December 14, 2017

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

NJGCA SEEKS CONDITIONAL VETO OF WAGE THEFT LEGISLATION
UPDATE ON EXXON PROMOTION TO RIGHT OF FIRST REFUSAL DEALERS
THANK YOU TO MEMBERS WHO HAVE SENT MINIMUM WAGE DATA

One year ago tomorrow, in the December 15, 2016 Road Warrior I first discussed the issue of wage theft. The bill was first introduced in the summer of 2016, and the first order of business was to remove language in the bill that would’ve allowed employees to file criminal charges in municipal court against their employers if they felt cheated out of any wages (not paid for enough hours, not paid proper hourly wages, or not paid overtime). We were indeed successful in those efforts, but last winter when the bill was heard in the Assembly Labor Committee, we still felt it necessary to voice our opposition to other aspects of the bill which we felt were “harsh and unreasonable penalties” for people who may unknowingly or negligently make errors when doing their payroll.

Last week, this bill completed the legislative process and it is now on Governor Christie’s desk. Although the legislation does not contain the burdensome provisions mentioned above, which we were originally worried about, it fails to distinguish between employers who willfully and knowingly cheat employees, and employers who unknowingly underpaid employees through a paperwork error or something similar. Since we can never support any employer knowingly cheating their employees, we would be willing to support this if that distinction is made.

Eric and I met yesterday with Counsel to Governor Christie to request a Conditional Veto of the bill (the condition being that the Legislature make a clear distinction between willfully and knowingly cheating employees versus unknowingly and unwillingly cheating employees). We don’t know what the Governor is going to do. Since we are nearing the end of the legislative session, my fear is that the clock runs out, and I expect that this bill will be reintroduced when the new Governor is sworn in. If and when it gets reintroduced under a new Governor, it will contain all of the provisions that we have negotiated out of the current bill, which we won’t be able to negotiate out of the new bill, because Governor Murphy has already declared that he will sign it in the more burdensome form. I will keep you informed of how this all unfolds.

Finally, a follow up to my Wildfire Alert from Monday. I have received phone calls from several members about the Exxon promotion, and I want to clarify. The program that Exxon put together is specifically for ALL Exxon distributors to offer to Exxon stations that were purchased by the dealer under the Right of First Refusal back in 2012. This offer is not being made to any other Exxon dealers. If you have any questions regarding this, feel free to call the office.

Thank you to those members who have replied with information regarding your payroll and the effect it would have had if $15 an hour minimum wage had been in place since 2016. I still need more shop owners to reply so please spend some time to make the calculations and send them to me.

Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

12/14/2017:
Rising U.S. oil output threatens global oil market balance in 2018
The global oil market will likely show a surplus in the first half of 2018, as rising U.S. supply offsets OPEC's discipline in maintaining its production cuts for the whole of next year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said today. "Total supply growth could exceed demand growth: indeed, in the first half the surplus could be 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) before reverting to a deficit of about 200,000 bpd in the second half, leaving 2018 as a whole showing a closely balanced market," the Paris-based IEA said in its monthly oil market report. "A lot could change in the next few months but it looks as if the producers’ hopes for a happy New Year with de-stocking continuing into 2018 at the same 500,000-bpd pace we have seen in 2017 may not be fulfilled." The IEA left its forecast for global oil demand growth unchanged for 2017 at 1.5 million bpd, marking a rise of 1.6%, and for 2018, at 1.3 million bpd, equal to an increase of 1.3%. Production from outside OPEC is expected to have risen by 600,000 bpd this year, before increasing by 1.6 million bpd next year. The IEA last month predicted non-OPEC supply would increase by 1.3 million bpd in 2018, but the pace of growth in U.S. shale output prompted the agency to raise its forecast for total U.S. crude output growth to 870,000 bpd for next year, up from a forecast for an increase of 790,000 bpd in its November report. OPEC and 10 of its partners, including Russia, agreed in November to extend a 1.8-million bpd supply cut throughout the whole of 2018 to force a drawdown in global inventories and support crude prices.

12/11/2017
New York Retailers Combat Proposed ‘Predictive Scheduling’ Regulations
New York convenience store operators are giving the state Labor Department an earful about the negative impacts of “predictive scheduling” regulations they are threatening to unilaterally impose on employers statewide. Retailers representing hundreds of convenience stores have filed formal comments objecting to the proposed rules, which would add costs and curtail flexibility for employers. The NY Association of Convenience Stores (NYACS) is urging all retailers to file comments before the deadline of January 5, 2018. After that, the Cuomo administration intends to enact the regulations without any vetting by the state legislature. “Coming on the heels of minimum wage legislation that is gradually rising to $15 an hour, and a paid family leave mandate that is taking effect January 1, this is the last thing beleaguered NY small businesses need,” said NYACS President Jim Calvin. “By arbitrarily requiring C-stores to schedule a full two weeks in advance, they are trying to throw a saddle on a wild mustang. Our industry that utterly defies predictability.” “They must think we’re mistreating or abusing our employees. That’s far from the case,” Calvin continued. “Most of our members use a collaborative approach to scheduling that provides as much flexibility as possible to each of the students, working mothers, senior citizens and other individuals who staff their stores. In fact, an October NACS survey found that 70% of c-store employees appreciated the flexible work schedule their employer offered.” Key provisions of the proposed regulations can be found by clicking the link above.

12/11/2017:
Appeals Court Hears Challenge to Retail Tobacco Enforcement
On December 7, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit heard arguments in the case of Orton Oil v. U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The case came about after the FDA charged Orton with three violations of the law on retail sales of tobacco after only inspecting the retail location twice and only providing notices of violation twice. FDA’s practice of penalizing retailers for two violations of law during one inspection (and typically on only one sale in which no ID was checked and the sale was made) has been a recurring problem for NACS members. Because of the widespread concern about FDA’s practice of charging retailers with two violations in one inspection/sale, NACS has funded this litigation challenge to FDA’s practices since the inception of the case in 2015. The legal challenge has two parts: First is that FDA charging retailers with two violations in one inspection/sale violated the terms of the law establishing FDA’s ability to regulate tobacco; and second is that FDA’s practice of not providing retailers with the opportunity to contest a first violation before getting a warning letter is also a violation of the law. The case initially was contested in front of a FDA administrative law judge (ALJ). The ALJ ruled in favor of Orton that FDA’s two challenged practices both violated the law. FDA appealed that decision to a different FDA ALJ and managed to get a different decision. In the summer of 2016, the second ALJ ruled that FDA’s enforcement methods complied with the law. Orton Oil, represented by NACS counsel Steptoe & Johnson, then appealed the case to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. The arguments in the case lasted about twice as long as the court initially allotted. Each of the three Circuit Court judges had questions for the lawyers for FDA and Orton to probe the strengths and weaknesses of the case. The judges did not say anything about how they would rule in the case. They will publish a written opinion on the matter sometime next year.

12/11/2017:
Are gas stations required by law to let you use the bathroom?
Sometimes, when you gotta go, you gotta go. But if you're on the road, it can be tough to find that much-needed bathroom. There's actually a bill in the legislature meant to help consumers who find themselves with an urgent need but no public facilities in sight. The bill came to our attention after David Verkade, a Delaware man who was in New Jersey to visit his children, was rebuffed when he asked to use a restroom at a Wawa in Skillman. When Verkade asked to use the bathroom, an employee said the store didn't have a public restroom so the answer was no. "The employee never gave me a chance to explain. All he said was an emphatic no," Verkade said. "He was very courteous but it still posed a problem and I had no time to hang around." Verkade left the store and went to a nearby supermarket, where he was able to find the porcelain he needed. When he returned home, he did a little research, finding a NJ bill that would require retail establishments to allow customers to use employee restrooms under certain conditions. The bill was first introduced in the Senate in 2010 by Sen. Andrew Ciesla, but it never made it out of committee. It's been reintroduced several times, most recently in the Senate by Sen. Jeff Van Drew and in the Assembly by Asm. Bob Andrzejczak. It would require retail establishments to allow people with certain medical conditions access to employee restrooms if the establishment doesn't have a public restroom. The "eligible medical conditions" included are "Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, any other inflammatory bowel disease, irritable bowel syndrome, or any medical condition that requires the use of an ostomy device or immediate access to a restroom." Certain other conditions would have to be met. There would need to be three or more employees working at the time, and the eligible restrooms would only be those not located in an area "where providing public access would create an obvious health or safety risk to the customer or a security risk to the retail establishment." Any business that violates the law would be fined $500 for each offense.

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

TMP Energy Solutions

Another Way to Save on Your Energy Bills

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 require 12 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 732-256-9646 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
4900 Route 33 West, Suite 100
Wall Township, NJ 07753
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.

*NEW* Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.