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June 14, 2013 Here is what you will find in this edition:
JOIN NJGCA ON FACEBOOK -- CLICK HERE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS!
REMINDER ON PIF LICENSE RENEWALS
GENERATOR SURVEY THANKS EMPLOYEE JOB APPLICATIONS CIGARETTE NEWS SPECIAL ELECTION UPDATE STATE CANDY ON MANURE PILE ALL PIFs…. REMINDER!! PIF license renewals are due at the end of this month! Do not let your license expire or you will be forced to submit a new application as if you are applying for the first time. MVC will pick up your stickers and you will be out of the inspection business until a new license has been processed if you fail to renew. MVC will not be sending reminders. It is up to you to renew. Please send your forms via certified return recepit mail. This will ensure that you have proof, should any paperwork be misplaced. Call Debbie at NJGCA HQ if you have questions. Now, I would like to thank everyone who completed our survey last week. This survey was a critical part of our efforts to raise awareness that mandatory generators in service stations would not have prevented the gas lines that we experienced in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. We have already seen an immediate interest in the results of the survey, and I had the opportunity to speak about some of our preliminary findings in a Bergen Record article that was printed on Tuesday. We expect to be sending you additional surveys in the future and we urge you to continue to actively participate!! This organization represents your voice, and our members must be involved at every level so that we can continue to effectively and successfully advocate for the best policies to support your small business! For example, we recently became aware of proposed legislation known as “Ban the Box”, which would prevent employers from placing a box on a job application asking if applicants had a criminal record. S-2586, “The Opportunity to Compete Act,” as the sponsors affectionately call it, would create a burden on small business owners. It would force employers and their managers to put job applicants through the entire application process including screening and interviews. Then an employer must first offer a job to the applicant BEFORE asking about the candidate’s criminal record. Imagine investing time and resources to consider a potential employee, only to find out after you have already completed the process and made an offer for employment that they own a criminal record. This legislation is especially burdensome for members with convenience stores who sell lottery tickets, and whose employees must be approved by the New Jersey Lottery Commission. Employees who handle lottery transactions will be scrutinized for criminal history before being approved by the Lottery Commission. This could affect any employees, especially managers that have other duties in your convenience store, and also handle lottery transactions. Maybe a gas attendant might be needed to work your lottery at times. You need to know ahead of time if a potential employee has a criminal past. For these reasons, we have joined with other small business advocacy organizations such as the New Jersey Food Council, the Fuel Merchants Association of New Jersey (FMANJ), the National Federation of Independent Businesses (NFIB), New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA), and the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association (NJRMA) to oppose this legislation. The legislation was heard in committee on Thursday and generated much discussion. Many groups were there to debate the pros and cons of this proposal. In the end, the testimony took so long that the hearing ended before all groups had the chance to speak, and the committee chairman informed us that he was requesting another meeting on June 20 to finish the discussion on this bill. We will continue to keep you informed of the progress of this bill. Also up for discussion in Trenton yesterday was S-2516, which would increase civil and criminal penalties involving unstamped and counterfeit cigarettes. You may recall that I discussed this bill in last week’s Road Warrior, when it was voted unanimously out of Assembly Appropriations. On Thursday, the bill saw another unanimous legislative success when it was voted out of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. I anticipate that it will receive a vote on the floor of both houses before the end of the month. It is important to stop illegal sales of cigarettes and keep those customers in your stores where they can buy other profitable items when they are making cigarette purchases. Hey…I don’t approve of smoking, but if people are gonna smoke…then I want them buying their smokes from you with a cup of coffee and a sandwich that accompany the cigarettes. Before I forget, I wanted to share some snapshots with you from last week's testimony before the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee on Zone Pricing and Right to Repair on Thursday, June 6, 2013:  Members of the Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee anticipating the start of the hearing.  NJGCA Executive Director Sal Risalvato speaks to the Committee about Zone Pricing. Sal is joined by FMANJ Executive Vice President Eric DeGesero and NJGCA Member Joe Ocello.  NJGCA Member Joe Ocello testifies in support of the Zone Pricing proposal.  NJGCA Member Roger Verma also spoke in support of eliminating Zone Pricing.  Sal also testified in support of the NJ Right to Repair measure. He is joined by NJGCA Member Joe Ocello and Cathleen Lewis, director of Public Affairs and Government Relations for the AAA New Jersey Automobile Club.  In support of passing the NJ Right to Repair legislation, Joe Ocello speaks personally about the difficulties he has had in repairing customers' vehicles due to a lack of technical and diagnostic information. To round out our legislative update, I just wanted to make mention of an effort that was voted out of the Assembly Environment Committee on Monday. Assembly Resolution 167 would support development and use of bio-fuels for greater national security, a stronger economy, and a better environment. Here is another brief update about the special election to fill the US Senate seat vacated when Senator Lautenberg passed away last week. The deadline to file for the August 13th primary was Monday, and the field is comprised of four Democrats (Newark Mayor Cory Booker, Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, Congressman Frank Pallone and Congressman Rush Holt), and two Republicans, (Former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan and Dr. Aleita Eck). Finally, I know it’s been a while since I have done a Manure Pile!! Sometimes it seems crazy to even dignify these proposals by writing about them in our esteemed newsletter, but lo and behold I was moved to inform you about a recent proposal to make Saltwater Taffy the official New Jersey State Candy. And here I thought it was the Legislature’s job to take up meaningful and important legislation to improve the lives of New Jersey residents and small businesses. How these legislators find the time to introduce such inane and useless legislation is just beyond me… Plus, I can’t imagine that the diabetics will be too thrilled with this proposal, either!! Do we really need a State Candy? Legislators in Trenton need to tackle New Jersey’s most pressing and serious concerns, and it is our job to keep them focused on the issues that matter most to us! Thanks for reading – See you next week!
Regards,
BUSINESS FOR SALE!
Business Opportunity:
•Location – 34 Rt. 206 South – Somerville, NJ
Serious Inquiries Please Contact Bill at 908-887-1385
Do you have a business for sale? Are you looking for a new location or opportunity? If you'd like to list your business for sale, publish a location you're selling, or are seeking a business partner for your establishment, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066!
CLASSIFIEDS: FOR SALE & HELP WANTED! After running an ad in the Road Warrior over the last month, NJGCA was able to assist a member in selling his equipment! If you'd like to list equipment for sale, or have an open position you'd like to make other industry professionals aware of, please contact NJGCA at 973-376-0066 and let us help you get the word out!
NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
06/12/2013:
Survey: U.S. CEOs a bit more optimistic on economy, hiring A Business Roundtable survey has found that approximately 32 percent of US chief executives expect to hire more workers in the next six months and that sales will improve modestly. The results are a slight improvement from prior polls, yet about 26 percent expect to cut jobs -- a 1 percentage point increase from the last survey. It was unclear based on the survey data whether the Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) was keeping businesses from hiring new workers, said Jim McNerney, chairman of the Business Roundtable and CEO of Boeing. 06/11/2013: NJ Allowed to Turn Lottery over to Private Operator On Tuesday, the New Jersey Appellate courts issued a decision to allow the state to privatize the management of the lottery. The ruling represents a victory for Governor Christie, who has argued that a private lottery operator could better manage the operation and maximize state revenues. However, the CWA asked the Appellate Division last week for permission to file an emergency appeal to block the contract. Though the two-judge panel allowed the deal to go forward, saying the union hadn’t proven it would cause “irreparable harm,” it agreed to hear the CWA’s appeal on an expedited basis. Oral arguments in the case haven’t been scheduled. 06/11/2013: NJGCA in the News: N.J. gas stations oppose mandated generators ICYMI: Sal was recently quoted in a Bergen Record piece, discussing service station opposition to mandatory generators proposal. The article references the results of the survey that NJGCA has been conducting over the past few weeks. It also notes that NJGCA and other groups oppose the nearly one dozen bills pending in the State Assembly and Senate that would require stations to install generators. Please be ready to take action when these issues come up! 06/11/2013: Nicotine-free hiring policy adopted Earlier in this week’s message, we discussed legislation which would prevent employers from asking if an applicant has a criminal record. This recent article describes how one hospital in Illinois has now decided that they will no longer hire anybody who uses nicotine, starting on July 1, 2013. As with the “ban the box” legislation, the hospital and the job applicants will complete the entire job application, review and interview process, and then, post-job offer, the hospital would require a physical, which would include a nicotine screening. The test will screen for nicotine usage, including smoking and smokeless tobacco, vapor cigarettes and nicotine patches.
TRAINING CLASSES!! No classes currently scheduled -- Please check back again soon or call NJGCA to request a class! PLEASE NOTE: FUTURE DATES 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!!
MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE
TMP Energy Solutions 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.
Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members.
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: 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
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