AAA DEMANDS AAA-APPROVED REPAIR SHOPS’ CUSTOMER LISTS
MORRISTOWN PASSES MANDATORY PAID SICK LEAVE LEGISLATION
MONTVILLE CONSIDERS RAISING TOBACCO PURCHASE AGE TO 21
SUCCESSFUL NJGCA BREAKFAST MEETING IN SUCCASUNNA

Last week, I mentioned that I was spending the weekend down in Maryland visiting our friends at WMDA and attending the annual SSDA board meeting. While there, I learned more about how they have been addressing AAA's demand for customer lists from AAA-approved repair shops. I also learned that New York has the same issue.  WMDA has made more progress in organizing their AAA-approved repair shops to take action against AAA, so they are providing us with information and paving the way.
 
Here in New Jersey, we had our first meeting of AAA-approved repair shops on Monday night. It appears that they are being forced into a new contract with AAA which includes several distasteful requirements, one of which would require the independent shops to provide their customer database to AAA. This is a concern because AAA has their own 15-bay repair centers across the State, which operate in direct competition with AAA-approved shops.  Additionally, many AAA-approved independent repair shops are disgruntled because AAA has started diverting motorists who call for a tow to their own 15-bay super repair centers rather than allowing motorists the option of being towed to an independent AAA-approved shop of their choosing. This is more serious than I first thought. ANY AAA-APPROVED SHOP OWNERS MUST CONTACT ME IF YOU HAVE BEEN PUT IN THIS SAME SITUATION WITH YOUR CONTRACT.  I will be organizing as many AAA-approved repair shops as possible.  Also, please let me know of others who are in the same predicament, even if they are not an NJGCA member.  I'll give them the opportunity to join the Association as we pursue this problem.
 
Next, for our members in Morristown (who should've been at our very successful Diner Tour meeting in Roxbury on Wednesday) it is important for you to know that the Mayor and council in Morristown have passed an ordinance that all businesses that operate in Morristown must now provide employees with paid sick leave in the amount of 1 hour of paid sick time for every 30 hours worked. This has been a hot topic for over a year, and due to the success of our efforts to beat back this law on a statewide basis, it seems that individual towns are now imposing this mandate on their own. Morristown is the 13^th town in New Jersey to take this route.  I know that there are many gas stations, repair shops, tire shops and convenience stores in Morristown, and every one of you will be affected by this law!
 
Additionally, we learned that Montville was considering an effort to raise the age to purchase tobacco and vaping products from 19 to 21.  We sent a letter to the Mayor, outlining our concerns surrounding these efforts and the reasons why the policy would be ineffective and serve only to unfairly burden and drive customers away from local small businesses.  We recently received word that Montville is unlikely to continue to pursue this legislation.  We may have been successful in derailing this effort, and for that I am proud.  However, NJGCA will continue to have to fight these battles, and when they pop up in YOUR town, YOU must inform us and actively stand by our side as we fight to defend you.  NJGCA cannot win these battles alone. Your voices are actually stronger and more powerful than ours. You can read the letter that I sent to the Montville Mayor and Council by clicking here.
 
Finally, NJGCA had a very successful diner tour in Roxbury this week.  I was so thrilled by the caliber of repair shops and gas station owners that I had the pleasure of meeting on Wednesday.  We truly engaged in a meaningful and rewarding conversation, which I hope will lead to opportunities for more involvement and participation in NJGCA’s efforts to elevate the status and the public image of the repair shop industry.  I have attached a few pictures from the event, and I am looking forward to our next event in October, in Springfield.  Stay tuned for more details in the coming weeks!

Brian Dixon, of West 10 Tire Center in Succasunna, winner of a case of Gulftec Oil, with Chris Schmid of Hough Petroleum


Jeffrey Bendix of Newton Gulf, winner of $50 raffle



A great group of very impressive shop owners in at the Roxbury Diner in Succasunna

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

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CLASS DETAILS:
Class Date: Wednesday, October 19, 2016
Class Location: NJGCA Headquarters -- 4900 Route 33 West, Wall Twp, NJ 07753
Arrival Time: 7:00am (coffee and donuts will be served)
Lunch Break: 12:00pm (Pizza and soda will be served)
NJMVC Test: 1:00pm

CLASS FEES:
NJGCA Members: $250.00
Non-members: $300.00

Manuals are included and payment is due upon registration. All credit cards are accepted.

License Fee: Bring a $50.00 check made payable to NJMVC to satisfy the State's licensing fee.

PLEASE NOTE: If you live out of state, you must bring 6 points of ID with you, such as a license, passport, healthcare card, utility bill, etc.

09/15/2016:
$1.3B tax cut at center of new transportation funding talks
Gov. Christie and the state Assembly revived talks to resolve an impasse over transportation funding include $1.3 billion in cuts to the sales, retirement income and estate taxes. Earlier this week, the governor and the Assembly leader were in talks to cut the sales tax a half a percentage point as part of a deal to restore funding to the Transportation Trust Fund. The complete framework also incorporates scaled back versions of tax cuts proposed by the Senate. Authorization for the trust fund expired at the end of June, prompting Christie to idle more than 900 road and bridge construction projects, and hundreds more transit projects. Money for new projects ran out last month as lawmakers haggle ever which taxes to cut in exchange for a 23-cent increase in the gasoline tax to replenish the fund. Christie has called for a reduction in the sales tax from 7 percent to 6 percent and an increase in the retirement income tax exclusion. The Assembly passed that proposal, but the Senate has not. The Senate and Assembly separately agreed on a plan to eliminate the estate tax, raise the Earned Income Tax Credit, increase the retirement income tax exclusion, and create income tax credits for commuters and veterans. Christie is opposed and the legislative leaders have struggled to recruit votes for an override.
 
09/14/2016:
Minimum-wage hikes accelerating changes at restaurants, panel says
Increases in the minimum wage that go into effect next year, along with a change in federal rules that make more managers eligible for overtime, could accelerate dramatic shifts in the retail and restaurant industries, including more automation and fewer stores, according to participants in a panel Wednesday hosted by the Teaneck-based Retail Marketing Society. The organization, which includes retail professionals from the tri-state area, devoted its monthly meeting, held at a New York City restaurant, to the topic of wage hikes. In the past, such panels would have focused more on the need to block minimum-wage increases. Now retailers and service industry professionals seem to agree that they are inevitable, but they also agree that is it hard to predict the impact precisely because the increases have introduced a new factor into their profit-and-loss equations. "This is an unprecedented increase. We've never seen it go from $9 to $15 in just about three years," said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance. While California and New York, as well 10 municipalities, have passed laws setting the minimum wage at $15, some two-dozen other states have raised the minimum wage above the federal requirement of $7.25 an hour.  Governor Christie last month vetoed a bill that would have set New Jersey's minimum wage at $15. Supporters have vowed to but it on the ballot as a referendum in 2017
 
09/14/2016:
California to Vote on Tobacco Tax Hike
Californians manage to influence the rest of the nation with their laws. That may be why the state’s proposed $2-per-pack tax on cigarettes and “equivalent increases” on OTP (other tobacco products) and e-cigarettes is drawing the attention of major tobacco lobbies, according to a Bloomberg report. California Proposition 56, officially called the “Cigarette Tax to Fund Healthcare, Tobacco Use Prevention, Research and Law Enforcement,” would allocate revenue for healthcare and prevention programs, among other state initiatives, and possibly influence other municipalities if voters approve it Nov. 8. The measure will bring in an estimated $1 billion to $1.4 billion in 2017-2018, with potentially lower revenues in future years, according to the proposition. Proponents for the legislation, including the American Cancer Society, Atlanta, and the American Heart Association, Dallas, said the move will tax tobacco users while funding prevention and treatment efforts and deterring smoking among youth. Tobacco manufacturers are mounting a major campaign against the tax, saying that most of the revenue will go to health-insurance companies and special interests. Voter documents report that groups opposing the measure have raised twice as much money, at $35 million, than those supporting it, $17 million.
 
09/14/2016:
Jersey City gas station attendant robbed at gunpoint
A Jersey City gas station attendant was robbed at gunpoint of $500 early this morning, police said. The victim told police that at 2:40 a.m. two men got out of a black car and came into the kiosk at the Speedway on Route 440 in Jersey City, demanding money and putting a handgun to his stomach. The man told the robbers that he didn't have any cash, but the robbers searched his pockets and found $500, police said they were told. The victim told police that $300 of that money was gas station funds and the other $200 was in his wallet, which was also stolen. A witness who was just pulling into the gas station told police the robbers' car was a newer model, four-dour Mercedes Benz.