Chamber Post: Trenton Legislation Update: (TRENTON, NJ) DECEMBER 17, 2014 - Tracking Legislation and Other Items Important to the Business Community: COMMERCE: Assembly Budget Committee Thumbs down Made in America Requirement- S-1811 (Sweeney/D-3; OToole/R-40)/ A-3059 (Egan/D-17; Diegnan/D-18): Assembly committee passed. Requires government contractors to use goods made in the United States; and it requires businesses that receive government contracts or government assistance to disclose job exportation information. This legislation will slow public projects and add dramatically to the contractors compliance costs. Additionally, these requirements would create more red tape, would stall decisions and could jeopardize relations with New Jerseys international trade partners. Assembly Budget Committee S-1811/ A-3059 Vote: Schaer, Gary S. (C) - Yes; Burzichelli, John J. (VC) - Yes; Bucco, Anthony M. - No; Cryan, Joseph - Yes; DiMaio, John - No; Johnson, Gordon M. - Not Voting; Mukherji, Raj - Yes; OScanlon, Declan J., Jr. - No; Pintor Marin, Eliana - Yes; Singleton, Troy - Yes; Webber, Jay - No; Wimberly, Benjie E. - Yes Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Thumbs Up Disclosure of Company Records - A-3616 (Diegnan/D-18; Pinkin/D-18): Assembly committee passed. Modifies a provision of the New Jersey Business Corporation Act concerning the liability of corporate directors and, in particular, their good faith reliance on certain information. Current law regarding good faith reliance on written reports by committees of the board would remain the same. This legislation ensures the safe and efficient disclosure of company records to board of directors members. Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee A-3616 Vote: Coughlin, Craig J. (C) - Yes; Lampitt, Pamela R. (VC) - Yes; Auth, Robert - Yes; Caride, Marlene - Yes; Casagrande, Caroline - Yes; Ciattarelli, Jack M. - Yes; Garcia, Carmelo G. - Yes; Gusciora, Reed - Not Voting; Lagana, Joseph A. - Yes; ODonnell, Jason - Yes; Pinkin, Nancy J. - Yes; Rodriguez-Gregg, Maria - Yes Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Thumbs Up Allows Businesses to Protect Data Accessible to Shareholders - A-3615 (Diegnan/D-18; Pinkin/D-18): Assembly committee passed. Modifies current law to allow corporations to impose reasonable limitations or conditions on the use or distribution of requested materials. Under current law, corporations are required to maintain certain books and records and provide access to those books and records to requesting shareholders in certain circumstances. The bill preserves the ultimate authority of a court to decide and order relief in actions brought by shareholders for inspection of corporate books and records. Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee A-3615 Vote: Coughlin, Craig J. (C) - Yes; Lampitt, Pamela R. (VC) - Yes; Auth, Robert - Yes; Caride, Marlene - Yes; Casagrande, Caroline - Yes; Ciattarelli, Jack M. - Yes; Garcia, Carmelo G. - Yes; Gusciora, Reed - Not Voting; Lagana, Joseph A. - Yes; ODonnell, Jason - Yes; Pinkin, Nancy J. - Yes; Rodriguez-Gregg, Maria - Yes Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Thumbs Up Clarifies Process for Derivative Proceedings and Shareholder Class Actions - A-3614(Diegnan/D-18; Pinkin/D-18): Assembly committee passed. Revises the applicability of provisions of the New Jersey Business Corporation Act concerning derivative proceedings and shareholder class actions. Under current law, the derivative proceeding and shareholder class action provisions of the New Jersey Business Corporation Act apply only if a corporation makes them applicable in its certificate of incorporation. Outlining and clarifying a specific process for derivative proceedings and shareholder class actions will create uniformity and predictability to reach important judgments. Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee A-3614 Vote: Coughlin, Craig J. (C) - Yes; Lampitt, Pamela R. (VC) - Yes; Auth, Robert - Yes; Caride, Marlene - Yes; Casagrande, Caroline - Yes; Ciattarelli, Jack M. - Yes; Garcia, Carmelo G. - Yes; Gusciora, Reed - Not Voting; Lagana, Joseph A. - Yes; ODonnell, Jason - Yes; Pinkin, Nancy J. - Yes; Rodriguez-Gregg, Maria - Yes Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee Thumbs Up Allow Board of Directors to Vote Via E-mail - A-3612 (Diegnan/D-18; Webber/R-26; Pinkin/D-18): Assembly committee passed. Clarifies that corporate directors may approve actions and consent by electronic transmission. Under current law, any action taken by a board of directors must be in writing. This bill will give businesses the ability to use technology to address a host of corporate governance issues which should not require a formal meeting. Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee A-3612 Vote: Coughlin, Craig J. (C) - Yes; Lampitt, Pamela R. (VC) - Yes; Auth, Robert - Yes; Caride, Marlene - Yes; Casagrande, Caroline - Yes; Ciattarelli, Jack M. - Yes; Garcia, Carmelo G. - Yes; Gusciora, Reed - Not Voting; Lagana, Joseph A. - Yes; ODonnell, Jason - Yes; Pinkin, Nancy J. - Yes; Rodriguez-Gregg, Maria - Yes ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: Assembly Appropriations Committee & Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Thumbs Up Permit Extension Act - A-3815 (Green/D-22; Burzichelli/D-3; Singleton/D-7; Johnson/D-37; Diegnan/D-18; Moriarty/D-4; Rible/R-30; Dancer/R-12) and S-2551 (Sarlo/D-36; Kyrillos/R-13): Assembly committee passed. Senate committee passed. This bill pushes back the expiration date of permit approvals to December 31, 2015. The legislation includes the clarification of the phrase extension area to ensure that approvals in these areas remain valid. The State Chamber supports this legislation as a necessary continuation of the Permit Extension Act of 2008, which was previously extended in 2010 and 2012. The poor economic climate has severely affected the states banking, real estate and construction sectors. Businesses cannot easily obtain financing under existing economic conditions and in some cases are forced to delay scheduled projects that have already been approved by a government entity and granted permits. Such delays result in some of these permits expiring before the projects are completed. Given that the permit application process is extremely time consuming and expensive, it makes sense to allow additional time for stalled projects to be completed. Assembly Appropriations Committee A-3815 Vote: Burzichelli, John J. (C) - Yes; Spencer, L. Grace (VC) - Abstain; Casagrande, Caroline - Yes; Conaway, Herb - Yes; DiMaio, John - Yes; Lagana, Joseph A. - Yes; Lampitt, Pamela R. - Yes; McHose, Alison Littell - Yes; Schaer, Gary S. - Yes Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee S-2551 Vote: Sarlo, Paul A. (C) - Yes; Stack, Brian P. (VC) - Yes; Barnes, Peter J. - No; Beck, Jennifer - Yes; Bucco, Anthony R. - Not Voting; Cunningham, Sandra B. - Yes; Greenstein, Linda R. - No; OToole, Kevin J. - Yes; Oroho, Steven V. - Yes; Pou, Nellie - Yes; Sweeney, Stephen M. - Yes; Thompson, Samuel D. - Yes; Van Drew, Jeff - Yes ENERGY: Assembly State and Local Government Committee Thumbs Up Water Infrastructure Protection Act - A-3628 (Greenwald/D-6; Kean/R-30): Assembly passed 45-24-6. Assembly committee passed. Authorizes municipalities and municipal, county, and regional utilities authorities to lease or sell their water or wastewater assets to a private entity, without a referendum, if an emergent condition exists. This legislation will provide local decision makers with an alternative mechanism and assessment based on the needs of the jurisdiction. The State Chamber believes that a less cumbersome and bureaucratic process will improve the states valuable water infrastructure system. Assembly State and Local Government Committee A-3628 Vote: Stender, Linda (C) - Yes; Auth, Robert - No; Carroll, Michael Patrick - No; Fuentes, Angel - Yes; Jimenez, Angelica M. - Yes Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee Thumbs down RGGI - SCR-125 (Sweeney/D-3; Smith/D-17; Barnes/D-18)/ ACR-189 (McKeon/D-27; Lagana/D-38; Gusciora/D-15): Senate passed by 23-14. Assembly committee passed. This concurrent resolution states that the language proposed by the state Department of Environmental Protection to withdraw New Jersey from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) is not consistent with the intent of the Legislature. The State Chamber opposes this resolution because the RGGI program produced no environmental or economic benefit to New Jersey. The program ultimately contributed to higher energy prices for residents and businesses in New Jersey. Additionally, only ten states participated in RGGI, and bordering Pennsylvania declined. Assembly Regulatory Oversight Committee ACR-189 Vote: Gusciora, Reed (C) - Yes; Eustace, Timothy J. (VC) - Yes; Brown, Chris A. - No; Fiocchi, Samuel L. - No; Tucker, Cleopatra G. - Yes ENVIRONMENT: Senate Environment and Energy Committee Thumbs down Removes Public Entities from Environmental Liability - S-444 / S-2419 Ruiz/D-29; Smith/D-17; Bateman/R-16): Senate committee passed. Prohibits any person from bringing an action for contribution against a local public entity for cleanup and removal costs or any other damages associated with a discharge of a hazardous substance. There are several municipalities and their local sewer and water authorities that have contributed significantly to the contamination of the Passaic River by discharging sewage and wastewater into the river for decades. This legislation sets a bad precedent by allowing these entities to escape liability for polluting and their shared responsibility to pay for cleanup costs. Senate Environment and Energy Committee S-444 / S-2419 Vote: Smith, Bob. (C) - Yes; Greenstein, Linda R. (VC) - Yes; Bateman, Christopher - Not Voting; Codey, Richard J. - Yes; Thompson, Samuel D. - Abstain GOVERNMENT REFORM: Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Thumbs down Sick Leave Reform - S-2318 (Sweeney/D-3; Kyrillos/R-13): Senate committee passed. Limits public employees accumulated sick leave compensation to $15,000 and limits the carrying forward of vacation leave for one year. Current employees would be permitted to retain any supplemental compensation for unused sick leave, or to carry forward any vacation leave already accrued as of the bills effective date. Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee S-2318 Vote: Sarlo, Paul A. (C) - Yes; Stack, Brian P. (VC) - Yes; Barnes, Peter J., III - Yes; Beck, Jennifer - Yes; Bucco, Anthony R. - Yes; Cunningham, Sandra B. - Yes; Greenstein, Linda R. - Yes; OToole, Kevin J. - Yes; Oroho, Steven V. - Yes; Pou, Nellie - Yes; Ruiz, M. Teresa - Yes; Thompson, Samuel D. - Yes; Van Drew, Jeff - Yes HEALTH: Out-of-Network The State Chamber delivered testimony to the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee regarding the controversial out-of-network issue. As consumers of health services and coverage, the State Chamber stressed the importance of quality health care at an affordable rate on behalf of the employer community. LABOR: Assembly Labor Committee Thumbs down Workers Compensation Attorneys Fees - S-374 (Scutari/D-22; Beck/R-11)/ A-3403 (Rible/R-30; DeAngelo/D-14; Mukherji/D-33): Assembly committee passed. The bill seeks to amend the formula for calculating attorneys fees to be awarded in workers compensation cases in a manner that discourages settlement and encourages parties to press cases that could otherwise be resolved outside the overburdened judicial system. The existing statute provides for fees based only on the portion of the judgment in excess of whatever compensation was promptly offered and paid to an employee. The proposed amendment would instead base the formula for attorney fees on the full amount of the recovery, regardless of how much of that recovery was achieved absent any attorney involvement, and would deduct that full amount from the employees recovery. The existing formula fosters good public policy and encourages prompt, good faith payments to injured employees. The State Chamber recognizes and appreciates the work of the New Jersey Civil Justice Institute in this legislation. The NJCJI advocates for reforms that will ensure that New Jerseys civil justice system treats all parties fairly and discourages lawsuit abuse. Assembly Labor Committee S-374/ A-3403 Vote: Egan, Joseph V. (C) - Yes; Sumter, Shovanda E. (VC) - Yes; Coughlin, Craig J. - Yes; Dancer, Ronald S. - Abstain; McHose, Alison Littell - No; Mukherji, Raj - Yes; ODonnell, Jason - Yes; Quijano, Annette - Not Voting; Webber, Jay - No Assembly Budget Committee and Assembly Labor Committee Thumbs down Mandated Paid Sick Leave - A-2354 (Lampitt/D-6; Mukherji/D-33): Assembly committee passed. Requires all employers to provide earned sick leave to each worker it employs in New Jersey, with the exemption of employees bound by a collective bargaining agreement. Employees will receive one hour of earned sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Businesses have a vested interest in the health and well-being of their workforce, and typically work to accommodate the needs of their employees. For those smaller business who will be hard-pressed to adapt to onerous rules, a paid sick leave mandate will have a financially chilling effect on their business and their employees. Assembly Budget Committee A-2354 Vote: Schaer, Gary S. (C) - Yes; Burzichelli, John J. (VC) - Yes; Brown, Christopher J. - No; Bucco, Anthony M. - No; Cryan, Joseph - Abstain; DiMaio, John - No; Johnson, Gordon M. - Yes; Mukherji, Raj - Yes; OScanlon, Declan J., Jr. - No; Pintor Marin, Eliana - Yes; Singleton, Troy - Yes; Webber, Jay - No; Wimberly, Benjie E. - Yes Assembly Labor Committee A-2354 Vote: Egan, Joseph V. (C) - Yes; Sumter, Shovanda E. (VC) - Yes; Coughlin, Craig J. - Yes; Dancer, Ronald S. - No; Mukherji, Raj - Yes; ODonnell, Jason - Yes; Quijano, Annette - Yes; Space, Parker - No; Webber, Jay - No Assembly Labor Committee Thumbs down Increase in Workers Compensation Payments - S-929 (Sweeney/D-3; Madden/D-4)/ A-1908 (Burzichelli/D-3; Riley/D-3): Assembly committee passed. Imposes a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) on workers compensation benefit rates for certain cases that occurred after 1980. While the intent of the legislation is admirable, the State Chamber cannot disregard the $165 million per year cost associated with full implementation. Calculations estimate that paying a nearly 34-year COLA in just three years will produce an estimated 6 percent increase in workers compensation premiums. Assembly Labor Committee S-929/ A-1908 Vote: Egan, Joseph V. (C) - Yes; Sumter, Shovanda E. (VC) - Yes; Coughlin, Craig J. - Yes; Dancer, Ronald S. - Abstain; Mukherji, Raj - Yes; ODonnell, Jason - Yes; Quijano, Annette - Yes; Space, Parker - No; Webber, Jay - No LEGAL: Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee Thumbs Up Eliminating Certain Attorney Fees Under the Consumer Fraud Act - A-207 (Gusciora/D-15; Space/R-24; Lagana/D-38): Assembly committee passed. Prohibits an award of attorneys fees under the Consumer Fraud Act when there is only a technical violation. The bill defines a technical violation as one in which the person held in violation made a good faith effort to comply with the provisions of the Consumer Fraud Act and the resulting violation did not impact the quality of the product or service provided or result in an ascertainable loss to the consumer. Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee A-207 Vote: Moriarty, Paul D. (Chair) - Yes; Mainor, Charles - Yes; McHose, Alison Littell - Yes; Mukherji, Raj - Yes; Rumpf, Brian E. - Abstain TAXATION: Thumbs down Tax Expenditure Disclosure - A-939 (Singleton/D-7; Schaer/D-36; Benson/D-14; Eustace/D-38; Mosquera/D-4) / S-1403 (Greenstein/D-14): Waiting on Assembly concurrence. Senate passed 23-14. Creates additional reporting and disclosure requirements regarding state tax expenditures, such as tax credits and economic development grants. The State Chamber believes this legislation will significantly impact New Jersey-based businesses with onerous tax reporting requirements and a sunset provision that creates uncertainty for the states business community. Businesses have long-term budgets and rely on a predictable tax structure. The potential sunset of programs that are meant to provide tax relief would hinder general business operations. TRANSPORTATION: ForwardNJ Coalition Update State Chamber President Tom Bracken testified before the Senate Transportation Committee on December 8 regarding the States Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) and infrastructure. The ForwardNJ chairman highlighted a policy study that the advocacy group has issued, complete with long term solutions for the Legislature to consider. Tom Bracken urged the Senate panel to adopt a permanent, dedicated, long-term funding solution for transportation maintenance and improvements in New Jersey. Join the Bernards Township Legislative Committee. Members in good standing contact the Chamber Office at 908-766-6755 to get engaged. Your Bernards Township Regional Chamber of Commerce Works for You!
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 11:20:00 +0000
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