July 31, 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!

MANDATORY TIRE REGISTRATION BATTLE
NJGCA IN TRANSITION -- NEW OFFICE & MOVE

First up again this week is mandatory tire registration. As you all should know, federal highway funding is set to expire Friday, July 31 at midnight (as in tonight!). I know it may be difficult at times for you to understand the chess game being played in Washington, but recent efforts to reauthorize highway funding have been marked by some extreme instances of the US Senate and US House of Representatives trying to outwit and outplay each other, and the issue of tire registration is just collateral damage at this point. To add more confusion, there is also a game of chicken being played in both houses by the Republican leadership. This week, the House passed a short term highway funding measure which does NOT include mandatory tire registration, and then, in a foxy strategic move, adjourned and went home for the summer.
 
As I write this on Thursday afternoon, the Senate passed a different highway funding bill, which DOES include mandatory tire registration.  To get to the President's desk, both houses need to pass the same bill or else ALL funding for federal transportation issues and infrastructure ends 7/31/15 at midnight.
 
The Senate does NOT want to pass what the House passed (primarily due to the fact that the House bill is only a temporary three-month solution, and the Senators want to protect their personal pet-projects, which will only become law if their version of the bill becomes law). However, the House is not even in Washington, DC to hold a vote on the Senate version, and they do NOT want to come back!
 
So, this is a game of chicken to see who blinks first.  Will 435 members of the House of Representatives all come back to DC to pass the Senate measure? Or will the Senate blink first, and agree to pass the House measure, because nobody wants to be blamed for the funding to run out?  Both sides have been acting so irrationally that I'm not willing to guess which side is going to blink. I hope the Senate blinks and passes the House bill, but even if they do, we will still be debating this issue over the course of the next three months, because the funding will run out again at the end of October. Just like last week, I'm asking you to stand by in case we have to send an emergency message. It is truly that urgent, and if we lose, it will truly be burdensome with penalties tough enough to put you out of business!
 
Finally, on another note, for those of you who have had trouble contacting us this past week, please be patient. All of our communications systems were unhooked last Thursday, and in the course of trying to get everything hooked up again at our new location, we have had intermittent outages of both phone and internet.  We have an answering machine message on the old phone number, with instructions to dial the new phone number, but we have not checked that for any messages that members might have left. As of Monday August 3rd, even though we will still be in the process of setting up the office, we should be back 100% with both email and phones. We look forward to welcoming you all to our new offices! As a reminder, the address is 4900 Route 33 W., Suite 100, Wall Twp., NJ 07753 and the phone number is 732-256-9646.

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)

Emissions Inspector Class being offered in Wall Township (Monmouth County) on Wednesday, August 19, 2015!! Click HERE for Class Info and Registration Form!

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ETEP Re-Cert, Sections 8, 9 and 10 being offered in NORTH and SOUTH Jersey -- DAY and EVENING Classes Available!

For Class Informational Flyer, please click here.
For Class Registration Form, 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 BENEFIT PARTNER GILL ENERGY LOOKING TO HIRE FOR (3) DIFFERENT POSITIONS!

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

07/30/2015:
Senate Approves Long-Term Highway Bill, Setting Up Tough Talks With House
The Senate passed a major highway bill Thursday in the hopes of providing certainty to states desperate to repair crumbling roads and bridges after years of lurching from one short-term agreement to the next.  The Senate's thousand-plus-page, $350 billion bill, which was approved on a 65-34 vote, was crafted by strange bedfellows -- Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma and Democratic Sen. Barbara Boxer of California. It would be the first long-term highway bill since 2005, while also setting new policy for freight, rail, and transit programs that sponsors say will make it easier for states and localities to invest in infrastructure. "The best thing about it is it's a long-term bill. Our big problems can't be addressed unless you have a long-term bill," Inhofe said in an interview.  But with the two chambers divided on several key fronts, none of this long-term work is happening until fall at the earliest, if it happens at all.

7/30/2015
Elizabeth could be 10th in N.J. to require paid sick leave
NJ's fourth largest city could become the next one to require private-sector businesses to offer employees paid sick time, thanks to a petition drive by residents, activists and labor leaders. The more than 1,500 signatures validated by the city clerk's office this week express support for a local sick leave ordinance that, if passed, would put Elizabeth in line with Irvington, Montclair, Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, East Orange, Trenton, Passaic and Bloomfield  --  the nine NJ municipalities with similar measures. After the signatures are reviewed by the city clerk, the council can choose to either pass the law or put it to voters as a ballot question in the Nov. 4 election. If passed, the ordinance would allow private-sector workers to earn an hour of paid sick time for each 30 hours worked. The time could be used to care for sick children, siblings, grandparents or grandchildren, in addition to the workers themselves. Employees at companies with 10 or more employees would be able to earn five paid sick days a year, or three sick days annually at businesses with nine employees or fewer. Workers in direct contact with the public, including daycare and food service workers, would be eligible for five sick days no matter what size their company is.  
 
7/30/2015:
Kansas, Nevada brace for cigarette tax fallout: Experts predict decreased sales, increased black market after tax increases
It’s been nearly one month since Nevada’s cigarette excise tax increase went into effect, raising the average pack price from $5 to $6. The $1/pack tax hike represents the state’s largest single cigarette-tax increase and its first tax hike since 2003. Not surprisingly, tobacco retailers are concerned about what this means for business. Retailers in Kansas have expressed similar concerns after lawmakers enacted a similar excise tax increase in June, increasing cigarette taxes by 63% (from 79 cents per pack to $1.29 per pack). The Kansas tax revenue is slotted to cover a $400 million budget deficit, while Nevada’s additional revenue will likely go towards a $1.3 billion increase in educational funding. Kansas retailers with stores near state borders told Heartland.org they were already noticing a decline in sales as smokers head to lower-taxed states like Missouri (where the state tax is just 17 cents per pack) and Oklahoma (where the excise tax is $1.03). Likewise, the only western states with higher cigarette tax rates than Nevada are Arizona ($2 per pack) and Washington ($3.025 per pack).

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.