April 17, 2015

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

FREE 2015 BREAKFAST MEETINGS IN HAZLET & PARAMUS
ENTIRE ETEP CLASS AND ETEP RE-CERTIFICATION CLASSES
NJGCA FIGHTS PROPOSAL TO RAISE AGE TO PURCHASE TOBACCO

While it has been a relatively quiet week with regard to issues in Trenton, we have been busy here at NJGCA headquarters organizing and planning many events for our members. Next week we will be hosting the first FREE NJGCA Diner Tour Breakfast Meetings of 2015! On Tuesday, April 21, we'll be in Hazlet, and on Wednesday, April 22, we'll be in Paramus. We encourage you to join us if these locations are convenient to you. The 2014 Diner Tour was very successful last year, and we look forward to this opportunity to connect with members in this smaller, more intimate forum. I'll be discussing topics such as sales tax on gas, self-serve gas, motor vehicle inspections, restrictions on tobacco sales, getting technical information needed to fix cars, and Internet lottery. One member at each meeting will also win a $50 gift card! For more information on these meetings or to RSVP to attend, please call 973-376-0066 or email jacy@njgca.org.

We have also been working to organize training classes for our members. We are offering the entire ETEP class and ETEP re-certification courses. For the ETEP re-certification class, we will have day and night classes. The information flyer for the classes is available HERE and the registration form is available HERE. For more information, please email debbie@njgca.org.

As it relates to issues critical to our industry, Eric and I continue to have successful meetings in Trenton regarding the many issues that we have been working on. As you know, there are gas tax issues, tobacco issues, lottery issues, repair/inspection issues, etc. and we don't focus on ALL of these issues in EVERY meeting with EACH legislator. Part of NJGCA's success in Trenton is that we discuss specific issues and target individual legislators in the unique situations where we need their support.

Finally, as a reminder, NJGCA will be in Princeton on Tuesday evening to voice our opposition to their proposal to increase the age to purchase tobacco. We have contacted business owners who sell tobacco, and have asked for them to join us at the meeting on Tuesday night. We cannot be successful in this fight without the support of those people who is directly affects. IF YOU OPERATE YOUR BUSINESS IS IN PRINCETON AND YOU SELL TOBACCO, PLEASE CONTACT ERIC AT ERIC@NJGCA.ORG OR 973-376-0066 TO HELP US FIGHT TO PROTECT YOUR BUSINESS.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

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

For info on the ENTIRE ETEP course, and the ETEP Re-Certification courses that NJGCA is offering, please click HERE.

To access the registration form and payment info, 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

NJGCA MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNERS LOOKING TO HIRE!

GILL ENERGY:

For more information about these positions, and to submit a resume for consideration, please contact: ravigill@gillenergy.com.

04/16/2015
Why is that... I can't pump my own gasoline?
Q: Why can't I pump my own gasoline? Submitted by Mark M.
Staying cozy comfy in your car on a cold, wintery day as an attendant fills your tank is a bad thing? Most NJ residents love full-service, a 2012 poll by Fairleigh Dickinson University /PublicMind found. 63% said keep the ban, with young motorists and women leading the charge, the poll found. NJ, along with many other states, passed the self-serve ban in 1949. But only NJ and Oregon have kept full service in place after most states abolished it in the 1970s. Pump your own gas here and you face up to a $250 fine. Monmouth University economics professor Robert H. Scott III, who has studied this topic, said it's a myth that gasoline prices would drop if the ban were lifted. Without an attendant doing the dirty work, fire hazards (think of a motorist driving away with the gas nozzle still in the car) would increase and business insurance rate hikes would burn up any savings, Scott said. Moreover, lifting the ban would put about 14,000 attendants out of a job, he said. Some states have asked him about bringing the self-serve ban back just so low-skilled employees could work. For Scott, who dreaded self-serve fueling ventures during harsh winters in Colorado and Missouri, the luxury of full service is a plus for NJ. "It is the best," he said.

04/11/215
Another N.J. city may force all businesses to provide paid sick leave
Plainfield could become the 10th municipality in the state, and among fewer than two dozen in the whole country, to adopt its own sick-leave ordinance, requiring all businesses in the city, no matter their size, to provide all workers with paid sick days. The proposed law would apply to full-time as well as part-time and temporary workers, giving them an hour of sick time for every 30 hours they work. Workers would be able to use the sick days for scheduled doctor's appointments or to take care of a parent or child who is sick. The proposal has the backing of labor groups and appears to have the support of the city's Democratic elected officials, including Mayor Adrian Mapp, who this week called the proposal "progressive" and "a win-win for the businesses and the employees."

04/10/2015
State could run out of money to make transportation debt payment, group says
NJ could be in the same position next year as a person who isn't able to make the minimum payment on their credit card bill, a transportation advocacy group says. That's because the state TTF faces a $70 million revenue shortfall just in the amount needed to pay off past debt. The Tri- State Transportation Campaign issued the warning Thursday, based on it's analysis of Gov. Christie's five-year plan to reauthorize the trust fund and Office of Legislative Services report. The OLS report that said the TTF Authority will require $70 million in new revenues in fiscal year 2017 to meet payments on existing debt. The fund already will run out of money to do new projects on July 1, unless a new revenue source is found. However, state Transportation Commissioner Jamie Fox conceded last week that won't likely happen until next year. But the revelation by OLS that the trust fund will be short $70 million to make debt payments is new information. That analysis said the trust fund will bring in revenues of $1.196 billion in fiscal year 2016, which falls short of the $1.27 billion annual debt payment. That amount doesn't factor in plans to borrow $628 million in 2016 for major transportation projects.

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!