ASSEMBLY TO CONSIDER ECONOMIC RELIEF BILLS, PLANS TO SAVE NJ STARS, PREVENT ENCAP REPEAT

ASSEMBLY TO CONSIDER ECONOMIC RELIEF BILLS, PLANS TO SAVE NJ STARS, PREVENT ENCAP REPEAT

(TRENTON) – The Assembly Monday will continue focusing on the global economic crisis by considering more bills to help New Jerseyans and businesses emerge stronger from the worldwide financial meltdown, while also considering legislation to save a popular scholarship program and prevent a repeat of the EnCap disaster.

The session will be the fourth since late September focused heavily on combating economic woes. The Assembly has so far advanced about 40 bills related to the economy and on Monday will consider final legislative approval for measures to boost businesses and prevent foreclosures.

Measures to be considered Monday include legislation sponsored by:

• Assemblymen Joseph Vas (D-Middlesex), Lou Greenwald (D-Camden) and Albert Coutinho (D-Essex) to eliminate a provision that increases a corporation’s entire net income that is taxable by New Jersey. The change (A-2722) creates a more accurate tax payment.

• Vas, Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester) and Assemblywomen Nellie Pou (D-Passaic) and Elease Evans (D-Passaic) to give many Urban Enterprise Zone businesses sales tax exemptions on purchases (A-2720). Current law requires such businesses to pay the sales tax and then apply for a state refund.

• Assemblymen Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), Jack Conners (D-Burlington/Camden) and Douglas H. Fisher (D-Cumberland) and Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex) to provide $50 million for loans and loan guarantees to small and mid-size businesses (A-3377).

• Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer) and Assemblymen Gerald Green (D-Union) and Ralph Caputo (D-Essex) to provide $40 million to help homeowners facing foreclosure (A-3056).

The Assembly will also consider a measure (A-1185) that would allow the state, counties, municipalities, school districts, independent authorities and public colleges and universities to benefit from the acquisition of new, efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment without the need for upfront spending.

The bill could act as a catalyst to promote and sustain environmentally friendly jobs, or green jobs. It’s sponsored by Assemblywomen Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) and Pamela R. Lampitt (D-Camden) and Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset).

The Assembly will also consider legislation (A-2904) sponsored by Burzichelli and Fisher to allow for lower prices at the gas pump by removing the state’s artificial gasoline price floor.

Also on tap is legislation sponsored by Schaer and Assemblyman Fred Scalera (D-Essex) that would enhance the protections and oversight surrounding public investments in private redevelopment projects. The sponsors crafted the bill (A-2650) in response to the disastrous failure of the EnCap project.

The project, which aimed to remediate abandoned municipal landfills in the Meadowlands, collapsed earlier this year when EnCap declared bankruptcy after receiving more than $300 million in public money from state and Bergen County sources.

The Assembly will also consider legislation (A-3373) that would reform the popular NJ STARS college scholarship programs to strengthen its eligibility standards and ease the financial burden on the state’s colleges. It’s sponsored by Assembly members Patrick J. Diegnan (D-Middlesex) and Pamela Lampitt (D-Camden.)

The Assembly will also consider legislation (A-2640) that would help children of military families who frequently move. It’s sponsored by Assembly members L. Harvey Smith-(D-Hudson), Joan M. Quigley (D-Hudson), Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden), Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) and Conners.

The bill would permit New Jersey to enter into the “Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children,” which aims to eradicate disadvantages often encountered by military children because of frequent interstate moves and deployments.

On the Net: www.assemblydems.com