October 31, 2014

Dear NJGCA Member:

Thank you for reading this week's NJGCA Road Warrior!

Here is what you will find in this edition:

PROPOSALS TO APPLY 7% NJ SALES TAX TO GASOLINE
NJGCA MEETS WITH EDA TO DISCUSS GENERATOR GRANT PROGRAM
AIRBAG RECALL -- HOW YOU CAN HELP YOUR CUSTOMERS!

I'm starting this week's message (again) with a discussion about the gas tax. I am not sure if I'll talk about this topic EVERY week, however, I'm not kidding... this is serious. The drumbeat is getting louder, and the scary part is that the pressure is mounting to apply the 7% NJ sales tax to the sale of gasoline, not simply raise the current gas tax. Why is this the preferred method? Because legislators want to be able to deny that they have "raised" taxes. They want to be able to say, "I did not vote for a gas tax increase," which they WILL technically be able to say if they do not increase the current gas tax, but simply apply the current 7% sales tax to gasoline.

I have relative confidence that we will be able to STOP the sales tax on gas, because as I have been discussing this with individual legislators and explaining to them the difference and the burden it will cause YOU, they all seem to respond positively. However, I simply cannot predict where this is going. There are still people in Trenton who say there will be no gas tax increase of any kind, which is still a possibility. But if I had to bet, I'd say we will see some type of an increase by midnight on June 30th, 2015, which is the constitutional deadline to have a budget for the next fiscal year. I still don't have an accurate read on how the Governor will approach this issue. There are some signals that he will block any attempt to raise any tax, but there are also some new signals, which never existed before, that seem to indicate that he might be open to this, under certain circumstances.

In other news, Jacy and I attended a very productive two-hour meeting this week with officials from the NJ Economic Development Authority (the state agency coordinating the NJ Generator Grant Program). There is a lot that occurred during this meeting which we cannot discuss. Our main focus right now is to get through the current phase, which was started a year ago. However, we are asking for a second phase, since all of the money that was available ($7 million) will not be granted at the end of this round.

This is what you need to know:

Please contact Jacy at 973-376-0066 or jacy@njgca.org if you have any questions!

Finally, I just want to mention briefly the widespread airbag recall that we have been hearing about in recent weeks. You may have customers coming in to you with questions or concerns. This is a great opportunity to YOU to prove your value to your customers. If you have a customer database that allows you to identify customers that drive these vehicles, you may want to reach out and notify them. You could also send a mass email to your entire customer list, and include the following link, to bring this issue to their attention. They will appreciate the effort that you have made to put them and their safety first!

http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/Vehicle-owners-with-defective-airbags-urged-to-take-immediate-action

TRAINING CLASSES!!
-ALL CLASSES WILL BE HELD AT NJGCA HEADQUARTERS-
66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081 (Union County)

NJGCA is pleased to offer the NJ Emission Technician Education Program, starting Nov. 3rd. This is the ETEP Certification Course, the entire program, sections 1-7. This is everything you need to become a licensed Emission Repair Technician. Tests are given throughout the course and technicians that pass will receive a certificate stating that they successfully completed the New Jersey Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP). NJGCA has provided this program to the NJ Department of Transportation, UPS and NJGCA Members throughout New Jersey. Our pass rate in this class is 100%.

NJGCA is also offering the Emission Repair Technician RE-CERTIFICATION class in December. For more information about the two classes, please see the flyer below.

FOR MORE INFO & TO REGISTER FOR THE 8 WEEK ENTIRE EMISSION TECHNICIAN EDUCATION PROGRAM (ETEP) CLASS -- SECTIONS 1 TO 7 -- OFFERED ON MONDAYS DURING NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, PLEASE CLICK HERE.

FOR REGISTRATION INFO FOR THE EMISSION REPAIR TECHNICIAN RE-CERTIFICATION, PLEASE CLICK HERE

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 973-376-0066 or DEBBIE@NJGCA.ORG TO LET HER KNOW YOU ARE INTERESTED IN TAKING A SPECIFIC CLASS. THIS WILL ALLOW US TO GAUGE YOUR NEEDS AND KEEP TRACK OF THOSE WISHING TO PARTICIPATE!!

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS

Do you have a business for sale? Are you looking for a new location or opportunity?

10/28/2014:
Next-generation Chevy Volt more fuel efficient, longer range
General Motors' next-generation Chevy Volt will have a significantly longer all-electric range, a power-train that's 130 pounds lighter and it will be more powerful. The Detroit automaker will introduce the 2016 Volt at the North American International Auto Show in January. GM officials say it isn't likely to go on sale until the second half of 2015. GM showed off its new two-motor drive unit that it will build at its Warren Transmission plant starting next year -- a part that was previously built in Mexico. The redesigned drive-unit is 5 to 12% more efficient than the system on the current Volt and weighs about 100 pounds less. The current Volt is a plug-in hybrid that operates with 38 miles of electric range and gets 37 mpg when operated with the gasoline engine. GM says the next-generation Volt will be significantly more efficient, but GM and Barra won't disclose the ratings and new range until January. The new vehicle will be at least 5% more fuel efficient when driven in gasoline-only mode. The 2016 Volt will have 20% better acceleration at low speeds, because of the two-motor system that replaces the one motor in the current system. It will have a better battery cell chemistry that increases storage capacity by 20% on a volume basis while the number of cells decreases from 288 to 192. The lower positioning of the cells means a lower center of gravity and improved handling.

10/28/2014:
A Massachusetts Town May Ban All Tobacco Sales
A Massachusetts town might become the first in the nation to ban all tobacco sales, according to the Boston Globe. Westminster, Mass. is a town of 7,765 located northwest of Boston. The city’s website describes the community as “a small New England village.” The Westminster Board of Health has recently issued a proposal that would prohibit the sale of any products that contain tobacco or nicotine, such as cigarettes, chewing tobacco and e-cigs within the village. The use of tobacco in workplaces and the sale of tobacco to minors are already illegal in Massachusetts, and many towns prohibit smoking in public areas. The Westminster proposal would be the first to ban sales to otherwise legal customers. Local business owners are concerned about the impact the ban would have on their business, and they are petitioning the board to block the proposal. “Where do you draw the line; a candy ban because it causes diabetes? Are we going to ban bacon because it causes [high] cholesterol? It seems like a slippery slope,” Brian Vincent, the owner of Vincent’s Country Store, told the Boston Globe. Vincent told the Sentinel and Enterprise that tobacco sales constitute about 5-6% of his sales, and that a ban would “cripple” his business. The board of health argues that the ban would limit tobacco use in the community.

10/29/2014:
Banning Tobacco Sales Only Harms Retailers: Westminster’s proposal would violate retailer’s rights to sell legal products
Since the average convenience store relies on tobacco sales for up to 40% of in-store sales, a total ban on tobacco product sales will financially cripple small retail businesses in Westminster. The negative impact will likely include employees losing their jobs and even the closure of local retail stores. Such a drastic outcome will occur because adults will simply travel a short distance to the next city or town to buy tobacco products. When this occurs, these adult customers will also purchase their gasoline and other products at stores in neighboring towns, which will further exacerbate the financial impact on Westminster retailers. From a legal standpoint, this outcome could result in a lawsuit filed against the Town of Westminster because the property rights of retailers are being infringed. That is, a retailer has a right to sell legal products, including tobacco products. By prohibiting the sale of tobacco products, the Town of Westminster would be depriving retailers of that right. When a government deprives a citizen of a constitutional right, the party whose rights are taken away by a government is entitled to compensation. Moreover, the Westminster Board of Health is likely exceeding its authority because a total ban on tobacco sales is not reasonable and cannot be supported on any rational basis since there are so many less restrictive measures that can be considered short of prohibition. Setting aside the potential for litigation, a ban on the sale of tobacco products by the Town of Westminster will not solve the problem of underage tobacco use. That is the case because the Centers for Disease Control’s National Youth Tobacco Survey demonstrates that most minors who use tobacco products obtain the products from “social sources.” These social sources include older friends, adult-age siblings, strangers, and even parents. So, until the issue of social sources is addressed through policy and further education, banning the sale of tobacco products will simply lead to economic harm to hardworking local retailers and their employees.

We have had a number of NJGCA members successfully reduce their rate per kWh signing up through our energy saving program. We know it's difficult to collect 12 months worth of previous electric bills to get an "accurate" analysis when comparing a variable rate to a fixed rate, but we now have another option available.

This new solution is a power purchase option; the other program is still in full force and has saved members thousands of dollars. If you sign up for the power purchase option, you will be grouped with other NJGCA members until the minimum KW demand is acquired. By pooling the member's usage together, you will be able to take advantage, as large energy users do, and receive a lower kWh rate.

Each member will receive their own contract. Each member is responsible to sign and return the agreement the day it is received in order to secure the price for their group.

Please do your due diligence, so when you receive the proposal and the agreement you will be able to make an intelligent decision.

If by chance, you still want us to assess you bills, to give you a price to compare, we will require12 months of your most recent utility bills.

There are no bills required, but we would still like to have one bill per meter on file to check account #'s, meter #'s service addresses and other pertinent information incase there is a problem.

The term of the agreement is for 12 months. During this term period, you will have price protection against any energy price increases along with a low fixed kWh rate.

If you are interested in becoming part of this power purchase option, please contact Greg Cannon at the NJGCA.

Remember when you sign up your energy through the NJGCA Energy Program, TMP makes a considerable donation to the NJGCA Scholarship Fund through their proceeds. This has no affect on your rate, and costs you nothing out of pocket.

We hope to help hundreds of NJGCA members reduce their utility costs by participating in this and our other cost reduction programs. Our purpose, in the endeavor, is to help NJGCA members lower their energy costs while supporting the NJGCA Scholarship Fund.

Contact GREG CANNON at 973-376-0066 or email Greg at greg@njgca.org. Mention that you are interested in saving money on your energy bills. NJGCA & TMP Energy Solutions will handle all the rest.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC

DEFENDING OUR MEMBERS.
PROTECTING YOUR INTERESTS.
ANSWER THE CALL & CONTRIBUTE TODAY!!

Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members.

However, in order to truly affect the debate, we must ensure our friends in the Legislature are re-elected. It is for this reason that your Association has established the NJGCA PAC.

For too long, the weight of funding our Political Action Committee, the arm of the Association responsible for political donations, has rested upon a few. This is not only unfair to those few members who have shouldered this burden, but means we are not utilizing our full strength to affect the debate in Trenton.

To truly understand the importance of supporting our allies, consider our successes in Trenton:

We defeated BELOW COST SELLING
We made history in getting FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL signed into law!
We have built large support for RIGHT TO REPAIR and got it passed out of the Assembly
We defended your small business against the false accusations of Attorney General Anne Milgram
We gained wide support to move New Jersey to an all PIF Inspection System and close the CIF lanes
...and MUCH MORE!!

In each instance, we achieved these goals with the help of our friends in the Legislature!

If every member contributes just $100.00 we will be able to provide the help necessary to ensure victory for our allies.

PLEASE SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTIONS TO:
NJGCA PAC
66 Morris Avenue
Springfield, NJ 07081
Please make your donation payable to NJGCA PAC

I understand that times are tough for all NJGCA members, but this is just as important as any battle we have fought in the past.

We have made great progress in Trenton. I hope that you will answer the call.

THE MEMBER TOOL BOX

MEMBER SAVINGS PAGE
Check out all of our MBPs and Programs designed to SAVE YOU MONEY!