May 18, 2017

Dear NJGCA Member:

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

Here is what you will find in this edition:

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

REASONABLE TIRE SAFETY LEGISLATION
NOT-SO-REASONABLE STATE OF EMERGENCY LEGISLATION
UPCOMING GOVERNOR'S RACE AND PRIMARY DEBATES
RETURN OF THE MANURE PILE; EXTREMELY STUPID, DUMB, SILLY, USELESS LEGISLATION

On Monday, I was in Trenton to testify to the Senate Commerce Committee on A-3896 / S-2790, sponsored by Asw. Sumter (D-Passaic), Asm. Mukherji (D-Hudson), and Sen. Scutari (D-Union). It’s a bill I’ve talked about before, which will place reasonable restrictions on the conditions of used tires available for sale. The bill would ban the sale of any tire if that tire has any of the following issues:

You can read the testimony I submitted here. As you know, it has long been an NJGCA position that cracking down on crooked or sloppy retailers benefits honest business owners. The only opponents to this bill were some tire recyclers who basically said it shouldn’t be their problem, it should be the independent repairers’ problem. The tire recyclers want the legislation amended to prohibit the installation and not the sale of tires that are unsafe. That means that they will still be able to sell the garbage tire to your customer and it will be up to you to inspect the tire and then deny installation services if you determine the tire to be under the standards specified in the law. The bill is also supported by the Tire Industry Association (TIA), which represents tire dealers throughout the nation and with whom NJGCA works closely on a regular basis. It has already passed the General Assembly unanimously, and now moves to the full Senate for a vote.

I was also prepared to testify to the Senate Labor Committee against a bill, S-1562 sponsored by Sen. Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden), which would allow all employees to be able to skip work without any penalty if there is a declared state of emergency. You can imagine the chaos this would cause your business, especially since so many states of emergency are declared over non-emergency conditions. The Governor often makes such a declaration before any snow starts to fall, so emergency crews can prepare. This bill would be particularly harmful here in New Jersey since the law still requires a station employee to pump all gasoline. If your pumpers decide not to show, that’s the end of your business for the day.

Thankfully, the sponsor pulled the bill from the hearing once she was contacted by so many employers. You can read the full testimony I had planned to submit by clicking here.

I also wanted to follow up on last week’s discussion on the upcoming primary election for Governor, now only about 2 weeks away (June 6^th). The Democratic nominees had their final debate last Thursday, if you missed it and are as big a political kook as I am, you can watch the whole thing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aspVeUIfLoo

The final Republican debate tonight at 8pm on NJTV, it will also be available online shortly afterward. If you are interested in a lawn sign for Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno you contact us here or visit her campaign website http://www.kimfornj.com/. If you prefer Asm. Jack Ciattarelli, his website is https://www.jack4gov.com/.

On a final note, you may remember some time ago we had a regular segment called the “Manure Pile” in which we spotlighted a particularly dumb piece of legislation that had been introduced in the Legislature. I felt compelled to bring it back this week because of the introduction of S-3190, which “designates Streptomyces Griseus as the New Jersey State Microbe”. Somehow our state has been able to survive the last 241 years without officially designating a “state microbe”, but I guess that means we must be overdue!

There are few states in the union with more problems than New Jersey, between our across the board high taxes, eternal budget deficit, big debt, education funding crisis, pension funding crisis, etc., etc. Yet one of our 40 esteemed state Senators felt it was important to have a bill drafted (a process which costs an average $25,000 for the amount of time and research the various professional staff do) designating a “State Microbe”. This State Microbe would take its place alongside the official State Animal, State Dinosaur, State Fish, State Tree, State Shell, State Fruit, State Butterfly, and State Folk Dance. Now they want an official State Germ. There are also proposals to designate a State Moth, State Freshwater Fish, State Native Pollinator, State Sandwich, State Mineral, State Dog, and even the State German Christmas Market. You can bet that the next time I see Senator Thompson (the bill’s sponsor), that I plan to let him know just how dumb and silly his proposal is. I will ask him to please stop wasting our time with foolish legislation. You can read Senator Thompson’s dumb legislation by clicking here.

In the last 18 months our 120 legislators have collectively introduced 8,839 different pieces of legislation, of which about 1,600 are being tracked here at NJGCA for their effect on your business. Needless to say, no business owner can follow all that, which is why NJGCA is here for you!

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

Emissions Inspector Training Class - One Day Only!

Want one of your technicians to become a NJ Emissions Inspector? We can help! Our one-day class will provide all the information for becoming a NJ Emissions Inspector, and the State will administer the written test the very same day at our offices! We are offering the class: Wednesday, May 24th from 7:00am to 3:00pm. Cost $250.
Click HERE for the registration form.

FUTURE CLASSES WILL BE ADDED UPON REQUEST AND ACCORDING TO DEMAND. CONTACT DEBBIE at 732-256-9646 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

FOR SALE:

Commercial Building in Asbury Park, Possible Sale of Business, Too! For listing information, please click HERE.

FOR SALE:

Four (4) Gilbarco Encore 300 dispensers. Brand New in 2003. Pumps work great, just no card readers. Call Katie or Al at 732-739-1360.

Also offering: Transac system for pumps and two dual LSI island lights

NEWS AROUND THE STATE: THE NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW

9 moments you're sorry you missed from fiery Democratic N.J. Governor debate
On Thursday night, New Jersey's Democratic candidates for Governor gathered at NJTV's studios in Newark for their second and final debate before the June 6 primary -- and it was a much more fiery affair. The three underdogs on stage -- Jim Johnson, Raymond Lesniak, and John Wisniewski -- pounced on front-runner Phil Murphy, hammering him over his money and his past. For a closer look at what happened, click the link above.

In Fight Against U.S. Shale Oil, OPEC Risks Lower for Longer
In their battle to revive the global oil market, OPEC and its allies are digging in for a long war of attrition against shale. "OPEC is now recognizing they need longer -- and potentially deeper -- production cuts than they have anticipated," said Jamie Webster, a senior director for oil at the Boston Consulting Group Inc. in New York. US crude stockpiles have started to drop and the amount of oil in floating storage is contracting. The International Energy Agency and banks including Goldman Sachs Group Inc. predict a further contraction in stockpiles in the second half of the year. Increasingly, the oil market believes the real battle between OPEC and Russia, on one side, and shale, on the other, will take place in 2018, when an increasing number of observers predict U.S. production will flood the market as it did in 2014.

Will N.J. ban employers from asking your salary history?
NJ may soon join NY in what's becoming a nationwide fight to ban employers from asking you about your salary history, according to Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen). Massachusetts, NYC and Philadelphia have all passed laws that block potential employers from inquiring about how much you made at previous jobs.

Sen. Sarlo Airs Concerns About Nuclear Subsidies at Budget Committee Hearing
The chairman of the Senate Budget Committee expressed misgivings yesterday about handing out subsidies to help struggling nuclear power plants, an issue that has been quietly percolating in the State House for months. The idea of subsidizing the plants is strongly opposed by consumer advocates, business interests, and others who say the company has failed to demonstrate the units are not profitable. They also question why ratepayers, who paid nearly $3 billion in stranded costs for the company’s power plants after the state deregulated energy markets, should be asked once again to subsidize the nuclear units.

Sen. Scutari kickstarts New Jersey’s post-Christie marijuana legalization effort
Sen. Nick Scutari said Monday he believes the Democrat-controlled Legislature will be able to work out the kinks during the committee process, so the bill will be ready for the next governor, presumably a Democrat, in 2018. While the time frame for movement on the bill remains uncertain, at least two industry trade groups are banking on its eventual passage. The recently formed New Jersey CannaBusiness Association and the NJ Cannabis Industry Association are both geared toward businesses involved in the legal marijuana industry.

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 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.

POLITICAL PARTICIPATON: THE NJGCA PAC

DEFENDING OUR MEMBERS.
PROTECTING YOUR INTERESTS.
ANSWER THE CALL & CONTRIBUTE TODAY!!

Promoting our agenda in Trenton is of utmost importance to NJGCA and our members.

However, in order to truly affect the debate, we must ensure our friends in the Legislature are re-elected. It is for this reason that your Association has established the NJGCA PAC.

For too long, the weight of funding our Political Action Committee, the arm of the Association responsible for political donations, has rested upon a few. This is not only unfair to those few members who have shouldered this burden, but means we are not utilizing our full strength to affect the debate in Trenton.

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:
NJGCA PAC
4900 Route 33 West, Suite 100
Wall Township, NJ 07753
Please make your donation payable to NJGCA PAC

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.

*NEW* Energy Information Agency Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices

Each week, the Energy Information Administration publishes a list of average gasoline prices for the previous three weeks. NJGCA will begin including this list with the Weekly Road Warrior. Remember, these prices are reflective of self-serve everywhere except NJ.