Press Releases

SARLO: GOV’S BUDGET OFFERS LITTLE TO HELP MIDDLE CLASS WITH THEIR PROPERTY TAXES

TRENTON – Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen/Passaic) released the following statement in response to the governor’s FY2013 budget proposal:

“The average property taxpayer is shelling out $1,275 more now than they did before the governor took office. Unemployment continues to hover at levels higher than the national average. Many of our schools and towns are still behind where they were three years ago. These are the real needs of the middle class. Yet all we continue to hear about is an income tax scheme that will effectively just put more cash into the pockets of the very rich.

”We have 110 days until our constitutional deadline to produce a balanced budget. We will meet that deadline, and we will do so with a budget that puts the needs of middle-class New Jersey first.”

SARLO-SMITH EFFORT TO CLEAN UP BARNEGAT BAY APPROVED BY SENATE

‘Adopt a Barnegat Bay Stormwater Management Basin Act’ Will Allow Businesses, Nonprofits to Clean Up Stormwater Basins, Reducing Pollution into the Bay

TRENTON – The Senate today unanimously approved legislation sponsored by Senators Paul A. Sarlo and Bob Smith that would allow for businesses and nonprofit organizations to adopt a piece of the Barnegat Bay and be responsible for clean-up and maintenance of stormwater basins in the Bay’s watershed.
“There are more than 2,000 storm water basins in the Barnegat Bay watershed that are failing and in desperate need of repair,” said Senator Sarlo (D-Bergen, Passaic).  “These repairs are critically important to ensure improved water quality for New Jersey’s residents within the watershed.  This legislation is a great way to create public-private partnerships with organizations and corporations throughout the state and to make it simple for them to contribute to repairs essential to the environmental health of their communities.”
“The ‘Adopt a Barnegat Bay Stormwater Basin Act’ is a great way for corporations, businesses and nonprofit organizations to give back to a community and the Bay that provides them with economic resources and a large consumer base with both the region’s year-round inhabitants as well as the millions of tourists who head to the shore each summer,” said Senator Smith, D-Middlesex, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee.  “This program is a win-win for participating organizations who will not only receive recognition for their efforts in reinvigorating Barnegat Bay, but also a tax credit for the amount they spend on maintenance, repairs and construction of rainwater basins.”
The bill, S-1084, would allow state or local municipalities to create adoption agreements with businesses or nonprofit organizations for maintenance, construction, improvement, operation or funding of stormwater management basins in the Barnegat Bay watershed.  Stormwater basins are constructed to hold rainwater runoff and slowly release the water into a nearby waterway, mimicking the natural runoff that occurred prior to development.  They help reduce the amount of pollutants from roadways, fertilizers and sediment that flow into the Barnegat Bay.  Maintenance is imperative to these basins to avoid debris and sediment buildup and clogs in drainage, causing stagnant water, reduced capacity of runoff waters and mosquito infestations.
In return for their efforts to help clean up the Bay, participating businesses or nonprofits would receive a certificate of recognition and have the ability to erect a sign near their adopted basin.  Additionally, they would receive a business tax credit equal to the amount of certified expenditures up to $1000 or 50 percent of the business’s total corporate tax liability, which ever is the lesser amount.
An amendment adopted in committee would expand this program to stormwater basins throughout the state, although the tax credits would be reserved for projects within the Barnegat Bay watershed.
“A clean and pollution-free Barnegat Bay is vital for the environmental and economic health of the shore region,” said Senator Sarlo.  “Not only is the Bay one of the greatest natural and environmental resources we have, it is also an economic engine for New Jersey, bringing in more than $3.3 billion in revenue and supporting tens of thousands of jobs in its surrounding communities.  Cleaning and maintaining these basins is an important step in ending the years of misuse of this ecological treasure and a significant step in reversing the destructive practices used in the overdevelopment of the region.”
“The Barnegat Bay watershed is considered the second most polluted watershed in the United States right after the Chesapeake Bay.  Runoff from streets and roads has led to an increase in nitrogen in the Bay negatively affecting the areas water source and New Jersey’s fishing industry,” said Senator Smith.  “This commonsense measure provides a plan to clean up, repair and maintain rainwater basins that are an important part of the Bay’s restoration with little cost to the taxpayers of New Jersey.”
The bill now heads to the Assembly for further consideration.

WEINBERG & SARLO PRAISE BERGEN LAW ENFORCEMENT ON ARREST OF ALLEGED SYNAGOGUE FIREBOMBER

TRENTON – Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Sen. Paul Sarlo (both D-Bergen) today both praised Bergen County's law enforcement community for the arrest of a suspect behind the desecration of synagogues in Rutherford and Paramus:

"We applaud the hard work of all of the many law enforcement personnel whose dedication to justice and upholding the law led us to today's arrest. No one should ever fear for their religious freedoms, yet fear is exactly what one deranged mind put into all our communities of faith. While the individual involved in at least two of these disgusting attacks is now in custody, we cannot let up in our efforts to promote tolerance and understanding among all people who call New Jersey home."

In addition, the senators singled-out for praise Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli for taking the lead on the investigation and for his department's relentless pursuit of apprehending the alleged perpetrator.

SARLO HAILS FIRST MEETING OF SENATE HIGHER ED PANEL

TRENTON – Senator Paul Sarlo today applauded the first hearing of the newly convened Senate Higher Education Committee, saying the panel is perfectly situated to ensuring the future stability and affordability of New Jersey’s public colleges and universities.

Sarlo specifically noted that the Democratic membership of the committee – Chairwoman Sandra Cunningham, Sen. Nellie Pou and himself – all also sit on the Budget & Appropriations Committee, meaning the needs of the higher education community will also be brought immediately to the forefront of state budget discussions. Sarlo is chairman of the budget panel.

“The needs of our higher education community can now be brought immediately within the broader discussions of our state budget, rather than having to go through a game of ‘telephone,’” said Sarlo (D-Bergen/Passaic). “With Sens. Cunningham and Pou, we will ensure that nothing is lost in translation. Our colleges and universities have struggled mightily to hold the line of tuitions because of a roller-coaster of aid cuts and freezes, even as the needs of students have increased. Now, they have one place to come to air their concerns.”

The Higher Education Committee was created prior to the new legislative session by Senate President Steve Sweeney. In prior sessions, issues of concern to the state’s higher education system were heard before the broader Senate Education Committee, and were often over-shadowed by matters relating to the state’s public elementary and secondary schools.

Sarlo said he plans to advocate strongly for increased state aid for higher education to hold down tuitions, as well as for a proposed bond referendum that would finance capital projects on public college and university campuses.

“We cannot lose more students to out-of-state colleges, and we need to keep more of our best and brightest here, where they can become part of our state’s long-term economic plan,” said Sarlo. “Our colleges and universities are some of the nation’s best, and we can’t allow that success to slide.”