In The News
EDITORIAL: State GOP lawmakers need some backbone
For a governor who likes to trumpet his record on the transparency of his administration, Gov. Chris Christie has a funny way of showing it. And so do his GOP enablers in the Statehouse.
This week, feckless Republican lawmakers once again could not bring themselves to override a Christie veto. Since Christie took office in 2010, the Legislature has sought to override his vetoes 57 times. It has failed to do so 57 times, mostly because of bloc voting by Republicans, many of whom initially supported the bills Christie vetoed.
NJ assemblyman blasts Lisa’s Law report
New Jersey Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-Mount Laurel) is blasting a report by the state attorney general’s office that raises concerns about the cost and reliability of a pilot program, called Lisa’s Law, that would track certain domestic violence offenders using GPS devices.
Singleton & Advocates Call for Renewed Action on ‘Lisa’s Law’ At Start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Reintroducing Bill after Long-Delayed Report Finally Issued by Executive Branch
(TRENTON) – Assemblyman Troy Singleton (D-Burlington) issued a multimedia package Thursday of a news conference he held with domestic violence prevention advocates in which he criticized a long-delayed report from the Executive Branch and promised to reintroduce domestic violence monitoring legislation, colloquially known as “Lisa’s Law.”
“Lisa’s Law” was a groundbreaking measure Singleton sponsored last year that would have authorized New Jersey courts to order GPS monitoring of certain domestic violence offenders and would have required victims be notified when the offender was within a certain proximity.
Singleton Will Reintroduce Lisa's Law
A New Jersey lawmaker plans to again push for a law to let judges order electronic monitoring of domestic violence offenders and notify victims when an offender is nearby.
Governor Christie conditionally vetoed Lisa's Law in January, putting it on hold while the state attorney general determined whether the monitoring technology was available.
2 N.J. assemblymen re-introduce bill monitoring domestic abuse offenders
Two South Jersey assemblymen re-introduced a bill Thursday that would create a pilot program for monitoring domestic violence offenders — despite a report by the Attorney Generals Office that raises concerns about cost and how it would work.
The bill’s sponsors, Assemblymen Troy Singleton, D-Burlington, and Ron Dancer, R-Ocean, say they still believe there’s a way to use a GPS monitoring program to protect victims and alert them when an offender is close by. Both the victim and offender would have to be equipped with a GPS device.
Assembly committee cracks down on corporate tax-avoidance structure
An Assembly committee approved a Democrat-backed bill Thursday that would prevent the state or an independent authority from contracting a company that is structured to avoid paying taxes by having their corporate headquarters overseas.
The Commerce and Economic Development Committee voted 7-3, splitting along party lines, to pass the bill out of committee.
Assembly wants tax data restored to N.J. site
Looking to restore some transparency, the New Jersey Assembly has passed a bill directing the state to post online a complete summary of property tax data online every year.
Veto override of debt report bill falls short in Assembly
TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie’s more than five-year record of never having any veto overturned by the Democratic-controlled Legislature remained intact Monday, as an attempt to override his veto of a bill to expand an annual debt report failed to garner enough support.
State Assembly Targets Governor’s Suppression of Rebate Data
Legislation would require Christie administration to publish town-by-town data on net property taxes it removed from state’s website
Responding to the Christie administration’s controversial decision to delete town-by-town information on property tax rebates that had been published on the state’s website for 15 years, the state Assembly voted overwhelmingly yesterday to require the state to resume posting data that would show how much net property taxes grow each year.
Legislation would require property tax data disclosure
Legislation to require the state to annually post complete property tax data was approved 72-1 Monday by the Assembly and now heads to the Senate for consideration.
The bill comes after the Christie administration this year deleted property tax data traditionally found on the Department of Community Affairs web site. The information detailed Christie’s cuts to property tax relief that have resulted in a net property tax increase of about 20 percent.