I am going to talk about the bills our Governor has just signed into law plus a law that I am proposing. What I first will start with is a bill that makes sense. It is Senate bill Number 1336 which would require enforcing agencies to issue or deny a construction permit within three business days if the application is solely for construction of a wheelchair ramp to allow a resident of a one or two unit residential dwelling access to the person’s dwelling. Now this makes sense, is there something wrong with our legislatures that they passed a bill that is useful to its citizens? Just kidding, this bill prevents any stalling for a very necessary item if you are in a wheelchair.

Now on to the next bill which is Senate bill Number 1341 which requires a penalty for not putting a bittering agent into antifreeze. It seems that until this bill was signed into law that while it was required that antifreeze needed to be made unpalatable for Human consumption there was no penalty attached to the law. What I ask is why did not this law come into being a very long time ago? Something is very wrong when a law is signed into being without having any penalties attached to it.

Senate bill 2468 imposes contract standards between customers and third-party electric power and gas suppliers. Wow another bill that makes terrific sense! Some of the third-party suppliers of electricity and gas have been running con jobs on those they can get to signup with them and the contract that they use is bias against the consumer. Thus, preventing in many cases for the consumer to get out of the contract or even understand all of its clauses.

And the final bill I will talk about is Senate bill Number 2812 which establishes a task force to study issues related to sexual assault on college campuses. What the proposed law says “It shall be the duty of the task force to study and evaluate current policies and practices concerning campus sexual assault, to identify problems and areas for improvement, and to make recommendations concerning campus sexual assault prevention, response, and awareness.  The task force shall:

1. gather information from the public institutions of higher education and from a sample of independent institutions of higher education in the State regarding their policies and procedures for addressing campus sexual assault, and review and evaluate those policies and procedures;

1. review current New Jersey and federal laws regarding campus sexual assault;

1. review and evaluate existing research and literature, including any national best practices, professional standards, or guidelines, regarding the prevention of, and response to, incidents of campus sexual assault;

1. consult with, and evaluate testimony from, campus sexual assault survivors and advocates who provide support services to campus sexual assault survivors; and

1. develop and issue recommendations and guidelines concerning campus sexual assault in New Jersey, including recommendations regarding sexual assault prevention and awareness, and recommendations regarding protocols for responding to reports of campus sexual assault and providing victim support services.” All I have to say it sounds good, but why do we have to pass a bill to do it? Could not the Legislature assemble the necessary officials and experts without this bill? Why are they going to waste the taxpayer’s money by doing it this way? The answer is one they can and secondly they want to look good while really doing nothing. How wonderful! It is not to say that something needs to be done, but do they have to study this problem to death first?

Now I want to talk about a law that I want created and signed into law. What I propose is that the municipal court system be transferred to the control of the New Jersey court system. By taking it out of the control of the local municipality you prevent the problems that exist within the system as it is now implemented. By having the judges appointed by the local officials the judge is beholding to the municipality in all of its legal decisions and that is not a good thing. The judge always has to have the interests of the local municipality in the back of his or her mind and that should not have anything to do with the judge’s decision making process. By divorcing the municipal court from the municipality, justice would be meted out in a manner that is void of any interference by local officials. Also all of the judges should be individuals who are qualified and vetted by the New Jersey State Bar Association.

That is my opinion- Jumpin Jersey Mike