Wayne DeAngelo

CONAWAY/DeANGELO/ALBANO/MILAM ANTI-FRAUD BILL CLEARS ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE
Bill Would Give State Officials Greater Power to Combat Medicaid Theft

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assemblymen Herb Conaway, Wayne DeAngelo, Nelson Albano and Matt Milam sponsored to enhance the state's ability to recoup money fraudulently taken from the state's Medicaid system was released today by the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

LAMPITT, DEANGELO: PEDOPHILE-FREE ZONE RULING SHOWS NEED FOR STATEWIDE LAW
State Supreme Court Ruling Shows 'Void That the Legislature Now Must Fill'

(TRENTON) - Assembly members Pamela R. Lampitt and Wayne DeAngelo said today's state Supreme Court ruling that invalidated local ordinances aimed at prohibiting registered sex offenders from living near schools and playgrounds highlights the need for statewide standards that would allow municipal governments to take additional steps to protect children.

*** 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.

***MULTIMEDIA PACKAGE***

SCALERA/CONAWAY/BURZICHELLI/DEANGELO ON SPECIAL JOINT HEARING TO DISCUSS STATE SWINE FLU PREPAREDNESS

(TRENTON) - Assemblymen Fred Scalera, Herb Conaway, M.D., John J. Burzichelli and Wayne P. DeAngelo today issued a multimedia package on a special meeting of the Assembly Homeland Security and State Preparedness and Health and Senior Services committees to review the state's readiness to combat H1N1 influenza.

Scalera and Conaway, the committees' respective chairmen, called the special hearing to alleviate public concern over the new strain of flu and to ensure the state has made all possible preparations to control further outbreaks.

21-year-old Assembly candidate Brian Hackett

When Middlesex County Republicans tapped 21-year-old Brian Hackett as their candidate for Assembly in District 14, the GOP in neighboring Mercer County - which accounts for the slightly larger half of the district - decided to field a primary challenger against him rather than go with the traditional arrangement of each county fielding one candidate.

The Mercer Republicans argued that Hackett, a college junior who has never owned a home or held a full-time job, would not be taken seriously by the electorate.  But Hackett said that his young age is one of his key strengths.

"There are people who say I can't relate to the voters, and that's not true," said Hackett, who's running against restaurant owner Rob Calabro and attorney Bill Harvey -- two Mercer County 30-somethings - for the Republican nomination.

DeANGELO RECALLS VISIT WITH N.J. NATIONAL GUARD TROOPS AT FORT SILL IN OKLAHOMA

(HAMILTON) – Assemblyman Wayne P. DeAngelo recently visited New Jersey National Guard troops at Fort Sill in Oklahoma as they prepared for deployment to Iraq.

DeAngelo made the March trip as part of a state delegation to Fort Sill led by Maj. Gen. Glenn K. Reith, the state’s adjutant general.

“It was a great honor to meet these citizen soldiers, view their training and hear their worries about leaving behind families and jobs,” DeAngelo said. “Their bravery and commitment was impressive and a reminder of the sacrifices these courageous men and women are willing to make to protect our freedom. We have to do all we can to protect their jobs back home and ensure they’re not punished by serving during this difficult financial times.”

Sidna Mitchell, who came within 880 votes of unseating Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro) in 2003, met with Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce and Mercer County GOP Chairman Roy Wesley today to discuss the possibility to entering the State Assembly race in the fourteenth district.  The GOP leaders want to replace 21-year-old college student Brian Hackett with Mitchell, a 70-year-old former newspaper editor who served as Deputy Executive Director of the state Council on Affordable Housing under Gov. Christine Todd Whitman.

Correction: Reports that Middlesex County GOP Chairman Joseph Leo was at the meeting was incorrect. 

Republicans, who tout the fourteenth as one of their target districts, found themselves without Assembly candidates against Greenstein and Wayne DeAngelo (D-Hamilton) last week after their two candidates, Hamilton Councilwoman Kelly Yaede and former Cranbury Councilman Wayne Wittman, unexpectedly pulled out of the race. 

Gov. Jon Corzine and Assemblywoman Linda Greenstein (D-Plainsboro)

Amid fullblown intrigue elsewhere, Nutley businessman Carmen Pio Costa and Carlstadt School Board member Don Diorio will formally announce their Republican candidacies in Rutherford Thursday evening, and few doubt the battleground, gauntlet-down implications of their challenge to Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D-Passaic) and Assemblyman Fred Scalera (D-Nutley).

But if the 36th Legislative District remains a decided field of contention this cycle (as is the 1st District in New Jersey’s deep south), two other districts – the 2nd and the 14th – early identified by operatives in both parties as potential battlegrounds in their own right,  at least for the moment do not appear to be marquee headline races.

Certainly that opens up the possibility for North Country Democrats and Republicans to expend more resources in the 36th, where Democrats enjoy a 2-1 edge but where the Dems must run with an unpopular leading man in Gov. Jon Corzine. 

Yet it could also open up other regions, other terrain, formerly classified as green zones. Arguably chief among these, particularly given its bordering proximity to the 14th, is the 12th District, where Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Colts Neck) seek reelection, and last night double-teamed at a town hall meeting in Manalapan.

DeANGELO / MILAM / ALBANO ’RIGHT TO FILE’ CONSUMER-PROTECTION LEGISLATION APPROVED BY ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Invalidate Any Consumer Contract That Requires Consumers to Give Up Their Right To File A Complaint

(TRENTON) – Legislation sponsored by Assemblymen Wayne P. DeAngelo, Nelson T. Albano and Matthew W. Milam to safeguard consumers by invalidating any contract that requires the customer to waive their right to file a complaint has been approved by the Assembly.

The bill (A-2465) would nullify any contract that contains language negating the ability of a consumer to contact either law enforcement or state, county or municipal authorities to file consumer complaint.

“When companies are using contract clauses that force consumers to waive their right to file a complaint, something must be done,” said DeAngelo (D-Mercer/Middlesex). “Preventing a customer from filing a complaint undermines New Jersey’s long standing tradition of consumer protection. Without such protection, the ability monitor a business’ compliance with existing law is severely compromised.”

For different reasons, both Democrats and Republicans have had a difficult time recruiting candidates in some key legislative districts this year. 

Some Republicans say they're having the best recruitment year in recent memory, with Governor Corzine's anemic poll numbers giving hope to the long beleaguered minority party.  But the GOP has had a difficult time recruiting candidates in two districts that were expected to be the most competitive in the state. 

Less surprising is the Democrats' failure to field their top choices in District 2 in South Jersey, where they hoped to play offense against two freshman Republican incumbents. 

"I think that economic challenges of getting a message out, as well as the challenges of public services, are unique to any candidate," said Democratic State Chairman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), who's also an assemblyman.  "Certain situations make it more difficult."