May 29, 2015

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE: GREETINGS & SAL-UTATIONS! 

TWO MONTH EXTENSION FOR FEDERAL HIGHWAY BILL
EFFORTS TO INCREASE MINIMUM WAGE
GOV'T INTERFERENCE IN SMALL BUSINESS EMPLOYMENT ISSUES

To start this week, I want to revisit a topic that I discussed a few weeks ago -- the expiration of federal highway funding and the implication it will have on MANDATORY TIRE REGISTRATION. The current funding expires May 31, 2015 and there have been MANY different long-term and short-term funding solutions proposed. Mandatory tire registration is a great concern, because that provision is included in one version of the re-authorization of the highway funding bill. I'm happy to report that, in the recent, and temporary, two-month extension of federal highway funding, mandatory tire registration was NOT included. However, though the immediate danger has subsided, we only got a two month extension. The entire highway bill, which would extend highway funding for 6 years, will be back on the table and up for discussion in two months, and we will have to continue to work to kill the provision which would require you to perform mandatory tire registrations for every tire you sell.
 
Next, I wanted to bring to your attention an op-ed from the State's biggest newspaper, which is advocating for another increase in the minimum wage. The opinion is that the actions taken last year, which include automatic, yearly increases in minimum wage, were not enough. The article points to recent minimum wage increases up to $15/hour in some cities such as Seattle and Los Angeles. Seems like the less employees you have, the better! Who thinks that self-serve might be starting to sound pretty nice right about now?!   
 
In a further affront to your managerial and executive abilities as a small business owner, Senator Loretta Weinberg has introduced two "employee protection" bills which would limit the freedom and flexibility that you, as a small business owner, have in relationship to employee scheduling. One bill allows for employees to take unpaid PTO, or other vacation time, for educational events at school for their child/children. While the employee would not be paid for this, the legislation mandates that in companies with 25 or more employees (in one location), employees are allowed up to 40 hours off per year (with a maximum of 8 hours in any month), with appropriate notice.  However, you are not allowed to deny the request or to engage in any retaliatory scheduling practices as a result of an employee's exercising of this right.
 
A second bill applies to businesses with 15 or more employees and allows employees to request changes in their work schedule without retaliation or hours worked/on call. Some provisions of the bill include:

• If an employee requests a change in the terms and conditions of employment due to a serious health condition of the employee, due to the employee’s responsibilities as a caregiver or due to the employee’s enrollment in a career-related educational or training program, or if a part-time employee makes a request for such a change for a reason related to a second job, the employer must grant the request, unless the employer has a bona fide business reason for denying the request.
• Employees must be paid for one hour of work when on call and not needed, and must be paid for an extra hour if they work a split shift.
• Employees must be paid for one hour if shift is changed within 24 hours unless the change is because another employee dropped out.
• Employers must post the work schedule for all employees.
• Employees must be given, in writing, the minimum number of expected hours that they will be assigned per month.

What do you think?  As the government, at least in NJ, continues to get more and more involved in your employment practices and policies, I believe that the day is going to come that we will soon see self-serve delicatessens, in addition to self-serve gasoline. It is simply getting too expensive and too burdensome to have employees in this State.
 
That's all for now!  Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Regards,
Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

TRAINING CLASSES!!
-ALL CLASSES WILL BE HELD AT NJGCA HEADQUARTERS-
66 Morris Avenue - Springfield, NJ 07081 (Union County)

For info on the ENTIRE ETEP course, and the ETEP Re-Certification courses that NJGCA is offering, please click HERE.

To access the registration form and payment info, please click HERE.

FUTURE CLASSES 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!!

CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS 

NJGCA Member with HUGE Auto Repair Building for Lease!!
     - Over 3,000 sq. ft., includes lifts and some equipment
    - Separate Offices and Customer Waiting Area
Location: Hackettstown, NJ (just one block off Route 46)
    - Located on busy roadway, plenty of parking & easy access!
Asking Price: $4,000/month (term of lease is flexible)

NJGCA MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNERS LOOKING TO HIRE!

GILL ENERGY:

District Manager
Store Manager
Trucking Operations Manager

For more information about these positions, and to submit a resume for consideration, please contact: ravigill@gillenergy.com.

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

News You Should Know:

05/28/2015:
NJ Faces a Transportation Funding Crisis, With No Clear Solution
Bridges across NJ are falling apart. Roads are rife with potholes. Frustrated NJ Transit riders are facing another fare increase. As many commuters bemoan the mounting delays and disruptions, state officials say New Jersey is confronting a transportation funding crisis with no easy way out. Voters are so fed up, support is growing for a revenue option long viewed as politically untenable: raising the state’s gas tax, which is the second lowest in the country. Whatever happens with the gas tax, many New Jerseyans soon will be paying more to get to work. NJ Transit has proposed raising fares by 9% for its 915,000 daily riders, and an increase of some amount is all but certain. Federal and state subsidies as a share of the agency’s annual budget have been falling, and that has left it increasingly reliant on fares to cover costs, even as many passengers say service is slipping. Here at one of the busiest rail hubs in the state, the exasperation was evident, in interviews with people headed home, and in the pointed testimony of commuters who turned out last week for a public hearing on the proposed fare increase.

05/28/2015:
Is New Jersey Becoming the Pipeline Capital of the Northeast?
NJ is awash in plans to build new natural gas pipelines, many of them going through areas set aside with taxpayer funds to preserve open space or farmland. At least a dozen proposals have been either put on the table or approved -- most of which are aimed at taking advantage of cheap natural gas supplies discovered in neighboring Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale formations. Two of the pipelines bring crude oil to refineries in the state. Inexpensive natural gas from PA has been a boon to both customers who heat their homes with the fuel and to businesses that rely on it as a basic building block of their manufacturing processes. It has lowered bills since 2009 significantly for residents -- up to 44% for customers of Public Service Electric & Gas, the state’s largest utility. But critics say the pipelines, which cross environmentally sensitive areas and waterways such as the Delaware River, could pose risks to the public and drinking water. The latter concern mostly involves the controversial practice of extracting natural gas from the shale formations with a process called hydraulic fracturing or “fracking.” The technology involves pumping huge volumes of water and a smaller amount of chemicals into the formation to capture the natural gas. Environmentalists say it can lead to contamination of groundwater and the nearby Delaware River, the source of drinking water for 15 million people in the region.
 
05/26/2015:
Opinion: Raise the New Jersey Minimum Wage, Again.
The amendment that raised NJ's wage to $8.38/hour in 2013 was a working- man's SOS, an emergency end run around a governor who was content with 1/5 of his workforce making $7.25 while he was spending $60,000/year on taxpayer-subsidized food. No one wanted to rewrite the State Constitution, but when a governor persistently flaunts his disdain of the working poor – vetoing minimum wage increases, gutting affordable housing, flushing $170 million in SNAP benefits, cutting back the earned-income tax credit, etc. – it calls for drastic measures. But the political tides are shifting throughout the country, and it's time for NJ to ride them, with or without Christie's consent.  The latest sign was the $15 minimum wage adopted in Los Angeles, following the lead of Seattle and other major cities and inspiring some copy- cat talk from NYC mayor Bill de Blasio. This comes on the heels of corporate America loosening its purse strings, with Walmart even offering a half-million employees a bump to $10/hour next year. Even some GOP presidential candidates have begun to pay lip service to income inequality, while their colleagues in Washington, D.C. run away from the $12/hour initiative being pushed by Sen. Patty Murray (D-Wash). And clearly, economic justice is on everyone's mind, with wage hikes polling at 70-75% – including majority support from Republican voters, who baffled the pollsters last Nov. by passing increases in four red states by huge margins. Those are good reasons to revisit the issue, because anyone who still thinks that $8.38/hour is adequate needs to discontinue his medication.
 
05/21/2015:
Oregon Moves Forward with Per-Mile Tax Plan
Oregon is moving forward with its pilot program, known as OreGo, that will tax car owners by mileage driven rather than gasoline consumption. The initiative is said to be the first example in the country, likely to be replicated by other states as legislators attempt to protect against budget shortfalls from declining gas-tax revenue. Proponents argue that a per-mile tax is a fairer way to collect revenue from drivers, requiring payments proportional to actual road and infrastructure usage. Drivers of electric vehicles currently pay no gas tax, and some argue that they should not have to. One EV owner told the Associated Press that a usage-based tax is discriminatory, while others argue that it would discourage wider adoption of green vehicles. Scheduled to start July 1, the pilot program will involve up to 5,000 volunteers. Each will be provided with a GPS device to log mileage, taxed at a rate of 1.5 cents per mile. Drivers will still pay the gas tax at the pump, however they will receive a credit for the difference at the end of the month.

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 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.