*** THURSDAY’S ASSEMBLY SESSION *** ASSEMBLY TO CONSIDER MID-YEAR BUDGET CUTS, WEIGH CHILD SAFETY & CONSUMER PROTECTION BILLS Bills Also Target Child Poverty, Bedbugs, Reading Disabilities, Pharmacy Errors; Ceremonies to Honor Black History Month & Responders who Rescued US Air passengers from Hudson River.(TRENTON) – Mid-year budget cuts, combating child poverty and reading disabilities and improving child and consumer safety – including targeting bedbugs - will top the Assembly’s Thursday voting agenda. The Assembly is expected to consider legislation (A-3650) sponsored by Assembly Budget Chairman Louis D. Greenwald (D-Camden) and Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union) to amend the state budget and implement Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s plan to offset state revenue shortfalls. “If you look where the cuts have been, they are across the board and the pain is being shared,” Greenwald said. “No one individual group is being asked to cover that entire burden, and I think that’s sending the right message, not just for the year we’re in but for the upcoming year.” The Assembly will also weigh legislation (A-1411) Assembly members Douglas Fisher, John Burzichelli (both D-Salem/Cumberland/Gloucester) and Elease Evans (D-Passaic) sponsored to create a council that would develop a statewide plan to reduce child poverty. “The disturbing fact is that too many New Jersey children are being forced to survive in deplorable living conditions,” Fisher said. “We must bring the state’s leading voices together to identify the best services and programs that will most effectively improve the quality of life for all New Jersey children in need. New Jersey cannot lose more children to the insidious cycle of poverty.” The Assembly will also consider legislation (A-880) Assemblymen Nelson Albano and Matt Milam (both D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland) sponsored to promote best practices for teaching students with reading disabilities and difficulties with language skills.“Ensuring that every student has access to the tools they need to be successful in the classroom will increase the likelihood that they will become successful, contributing adults,” Milam said. It will also consider a measure (A-725) sponsored by Greenwald and Fisher to require the state to provide information on shaken baby syndrome to parents of newborn infants. Also on tap are several consumer health and safety protection measures, including: a measure sponsored by Albano and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) to reduce the number of errors made when prescribing, dispensing and taking prescription medication. “A mistake in the strength, type or compatibility of prescription medication can exact a devastating toll on both the health of a patient and the well-being of his or her family,” Albano said. Also to be considered is legislation (A-3203) Assembly members Joan M. Quigley (D-Hudson), L. Grace Spencer (D-Essex), L. Harvey Smith (D-Hudson), Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex) and Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden) sponsored to hold landlords responsible for keeping multi-unit apartment complexes free of bedbug infestations. The sponsors crafted the legislation after news reports detailed severe outbreaks of bedbugs in apartment complexes across Hudson County. In these instances, the tenants, some of whom had nothing to do with the initial infestation, were being charged for extermination. “It is disgusting to think that there are places in New Jersey where renters are being forced to cohabitate with vermin, simply because they cannot afford a proper extermination,” Quigley said. “Tenants should not have to pay extra simply to live in a clean and safe environment.” Another bill (A-2276) to be considered is sponsored by Assembly members Vincent Prieto (D-Hudson), Spencer, Cary Rodriguez (D-Hudson), Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester) and Joseph Vas (D-Middlesex) and would require ATM operators to disclose balance inquiry fees. “ATM operators who set up their system to unknowingly charge consumers for simply requesting a balance inquiry are doing nothing more than taking advantage of their customers,” said Prieto (D-Hudson). “Preying on consumers who aren’t even making transactions is bad business.” Also to be voted on is legislation (A-2877) sponsored by Assembly members Sandi Love, Cruz-Perez, Moriarty and Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex/Mercer) that would prohibit the sale, manufacture and distribution of jewelry made with unsafe materials. Love crafted the legislation after a 4-year-old Minneapolis boy died of lead poisoning from swallowing a tainted charm bracelet.“Buying a necklace or a charm bracelet shouldn’t bring about fears of lead and mercury poisoning, yet the health and safety of New Jerseyans are at risk,” said Love (D-Gloucester). “It’s time these harmful products are taken down from store shelves for good.” The Assembly session is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Before the voting session, the Assembly will host its annual Black History Month program and honor those who assisted in the rescue of all passengers from US Air Fight 1549, which crashed in the Hudson River on Jan. 15. On the Net: www.assemblydems.com www.youtube.com/user/njassemblydems New Jersey Assembly Democrats on Facebook