Reed Gusciora

WATSON COLEMAN / CRUZ-PEREZ / JASEY / EVANS / GUSCIORA / POU BILL ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS CLOSER TO BECOMING LAW

(TRENTON) – Legislation to give counties the ability to establish grant programs to address homelessness is closer to becoming law. The bill (A-3101) is sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assembly members Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden), Mila Jasey (D-Essex), Elease Evans (D-Passaic), Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) and Nellie Pou (D-Passaic).

“The number of homeless, in New Jersey – especially women and children – is unacceptably high and may go even higher as more families face the very real and scary prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure,” Watson Coleman said. “State and local governments must work together to provide more funding and better services to provide access to affordable housing and ensure families have another option to living in a shelter or on the street.”

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.

SHOOTINGS IN TRENTON, DC MUST BE 'WAKE UP CALL'

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Reed Gusciora said yesterday's shooting death of a young man in Trenton - the second such killing in the city in three days - coupled with today's shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, DC, should serve as wake-up calls to state and national leaders of the need for tighter gun restrictions and tougher penalties for gun-related crimes.

WATSON COLEMAN & GUSCIORA STATEMENT ON KILLING OF TRENTON GIRL

(TRENTON) – Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman and Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (both D-Mercer) released the following joint statement today after a 13-year-old Trenton girl was killed Sunday night in a drive-by shooting at a block party...

“This is a horrific crime that shocks the conscience, and we send our prayers and condolences to this beautiful young girl’s family and friends at this time of their tragic loss.

“We trust that law enforcement will move quickly to solve this crime and remove the perpetrators from our streets. We cannot allow our neighborhoods to be overtaken by individuals who think they can terrorize and control our daily lives....

The Republican gubernatorial primary is over, but Democrats apparently have no intention of letting fade away the accusation by former candidate Rick Merkt that a friend and advisor of newly minted Republican nominee Chris Christie tried to buy him out of the gubernatorial race.

Assembly members Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) and Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Englewood) today again called on Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra to investigate whether John Inglesino, a former Morris County freeholder, offered Merkt, an assemblyman from Christie's home town of Mendham, a plum position on the campaign and in a future Christie administration if he dropped his plans to run for governor.

"Three weeks ago, Assemblyman Gusciora and I called on law enforcement to investigate a report of impropriety and see if the law had been broken," said Huttle.  "The politicking of the primary election is now behind us, but the specter of corruption remains. Now is the time to determine if, and to what extent an illegal act took place.  Now that the election is over we need to get to the bottom of this."

Merkt wound up getting a miniscule portion of the vote in Tuesday's primary, although his impact on the race was not clear when he announced his intention to run late in the summer.

SCHAER/GUSCIORA BILL TO STRENGTHEN COMMUNITY BANKS
CLEARS COMMITTEE HURDLE

(TRENTON) - 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 to enhance the liquidity of state-chartered financial institutions was released today by the Assembly Appropriations Committee.

PANEL CLEARS GUSCIORA / CRUZ-PEREZ / MORIARTY / RILEY BILL TARGETING SIMULATED GOVERNMENT DOCUMENTS

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Reed Gusciora, Nilsa Cruz-Perez, Paul Moriarty and Celeste Riley sponsored to make it illegal for businesses to advertise using a simulated government document was released today by an Assembly committee.

The bill (A-3931) would make using such documents – whether through the mail or the Internet – a violation of the Consumer Fraud Act.

“Marketing companies that use these simulated forms are preying on the vulnerability of the average citizen during a global recession,” said Gusciora (D-Mercer).

WATSON COLEMAN / CRUZ-PEREZ / JASEY / EVANS / GUSCIORA LEGISLATION TARGETING HOMELESSNESS ADVANCES

(TRENTON) – Legislation to give counties the ability to establish grant programs to provide affordable housing and support services for the formerly homeless and those at risk of losing their home was released Thursday by a Senate committee.

The bill (A-3101) is sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assembly members Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden), Mila Jasey (D-Essex), Elease Evans (D-Passaic) and Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer).

“The number of homeless, in New Jersey – especially women and children – is unacceptably high and may go even higher as more families face the very real and scary prospect of losing their homes to foreclosure,” said Watson Coleman (D-Mercer). “State and local governments must work together to provide more funding and better services to provide access to affordable housing and ensure families have another option to living in a shelter or on the street.”

Legislators Call For Investigation Into Top Christie Adviser

TRENTON - After reading a Newark Star-Ledger report that Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie’s senior political adviser, top fundraiser and beneficiary of a no-bid contract, John Inglesino, tried to bribe Assemblyman Richard Merkt to quit the Governor’s race, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri-Huttle today called for the state Attorney General and the United States Attorney’s office to open an investigation.

DEMOCRATIC BILL TO EXPAND URBAN TRANSIT TAX CREDIT CLEARS COMMITTEE HURDLE

An Assembly committee today released legislation that would expand the qualifications of the Urban Transit Hub Tax Credit to allow more corporate capital investment and development projects to be sited alongside the state's mass transit centers.