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March 22, 2018

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

• Paid Sick Leave Update: Keep Posting Letters! Vote Expected Monday; State of Emergency Reminder; First Self-Driving Vehicle Fatality; Reminder: Sign Up for NJGCA/NJDEP Seminar ASAP!

NJGCA CLASSIFIEDS
- Monmouth County: Gas Station and Repair Shop Business Since 2001
- Asbury Park: Commercial Building for Sale. Possible Sale of Business
- Bergen County: Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

• US Regulators Renew Scrutiny of Menthol, Tobacco Flavors

• Philly Soda Tax Creates Black Market for Sugared Drinks

• Murphy Diverts $136M in Clean-Energy Funds to Help Balance Budget
• Murphy Backs Specific Fix For Problem In Out-of-network Health Insurance Billing

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD
• The Amato Agency: Garage Insurance and Workers Compensation!
• ATS Environmental: Confidence in your Tank & Compliance Testing
• Bellomo Fuel: Exceptional Service, Aggressive Petroleum Marketing
• CBIZ Insurance: Our Business is Growing Yours!
• Gill Energy: Getting you There!
• Lending Capital: "Commercial Loans Made Easy" Program
• Salomone Brothers: Tank Testing and Environmental Compliance
• TMP Energy Solutions: Another Way to Save On Your Energy Bills

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC
• Participate in the NJGCA PAC today and help us keep our Agenda rolling in Trenton!

Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

JOIN NJGCA ON FACEBOOK -- CLICK HERE
TO SEE OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL -- CLICK HERE

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

PAID SICK LEAVE UPDATE: KEEP SENDING LETTERS! VOTE EXPECTED MONDAY
STATE OF EMERGENCY REMINDER
FIRST SELF-DRIVING VEHICLE FATALITY
REMINDER: SIGN UP FOR NJGCA/NJDEP SEMINAR ASAP!

First, I want to thank those of you who sent out letters last week regarding the sick leave legislation. This legislation seems to be moving quickly, the Speaker has already assumed it will pass in the Assembly Appropriations Committee and has posted it for a vote in the full Assembly on Monday. As a reminder, this bill requires every business in New Jersey give every employee paid leave, even if they are part-time hourly workers. While we have been successful having this bill amended to be fairer to employers, such as reducing the number of hours an employee can earn per year from 72 hours to 40 hours; the current version still treats all businesses as the same regardless of if the business has one employee or 1,000. We are asking our members, even those of you who already sent a letter to their legislators, to please continue to do so! We want to be sure our business community weighs in loudly and let our legislators know how burdensome this will be. Click here to send your message.

Spring may have officially started on Tuesday, but it seems Mother Nature did not get the message with this weather we are experiencing along the east coast. The Governor did declare a state of emergency as a result of the storm on Wednesday. As always, the anti-gouging laws take effect in these scenarios. Although I do not expect any of you to be in a situation where you dramatically increase the price of gas, it is my job to remind you that you are subject to price gouging laws. Anything more than a 10% increase in the next thirty days after the state of emergency is terminated will activate the law. Make no mistake, if you are suspected of raising prices to take advantage of the situation, an angry customer will make a complaint, even if it is unjustified.

Next month, you will be receiving our quarterly On The Road newsletter. The theme of this issue, The Future of the Industry, has been planned for several months. As a heads up, we will be discussing the upcoming disruption in the industry and other affected industries as a result of the recent emergence of autonomous vehicles. In the news this week, a woman in Tempe, Arizona was killed when a self-driving Uber hit her while crossing the street. This is believed to be the first instance of a death by a self-driving vehicle. The city has been working with Uber, along with several other cities, to test this technology and eventually scale up this project. As a precaution there was an emergency driver behind the wheel as the technology in place in the vehicles do not account for unpredictable situations. A case such as this raises several questions for the future of this industry, will there be some kind of a ‘slow down’ in the implementation of autonomous vehicles? Read this article from the New York Times if you have not seen it yet and keep your eyes peeled for the OTR next month to learn more about this technology.

Another reminder to sign up for the seminar we will be having with the NJDEP if you have not done so yet. There is no reason you all should not be signed up for this if you have underground storage tanks. I’m doing my best to make sure none of you call me with violations because you don’t understand something, which is very easy to happen with NJDEP regulations. Please sign up for this seminar on April 17th, this event is first come first serve and is filling up quickly! You can register here.

That's all for this week,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 732-256-9646 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

FOR SALE:

Business For Sale: Monmouth County gas station and repair shop in business since 2001 is for sale. Owner is relocating out of state and is interested in selling business and equipment. Owner is open to limited financing. Business has a strong 10 year lease. The building has two repair bays and the gas pumps are leased to a large independent tenant. Repair shop business currently employs a Manager and two full-time Technicians. For inquiries and more info, please call Mark at 908-670-7798.

FOR SALE:

Commercial Building in Asbury Park, Possible Sale of Business, Too! For listing information, please click HERE.

FOR SALE:

Shell Gas Station with 6-Bay Repair Shop for Sale in Bergen County!

Business established in 1980. Fully equipped repair shop with 5 lifts including an alignment rack with a 2-year-old Hunter Hawkeye alignment machine. New Hunter tire machine & wheel balancer. AAA aproved and very busy.

Towing business also available which includes 3 Freightliner/JerrDan flatbeds (2015, 2016 & 2017), a 2012 Dodge crew cab wrecker with a Jerrdan Quick Pick & dual cable winch & 2 service trucks (a 2012 GMC 2500 utility truck with a plow & a 2014 Ford transit battery/service vehicle).

Pumping over 1,000,000 gallons per year. 100x300 lot with plenty of parking. Excellent location!!! Call Jim @ 201-851-3084.

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

3/20/18
US Regulators Renew Scrutiny of Menthol, Tobacco Flavors
Federal health officials are taking a closer look at flavors in tobacco products that appeal to young people, particularly menthol-flavored cigarettes, which have escaped regulation despite nearly a decade of government scrutiny. The Food and Drug Administration issued a call Tuesday for more information about flavored cigars and electronic cigarettes, which currently have no flavor restrictions. Extra attention will fall on menthol, the only cigarette flavor permitted by Congress under the 2009 law that brought tobacco under FDA regulation. The FDA's past efforts to begin regulating the ingredient have been stalled by industry. Studies have shown the minty flavor appeals more to younger smokers. More than 50 percent of underage smokers reported smoking menthols in a government survey, compared with only 36 percent of adult smokers.

3/16/18
Philly Soda Tax Creates Black Market for Sugared Drinks
With sodas costing more than the city’s famous cheesesteaks, a thriving black market has sprung up for sugary drinks. Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has agreed that such a soda black market exists, but contended that most businesses—and customers—are paying the tax. The city estimated the soda tax would generate $7.7 million monthly, but actual revenue has hovered between $6.5 million and $7 million, with fluctuations month-to-month.

3/15/18
Murphy Diverts $136M in Clean-Energy Funds to Help Balance Budget
In his first budget message, Gov. Phil Murphy retained one tactic frequently employed by his predecessor: diverting more than $136 million in clean-energy funds to help ensure a balanced state spending plan. The fund, financed by a surcharge on utility customers’ monthly bills, essentially became the Christie administration’s and Democratic-controlled Legislature’s ATM during the former governor’s two terms, with more than $1.5 billion raided to fill budget shortfalls. The bulk of the clean-energy funds will go to New Jersey Transit ($82 million, down from $132 million in fiscal year 2017) and to pay the state’s energy bills ($47.5 million, a drop from $70.8 million in fiscal 2017). Other clean-energy funds are being used to get New Jersey back into the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative ($5 million) and are going to the state Board of Public Utilities ($2.7 million).

3/15/18
Murphy Backs Specific Fix For Problem In Out-of-network Health Insurance Billing
Among the surprises in Gov. Phil Murphy’s budget presentation Tuesday was the mention of reforms to address out-of-network health insurance benefits, which the governor said could save the state tens of millions of dollars and improve care for all New Jersey residents. The Governor suggested in budget documents that changes to the laws governing bills for unplanned medical care by physicians outside a patient’s health insurance network could help the state trim nearly $119 million from the cost of insuring state workers next year. Former Gov. Chris Christie also highlighted this issue in his budget speech last year and budgeted $125 million in health-benefit savings tied to reform. The out-of-network reform proposal championed by Coughlin and Vitale, (both D-Middlesex), seeks to expand transparency around billing and hold down the provider charges in question — an element that has raised significant concerns for some physicians. Other legislation focuses primarily on forcing insurance companies and providers to make it easier for patients to understand network benefits and the billing process.

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.

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.