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April 11, 2019

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:

• NJGCA's Gas Tax Stance Prompts Response From Governor; Coming Soon: Training for Auto Repair Techs; Hiring/Firing Webinar Recordings Available

NJGCA CLASSIFIEDS
- Mercer County: Gas Station for Sale
- Monmouth County: Gas Station and Repair Shop Business Since 2001

NEWS AROUND THE STATE

• Amazon Go Stores To Accept Cash After Philly, New Jersey Ban Cashless Stores
• Are Plastic Bag Bans Garbage?
• Still the Law
• New Yorkers Say They Want To Save The Environment (But They Also Love Their Plastic Bags)
• Revenue From Gas Tax Down, NJ Looks At Alternative
• ‘I Will Not Commit Political Suicide This Morning.’ Phil Murphy Just Said He Won’t Dare Touch This Jersey-only Tradition
• NJ Gas Tax: When More Is Less (Revenue)

TRAINING CLASS SCHEDULE!

??????• EMISSIONS INSPECTOR TRAINING CLASS: WEDNESDAY, April 24th
??????• ENTIRE EMISSION REPAIR TECHNICIAN PROGRAM: May 1, 8, 15, 22, June 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26
??????• RECERTIFICATION EMISSION REPAIR TECHNICIAN PROGRAM: May 1, 8, 15, 22

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

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE:

NJGCA'S GAS TAX STANCE PROMPTS RESPONSE FROM GOVERNOR
COMING SOON: TRAINING FOR AUTO REPAIR TECHS
HIRING/FIRING WEBINAR RECORDINGS AVAILABLE

SELF SERVE/GAS TAX

Last Friday, reporters pounced on Governor Murphy in response to comments that I made in the press regarding self serve gasoline. If you watch the video I sent out in last week’s Road Warrior, I raised the prospect of getting some of the gallons that we have lost to New York and the taxes that go with those gallons returned to New Jersey by permitting motorists to pump their own gas. Since the tax gap with New York has narrowed over the last two years, a significant amount of our tax dollars are now in New York’s checkbook. You can read more about the consequences of raising the gas tax again in New Jersey HERE. If New Jersey permitted self serve, we would be better able to compete with New York and get those dollars back in our checkbook. As part of the news story, CBS even interviewed a female motorist, who had no objection to pumping her own gas. However, that one news story created ripples through the rest of the media, causing Governor Murphy to make his comments. Here’s exactly what he said: “I will not commit political suicide this morning in East Orange. I’m not going near who pumps the gas.” His comments were racing through every news outlet within minutes, and it didn't take long before even legislators that we have met with and expressed an interest in supporting self serve legislation to begin emailing and texting me with the governor’s comments. This remains an issue of utmost importance to NJGCA members, and we will continue the fight. NJ 101.5 conducted a poll earlier this week to take the temperature of listeners if New Jersey should give motorists the option of pumping their own gas. Contrary to the governor’s remarks, 65% of listeners would be willing to pump their own gas. I am confident that more and more New Jersey motorists will desire to pump their own gas once they recognize the benefits.

AUTO REPAIR TECH TRAINING

Many shop owners have bemoaned the fact that getting quality training for their technicians is difficult to come by. NJGCA has been exploring how we can have training classes that will be convenient for your technicians and provide the knowledge that they need to stay on top of their game. I am hoping in the next week I will be able to announce the first technical course we will be offering. However, right now I can share that we have tentative dates to run our technical course in North Jersey and Central/South Jersey. They will be two back-to-back night courses held on Wednesdays and Thursdays. The dates we are looking at are June 5th and 6th and June 12th and 13th. I am excited about getting this together; we will have more information to share in next week's communication.

WEBINARS

We were very pleased with the turn out of the Hiring and Firing Best Practices webinars and I want to thank MBP’s Alicyn Craig and Steven Horowitz again for excellent presentations. You can find both of those recordings on the “webinars” page of our website under the “resources” menu option. You can also find recordings of our other presentations we have conducted as well. On the webinars page, you will also be able to find the employee warning letter that attorney Steven Horowitz provided our members with and talked through the process of filling out in his webinar. I hope you will find these resources useful and will patronize our attorney MBPs.

That's all for this week-

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES
All classes held at NJGCA HQ -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Township, NJ 07753

Emissions Inspector Training Class - One Day Only!
WEDNESDAY, April 24th -- 7 AM to 3 PM

Want one of your technicians to become a NJ Emissions Inspector? We can help! Our one-day class will provide all the information for becoming a NJ Emissions Inspector, and the State will administer the written test the very same day at our offices! This course will also include the NJMVC hands-on training portion. We are offering the class Wednesday, April 24th starting at 7:00am. Cost is $345 for members. Click HERE for registration form.

Want to become an emission repair technician/facility?
Entire Emission Technician Education Program (ETEP) Training Classes
Sections 1-7
1 PM to 9 PM
May 1, 8, 15, 22
June 5, 6, 12, 13, 19, 20, 26

Sections 8, 9, 10 (RECERTIFICATION)
1 PM to 9 PM
May 1, 8, 15, 22

Stop turning away work!

The New Jersey Inspection Program requires vehicles that fail emissions inspection to go to a Licensed Certified Emission Repair Facility and have a Licensed Emission Repair Technician perform the repairs! When the new Emissions Inspection program begins, a list of Certified Emission Repair Facilities will be given to the vehicle owners who fail the New Jersey Emission Inspection. If you want your business name on the list – make sure you have a Certified Licensed Emission Repair Technician and you are licensed as a Emission Repair Facility! Those signing up for the FULL training course will attend sections 1-10. Full ETEP class fees for members are $2,195 and non-members are $2,395. Recertification fees for members are $729 and non-members are $879. Note for Spring 2018 classes: Recertification dates will be held FIRST, with sections 1 to 7 to follow.

Click here for FULL ETEP REGISTRATION FORM
Click here for ETEP RECERTIFICATION FORM

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.

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

4/10/19
Amazon Go Stores To Accept Cash After Philly, New Jersey Ban Cashless Stores
Weeks after Philadelphia and New Jersey passed laws banning cashless stores, Amazon said Wednesday that its cashierless retail locations will start accepting cash. Amazon plans “additional payment mechanisms” at its so-called Go stores, which allow consumers to grab items they need and leave without checking out, a company executive told employees last month, CNBC reported. An Amazon spokesperson confirmed the company plans to take cash at its Go stores, but provided no other details.

4/9/19
Are Plastic Bag Bans Garbage?
Last week, New York became the second U.S. state to ban them. But, these bans may be hurting the environment more than helping it. . .Taylor found these bag bans did what they were supposed to do. People in the cities with the bans used fewer plastic bags, which led to about 40 million fewer pounds of plastic trash per year. But, people who used to reuse their shopping bags for other purposes, like picking up dog poop or lining trash bins, still needed bags. "What I found was that sales of garbage bags actually skyrocketed after plastic grocery bags were banned," she says.

4/8/19
Still the Law
New Jersey’s liquor laws remain substantially similar to those enacted at the end of Prohibition in 1933, though provisions have been grafted onto the statutes over the years. The serial additions created a set of rules that are both outdated and complex. “That cost of the license is the result of an artificial marketplace, the law of supply and demand,” Sal Risalvato, executive director of the New Jersey Gasoline, C-Store and Automotive Association, told the Assembly Oversight, Reform and Federal Relations Committee during a March 21 hearing on updating the state’s liquor license laws. And estimates suggest the existence of about 2,000 inactive or so-called pocketed licenses that critics such as Risalvato said owners are sitting on and not using so as to inflate the prices of the license.

4/8/19
Revenue From Gas Tax Down, NJ Looks At Alternative
Drivers pay for it at the pump. When they fill up, New Jersey’s gas tax fills the Transportation Trust Fund. But tax revenues look like they’re falling short of this year’s $1.5 billion highway fuels revenue target, the state treasurer said in budget hearings last week. The bad news is that a shortfall could trigger yet another hike in the gas tax to make up the difference, unless people buy lots more gas in New Jersey over the next few months. “The reality of the world we’re living in is that gas consumption will go down over time, just with the advent of hybrid and electric vehicles, and the change of habits by the next generation,” Murphy said. That would only accelerate the rise in New Jersey’s gas tax. It went up 4.3 cents last October to more than 41 cents a gallon. That’s why New Jersey — and New York — are part of an East Coast coalition that’s exploring a user fee, based not on the gas you buy, but rather, on the number of miles you drive.

4/5/19
‘I Will Not Commit Political Suicide This Morning.’ Phil Murphy Just Said He Won’t Dare Touch This Jersey-only Tradition
Murphy was asked at a news conference in East Orange on Friday morning if he’d be willing to allow drivers in New Jersey to finally pump gas themselves to cut down on the price at the pump if the state’s gas tax goes up again this fall. The governor said he wouldn’t dare. “I will not commit political suicide this morning in East Orange," Murphy said. “I’m not going near who pumps the gas.”

4/5/19
NJ Gas Tax: When More Is Less (Revenue)
Remember the days when New Jersey's gasoline tax was the second-lowest in the U.S.? Those days, unfortunately, are long gone. With the 4-cent per gallon increase last year, which came on top of the 23-cent increase in 2016, New Jersey now has the ninth-highest gas tax in the nation. It has nearly tripled in scarcely more than two years, from 14.5 cents per gallon to 41.5 cents. And despite state Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio saying she was "cautiously optimistic" another gas price won't be necessary this fall, skepticism seems in order. An analyst for the Office of Legislative Services said an increase may be needed if fuel consumption does not “substantially increase” in the next few months.

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 PARTICIPATION: 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.