This week is a short Road Warrior, and it’s all about Trenton! There are several times a year when a last-minute flurry of activity happens, and one of them is in the final days leading up to the passage of the Budget, which constitutionally has to be passed and signed by the Governor by midnight on June 30^th. Legislators sometimes use the final voting sessions to sneak in various bills, hoping their colleagues are distracted by the budget. On Wednesday, you should've all received multiple action alerts from NJGCA due to last minute changes in the Assembly and Senate. I apologize for the last minute notices, but unfortunately I didn’t receive advance notice either. I do appreciate the efforts that you make to use our VoterVoice system to contact your legislators on the issues requested, as I was in the Statehouse on Thursday and legislators mentioned that they had received messages from our members.  That of course doesn’t mean that they will vote as we requested, but it does mean that they recognize our position. Though NJGCA supported multiple bills that were passed, the biggest of the last minute issues which were added to the agenda are as follows:

1. Paid Family Leave: We have been fighting many different versions of this bill for many years, and it will impact every single one of your businesses. Unfortunately, the Assembly did pass the bill on Thursday 49-23. This isn't a done deal as it must pass the Senate too, however, I just received notice that the Senate will be voting on the bill on Monday.

Next, there are two issues that pertain to individuals with auto repair shops.

1. The first one refers to the federal Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. You are all aware that manufacturers cannot void a vehicle owner’s warranty simply because the owner chose to have maintenance or repairs performed in an independent shop. However, over the years we’ve been increasingly more aware that your customers don’t know or understand this fact. To address this problem, Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer) sponsored a bill which requires car manufacturers to give official notification upon the purchase of a new vehicle that consumers have the right to have their car repaired anywhere without voiding the warranty. Although the bill says that manufacturers will be responsible for providing the notice, we are still unsure how that will happen. The bill passed the Assembly yesterday 59-12.
2. The second piece of legislation we asked you to contact your legislators about was actually not voted on, but this is because certain technical amendments needed to be made. We are hopeful it will be up for a vote next week. It will impose penalties on tire sellers if certain standards are not met when tires are sold to motorists. The object of this legislation is to have safer tires on the road, which means fewer used tires sales and more new tires sales. Additionally, there is the added perk of service on suspension systems and front ends that usually accompanies new tires sales.

That’s it for this week!  Please be on the lookout for any alerts and notices that I might send next week regarding legislation that is added to the voting sessions at the last minute.

Thanks for reading -- See you next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

                                                                                                                                                         

TRAINING CLASSES!!

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

                                                                                                                                                               

 CLASSIFIEDS! -- FOR SALE & HELP WANTED ADS

                                                                                                                                                                         

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

06/23/2017:
Christie to decide whether to raise N.J. smoking age to 21
NJ Governor Christie now has to decide whether to raise the age for tobacco product purchases in NJ from 19 to 21. The State Assembly gave final approval to a bill that health advocates have argued would help prevent future smokers.  They have pointed to federal data that says 90% of tobacco users begin before they turn 21. But Christie vetoed a similar proposal last year, which was opposed by food retailers and other convenience store operators who complained the loss of ancillary sales like coffee and sandwiches would have cut deep into their sales. If signed, the bill could cost the state $16 million in tax revenue. The bill passed the Assembly by a 53-16 vote. The Senate approved it 23-14 last year.  The nonpartisan State Office of Legislative Services estimated the state would lose $4.5 million to $12 million in the first year of implementation, and $5.6 million to $15.7 million the following year in tax revenue.  The amount of losses would diminish by 4% a year as more people quit smoking. Fifteen municipalities have enacted ordinances raising the legal age of tobacco and e-cigarette sales from 19 to 21. But NJ would only be the second state to have the 21 and under ban for smoking products if the bill is signed into law. The only state with the rule is Hawaii.
 
06/15/2017:
Fuel Retailers and Community Leaders Urge Congress to Oppose Commercial Rest Areas
This week, a diverse coalition from restaurants and fuel retailers to city governments, trucking firms and blind entrepreneurs asked key lawmakers to oppose efforts to commercialize interstate rest areas as Congress considers infrastructure legislation. The Trump administration's recent proposal to allow the sale of food, fuel and other commercial services at interstate rest areas would drain local businesses of customers, communities of much-needed jobs, and city governments of critical tax revenue by putting established businesses in direct competition with state governments. At the same time, it would give the state an unfair competitive advantage by granting the state direct access to highway motorists, the groups said in letters to Congress. Further, upending long-established policy prohibiting commercial rest areas threatens the livelihood of the nation’s blind merchants, who service the vending machines at rest areas, and would hinder the U.S. Department of Transportation’s goal of expanding commercial truck parking capacity nationwide.
 
06/09/2017:
NJBIA Column: What Does It Take to Sue an Employer? $250 and an Itch
All it takes for an employee to sue you in NJ is filling out a complaint form and sending a $250 check to Superior Court. Getting a lawsuit dismissed isn’t so easy or as in-expensive. Even frivolous lawsuits cost thousands of dollars and take months to defend. That’s important to remember because every year our Member Action Center fields calls from companies who make at least one of these four common mistakes. Any one of these has the potential to land employers like you in hot water. Employment at will essentially says you can terminate an employment relationship at any time. Every employer should make this clear upon hiring and state it clearly in the employee handbook. Over the years, there have been an increasing number of exceptions to this doctrine outside and apart from the obvious things like at will employment cannot be used as a defense for something like firing someone because of their race. I could write an entire column on all of the factors that could negate employment at will, so for the time being we just want to focus on one simple mistake many employers make when communicating with their employees -- statements: “Keep doing that kind of work and you’ll have a job for life, or, “You’ll have a job as long as we’re in business.”

                                                                                                                                                                  

MEMBER BENEFIT PARTNER MESSAGE BOARD:

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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.