman-elect Terrance L. Love, the governing body's lone black. 

Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) welcomes Gov. Jon Corzine to Passaic Wednesday evening

PASSAIC - The backroom wrangling on EnCap ain't over.

"We're studying it," Gov. Jon Corzine said of a reform bill on the subject that passed overwhelmingly in the legislature a week ago.

Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland) called a vote last Thursday evening on the reform bill authored by Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), Sen. Bob Gordon (D-Paramus) and Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), overriding Sen. Ray Lesniak's (D-Elizabeth) 11th-hour worries as Lesniak and Schaer sat in Corzine's office.

Lesniak fretted that some of the bill's sharper edges might undercut his economic stimulus bill, and he told Schaer he had the votes to kill a piece of legislation Schaer's worked for two and a half years.

Schaer called his bluff, and demanded a machine vote in the Assembly.

Codey, meanwhile, went ahead and opened the machines on the Senate side.

"This is a bill that demands accountability and transparency so that we avoid another Encap," said Weinberg, referring to the State of New Jersey's infamous attempt to resusitate a Bergen garbage dump into a golf course, which resulted in a more than $300 million killzone for taxpayers.  

SCHAER/SCALERA BILL TO PREVENT ENCAP REPEAT HEADS TO GOVERNOR'S DESK
Measure Would Protect Taxpayers In Public/Private Deals Gone Bad;
Lawmakers Credit Sen. Sarlo for Helping to Push Measure To Finish Line

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assemblymen Gary S. Schaer and Fred Scalera sponsored to enhance the protections and oversight surrounding public investments in private redevelopment projects today received final legislative approvals and was sent to the Governor's desk.

ASSEMBLY PASSES SCHAER/GUSCIORA BILL TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY BANKS

(TRENTON) - The Assembly today passed legislation Assemblymen Gary Schaer and Reed Gusciora sponsored to allow the state to invest some of its cash and pension funds with federally insured New Jersey-based banks and credit unions.

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ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATIC BUDGET COMMITTEE MEMBERS ON PASSAGE OF THE FY 2010 BUDGET

(TRENTON) - The Democratic members of the Assembly Budget Committee today issued a multimedia package on the Assembly passage of New Jersey's annual appropriations act for fiscal year 2010.

The $28.9 billion fiscal year 2010 budget (A-4100) is about $4 billion less than last year - representing the largest spending cut in state history - and would:

• Provide property tax rebates to households earning less than $75,000 per year;
• Retain the property tax deduction for households earning up to $250,000 per year;
• Devote more than half of state spending to property tax relief;
• Cap tuition increases at 3 percent and increase direct college student assistance by about 10 percent; and
• Increase school aid by $270 million.

SCHAER & SCALERA BILLS PROVIDING FOR OPEN SPACE PRESERVATION AND PARKS NEAR FINAL VOTE

(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assemblymen Gary Schaer and Fred Scalera to help preserve open space throughout the 36th Legislative District has been approved by an Assembly panel.

“This open space preservation was both supported by the voters and is a sensible approach to maintain and improve parks, recreation and ensure a strong environment as we strive for smart development,” said Schaer (D-Passaic-Bergen-Essex). “These efforts will benefit our families and communities for generations.”

SCHAER/LAMPITT/COUTINHO BILL TO TEACH KIDS
FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY HEADS TO GOVERNOR'S DESK
Legislation Would Create Pilot Program To Educate High Schoolers

(TRENTON) - The Senate today passed legislation Assembly members Gary S. Schaer, Pamela R. Lampitt, and Albert Coutinho sponsored to initiate a pilot program to educate high school students on personal finance management so they can avoid irresponsible spending habits that lead to excessive personal debt and bankruptcy, sending the measure to Gov. Jon Corzine's desk for his signature into law.

Former Passaic City Councilman Marcellus Jackson stumping for Vinny Capuana last year at a rally.

Two Passaic County politicians - one Democrat and one Republican - received their federal sentences today after pleading guilty to corruption charges.

Former Passaic City Councilman Marcellus Jackson received 25 months, a fine of $15,000 and three years of supervised probation for taking cash bribes totaling around $26,000 while serving on the city council.

Brown, a former School Board member and an unsuccessful candidate for the legislature against former Assemblyman Al Steele (D-Paterson), received 20 months.

Steele, incidentally, went down in the same, August 20, 2008, 11-man federal corruption sting that toppled Jackson and former Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera, and which ultimately led investigators to Brown.

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ASSEMBLY DEMOCRATS ON BILL TO INCREASE PUBLIC INPUT ON HEALTH INSURER CONVERSIONS

(TRENTON) - Assembly members Gary S. Schaer, John F. McKeon, John S. Wisniewski, L. Grace Spencer and Jack Conners - the Democratic members of the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee - today issued a multimedia package on legislation that would require increased public participation and independent analysis of any health insurer wishing to convert to a for-profit company.

The measure (A-3729) would provide more transparency in any potential conversion of a health insurer to a for-profit company by requiring the state to complete an independent health impact study, analyzing the impact of the conversion on the health status of New Jersey residents, increasing the number of public hearings to at least three and granting the Office of the Public Advocate access to all the material included in the conversion process.