Rutgers University

LESNIAK AND CARABALLO PRESS FOR HIGHER ED OPTIONS REVIEW

TRENTON - The Legislature's Task Force on Higher Education and the Economy will begin considering multiple merger options to create a world-class research university when it convenes for its first meeting on Thursday, November 9th, the panel's two co-chairs announced today.

GREAT NEWS: WE'RE NUMBER 48!

LATEST REPORT SHOWS NEW JERSEY IS NOT DEAD LAST FOR BUSINESS CLIMATE . . . JUST 48TH

MERKT: LONG IGNORED OPRA REQUEST COULD SHED NEW LIGHT ON BRYANT'S ROLE IN STEERING FUNDS

ASKS ABELOW TO COMPLY WITH OPRA REQUEST FILED WITH TREASURY MONTHS AGO

THOMPSON: NJ'S UNEMPLOYMENT RATE INCREASE
TIED TO STATE'S ANTI-BUSINESS AGENDA

Responding to the latest New Jersey Department of Labor report that shows New Jersey's unemployment rate rose in August while the national rate declined, Assemblyman Sam Thompson said today the increase is the result of the state's anti-business policy.

MERKT: THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER
Encourages Constitutional Reform Committee to Consider Legislative Proposals

Assemblyman Richard Merkt today said that, while he appreciates the Constitutional Reform Committee meeting to examine the constitutional issues that impact property taxes, he believes the committee should move on to consider actual legislative proposals that provide urgently needed property tax relief.

"By now, the joint committee process should have already yielded specific legislative proposals," said Merkt, R-Morris. "The property taxpayers of this state are tired of the delay and excuses. We need to make better use of our time and produce a meaningful and lasting solution."

Merkt said the meetings have been informative but that it is time to start considering concrete proposals that offer significant and sustainable tax relief.

"We have spent four meetings over the course of six weeks getting our feet wet," Merkt stated. "It is time we take the plunge. We need to reassure homeowners that the Legislature has not abandoned them. More importantly, we need to work quickly to devise a solution."

Merkt said the Corzine Administration, at the beginning of the special legislative session, should have clearly identified and quantified the goal of property tax reform, but still has yet to do so.

"If we can't define the problem, how can we expect to find a solution?" questioned Merkt.

Merkt encouraged concerned citizens to share their ideas to amend New Jersey's constitution to achieve property tax reform in upcoming public meetings of the Constitutional Reform Committee.

"I look forward to taxpayers coming out to share their insights and suggestions," Merkt said. "I am optimistic that, with the public's help, we can move this process forward."

The first public hearing is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 21, 2006 at 12:00 p.m. at the Livingston Student Center, Rutgers University, 84 Joyce Kilmer Avenue, Piscataway, New Jersey.

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DeCROCE: CORZINE IS RIGHT TO SEEK NEW ECONOMIC COURSE, BUT MUST ADDRESS TAXES AND REGULATION

SUCCESS OF GOVERNOR'S PLAN WILL RELY ON HIS WILLINGNESS TO ABANDON RECENT ANTI-BUSINESS TAX CLIMATE

DeCROCE: POOR ECONOMIC GROWTH NUMBERS DEMONSTRATE NEW JERSEY IS ON THE WRONG TRACK

NEW JERSEY'S GROWTH FALLS TO SLOWEST RATE IN FIVE YEARS

PENNACCHIO BILL WOULD REPEAL SALES TAX INCREASE

WHY WASTE TIME GETTING RID OF A BAD IDEA?

TWO SENATE DEMOCRATS CALL FOR UMDNJ MERGER ACTION

TRENTON - Two Senate Democrats, Raymond J. Lesniak and Joseph F. Vitale, today called for the creation of a joint Task Force to recommend the best way to restructure the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey with Rutgers University by the end of this year.

"Herb Stern is trying to breathe life into a corpse," said Senator Lesniak, D-Union, about the federal monitor, former U.S. District Court Judge Herbert J. Stern, who has been overseeing the State's scandal-plagued medical university. "UMDNJ needs to be totally restructured now if it is going to emerge as a nationally prominent research and teaching facility. Worrying about who is going to be its next president is really just tinkering."

BECK SAYS NEW REPORT ON WOEFUL STATE OF NEW JERSEY ECONOMY SHOULD SPUR CHANGE

REPORT CLAIMS STATE ECONOMY IS IN MOST PERILOUS CONDITION SINCE THE GREAT DEPRESSION