New Jersey State Legislature

MORIARTY STATEMENT ON GOVERNOR CORZINE'S BUDGET ADDRESS

(TRENTON) - Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Gloucester/Camden) today released the following statement on Governor Jon S. Corzine's budget address to a joint session of the New Jersey Legislature:

COHEN: CORZINE'S CONTINUED COMMITMENT TO STEM CELL RESEARCH WELCOME NEWS

(TRENTON) - Governor Jon S. Corzine's 2007 State of the State address to a joint session of the Legislature highlighted a continued commitment to stem cell research in New Jersey, Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen said today.

Political feuds don't get much better than the one between Republican State Senator James Turner and Democratic Assemblyman Kenneth Gewertz in Gloucester County in the early 1970's. Turner was so determined to destroy his rival that he conspired to plant drugs in Gewertz's car and garage. But the tactic went bad after the police detective sensed that the tip he received from Turner might not be completely altruistic. An investigation led to Turner's arrest on charges that he hired three known criminals to plant a large amount of amphetamines in the Gewertz home. A jury convicted the 44-year-old Turner in less than two hours and he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Turner was removed from the Senate after his conviction, but refused to drop his bid for re-election to a second term in 1973. Gloucester County Republicans withdrew their endorsement and ran Sheriff Walter Fish as a write-in candidate after a Superior Court Judge rebuffed their bid to remove him from the ballot. The seat was an easy pickup for the Democrats: Raymond Zane, a Gloucester County Freeholder, defeated Turner by a wide margin. (Turner still managed to get more than 20% of the vote.)

Gewertz, perhaps one of the most colorful men to ever serve in the New Jersey Legislature, was able to keep his seat until Democrats finally dumped him in 1979.

**MEDIA ADVISORY**

SCHOOL FUNDING REFORM JOINT COMMITTEE TO VOTE ON FINAL REPORT MONDAY

TRENTON - The Joint Legislative Committee on Public School Funding Reform is scheduled to meet on Monday to vote to approve the panel's final report and recommendations, which include setting the framework for a new school funding formula in the State of New Jersey and establishing accountability benchmarks to safeguard education dollars.

The Committee will meet at 2:30 PM on Monday, November 27, 2006 in Committee Room 11, 4th Floor Statehouse Annex in Trenton.

WEINBERG - 'TIME TO BAN SMOKING IN CASINOS'

Key Bill Sponsor Cites Surgeon General's Report on Second Hand Smoke

TRENTON - Senator Loretta Weinberg, a prime sponsor of New Jersey's "Clean Indoor Air Act" legislation to ban smoking in restaurants and bars in New Jersey, issued the following statement regarding the need to move quickly on legislation that would extend the ban to casinos:

"Yesterday, a report from the U.S. Surgeon General underlined the need to protect all of New Jersey's workers from the poison of second-hand smoke.

"The President's Surgeon General concluded that second-hand smoke poses very serious, very real dangers to non-smoking adults, including lung cancer and cardiac arrest.

COHEN/WISNIEWSKI SEEK TO AVERT GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWNS
Veteran Legislators Pen Measure to Permit Continuing Budget Resolutions

(TRENTON) - Amid talks of a possible government shutdown and with the budget deadline eight days away, Assemblymen Neil M. Cohen and John S. Wisniewski today introduced legislation that would allow the New Jersey Legislature to issue continuing budget resolutions.

NEW JERSEY LEGISLATURE

June 9, 2006

Honorable Senator Stephen M. Sweeney
Kingsway Commons
935 Kings Highway Suite 400
Thorofare, New Jersey 08086

Dear Senator Sweeney:

During the past four years the interests of taxpayers have been ignored while state spending has surged 25 percent. The Republican members of the Senate and General Assembly are ready to join with you and other like-minded members to swiftly bring about legislative action on pension reform.

For the last several years, we have been pushing for comprehensive non-partisan reforms in how the people’s business is conducted. We have offered several proposals to combat abuses in the state public employee pension system and make the benefits offered to government workers more closely mirror those offered to private sector employees. Among our proposals are a cap on sick leave payouts and an analysis of converting to a defined contribution plan for new employees.

We hope that by joining together and making this a bipartisan effort, the Legislature can take immediate action. Given that there is no end in sight to New Jersey’s budget predicament – Governor Corzine anticipates a $1.6 billion budget shortfall next year even if all of his $2 billion in tax increases are enacted – there should be no delay in repairing the state’s fiscal health.

Middle class New Jersey families face an affordability recession. We have a duty to pursue any opportunity to ease our state’s spiraling tax burden.

Very truly yours,

William Gormley Walter Kavanaugh Anthony Bucco

Martha Bark Robert Littell Gerald Cardinale

Jennifer Beck Alison McHose Amy Handlin

Kevin OToole Joseph Kyrillos

SIRES APPLAUDS REPORT RANKING NEW JERSEY DISCLOSURE LAWS AMONG 10 BEST IN THE NATION
New Report Lauds Online Access to Legislative Disclosures

(TRENTON) - Nearly two years after the New Jersey Legislature passed some of the most sweeping ethics and disclosure laws in the nation, a recent independent report has ranked New Jersey among the top ten states for public access to government records, prompting praise from Assembly Speaker Emeritus Albio Sires, one of the prime architects of the 2004 legislation.

Political feuds don't get much better than the one between Republican State Senator James Turner and Democratic Assemblyman Kenneth Gewertz in Gloucester County in the early 1970's. Turner was so determined to destroy his rival that he conspired to plant drugs in Gewertz's car and garage. But the tactic went bad after the police detective sensed that the tip he received from Turner might not be completely altruistic. An investigation led to Turner's arrest on charges that he hired three known criminals to plant a large amount of amphetamines in the Gewertz home. A jury convicted the 44-year-old Turner in less than two hours and he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Turner was removed from the Senate after his conviction, but refused to drop his bid for re-election to a second term in 1973. Gloucester County Republicans withdrew their endorsement and ran Sheriff Walter Fish as a write-in candidate after a Superior Court Judge rebuffed their bid to remove him from the ballot. The seat was an easy pickup for the Democrats: Raymond Zane, a Gloucester County Freeholder, defeated Turner by a wide margin. (Turner still managed to get more than 20% of the vote.)

Gewertz, perhaps one of the most colorful men to ever serve in the New Jersey Legislature, was able to keep his seat until Democrats finally dumped him in 1979.

BECK, HANDLIN AND KARROW TAKE OATH OF OFFICE AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY REORGANIZATION MEETING
NEW REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY MEMBERS SWORN-IN