Coughlin Report 200 Days

8/9/2019 Coughlin Report 200 Days

1/4

Volume 1, Issue 2

The Coughlin Repor t

N EW JERSEY GENERAL A SSEMBLY, DISTRICT 19

R e m i n d e r s :

Sena tor Vita les Softba llGame to benefit Habita tfor H uma nity is Thursday,

August 5 at 7:30 PM.

NJ Senior Olympics will beheld Septem ber 10, 11, &

12 here in Woodbridge.Register by August 27,

2010. P hone: 973-618-1111

Vetera ns Benefit Seminar

on October 2, 2010 from10:00 AM to Noon atWoodbridge Comm un ityCenter. Call 732-855-7441

for more info.

Reminder to register to

vote by October 12, 2010for Gener al Elections on

November 2, 2010.

Letter from AssemblymanCoughlin

2

Committee Report 2

Legislative Portfolio 2

Upcoming Events 3

Around the 19thLegislative District

3

Visit Us on Facebook 3

Outstanding High SchoolArtist Recognition Project

4

I n s i d e t h i s is s u e :

Assemblyman Coughlins second one hundreddays were much like the firstfull of challengesand tough choices. Like any governing body, its

the budget that commands the most attention.This FY2011 Budget appropriation of $29.4billion was passed by the Legislature on June 29

despite Assemblyman Coughlin voting no.

Assemblyman Coughlin, in order to meet those

constituents most affected by the Governorsproposed cuts began his second one hundred

days by hosting a budget forum on May 10.

The budget cuts proposed by Governor Christiespar ed few and were par ticularly harsh on seniorcitizens, school-age children, and property tax

payers.

The Democratic-controlled Legislature fought

hardest for the reinstatement of the popularHomestead Rebate pr ogram a program senior

and disabled residents have come to depend on.The Legislature pegged the restoration of the

program with the reinstatement of a truemillionaires taxa continuation of last yearsincome t ax sur charge on New J erseys wealthiest16,000 income filers. The Governor vetoed theaction and the Legislature failed to corral

enough Republicans to override the veto. TheHomestead Rebate program has been signifi-

cantly curtailed to tax credits withan application due to residentsprior to the May 2011 deadline.

There will be no homestead rebateor credits issued with the in 2010

calendar year.

Equally as disconcerting, thebudget included $820 million in

cuts to education aid for ourschools. I am truly concerned forour educat ion system goingforwa rd. N ew J erseys schools ar eamong the most successful in the

nation.

Continu ed on Page 4

200 Days & Counting...

August 1, 2010

Legislat ive Por t folioAssemblyma n Coughlin su ccessfully guidedth ree bills thr ough the Genera l Assembly thisspr ing. All th ree bills awa it the Govern ors

signatu re int o law. Here is a look:

Assemb ly Bill 2950 eliminates t he minimum

threshold for municipal calculation of reserve foruncollected taxes by alternate method when taxappea l judgments r educe the t ax levy. The elimi-nation of the threshold will allow more munici-

palities to utilize both of the accepted methods of

calculating the reserve therebylessening the tax burden caused byan un necessarily high reserve for

uncollected taxes.

Assem bly Bill 2579 requires theDivision of Taxation to regularlyprovide cert ain inform at ion t omu nicipalities concerning hotel

occupancy taxes, including but not

Continu ed on Page 2


2/4

to fund an insolvent UnemploymentInsurance Trust Fund. Instead, ouraction reduced the average increase to

$130 per employee, averting potentially

massive layoffs.

The law reforms un employmentbenefits for employees who lose their

jobs due to misconduct. A three-tieredstructure was established (misconduct,

severe misconduct and gross miscon-duct) which either prohibits pa yment ofbenefits or extends t he waitin g period

before benefits can be paid.

Lastly, the law provided for th ecreat ion of an Unem ploymentInsuran ce Fun d Task F orce to study

and assess, among other things, thecurr ent u nemployment insura nce

crisis and recommen d how the stat ecan r estore the tr ust fund to

solvency in a way tha t balan ces th einterests of workers , employers an dth e overa ll economy. The ta sk forcewill condu ct a compr ehensivereview of all eligibility standards,

benefit levels, sta tu tory payroll tax

triggers, contributions and more.

Assemblyman Coughlin votedfavora bly to release A.2624 from t heLabor Committee before the bill

ultimately passed both houses and

was signed into law. While thebudget commanded its due atten-tion, this bill had enormous signifi-

cance for employers state-wide.

A.2624/S.1813 averts an automatic,

per-employee tax increase onemployers beginning July 1 of up to$683 that would have been needed

Two hun dred days inoffice have come andgone s o fast . And I

must say, it is

definitely a learn ingexperience. A lot of

issues plague our state and none

took center sta ge the past fewmonth s like our F Y 2010 state

budget.

The budget process took a coursemost expected with much debate a ndargum ents on both sides of the a isle.

In t he end, with limited Democra ticsupport, the budget passed theLegislature. The next battle thattook place was over property tax

reform . The new law limits propertytax levies to two percent a year.Again, this mea sur e passed both

houses.

The budget will have a detrimental

effect on our communities.

The $29.4 billion spending plan for

this fiscal year cut aid to schools by$820 million an d t o mun icipalities by$350 million. Our towns and districtwill be forced to cut services and jobsdue to the aid reductions an d tax cap.

Municipal finances ha ve already beenweakened by less revenue in t he midst

of the recession.

The tax cap on t he other ha nd is astep towards reducing property taxes.The flexible cap ha s four exceptions

tha t exclude t ax increases forpensions/healthcare, debt, school en-

rollment, a nd stat es of emergency. Ifought hard to include loss off stateaid an d special education costs a s ad-

ditional exceptions. Towns should not

be punished with a two percent capwhen the state also decreases theirfunding. That is why it is not

feasible to have a cap without

exceptions.

Additionally, the Governor vetoed amillionaires t ax t ha t would h ave

helped alleviate some of our budgetwoes. Instead the state is cuttingservices for low-income senior

citizens and the disabled.

Ultimat ely, the Govern or was shortsighted in his agenda and in notbringing the relief that our towns,

comm un ities, and citizensdesperately need, he inst ead placedthe desires of th e wealthiest NewJ erseyans first. I will cont inue t o

work t o help bring that relief home.

Best personal regards,

Craig J. Coughlin

unpaid occupancy taxes a municipallien on the real property comprising

th e delinquen t h otel or motel.

Assemb ly Bill 1839 permits a candi-

dat e to serve as a signer or circulator,or both, for his or her own petitions ofnominat ion. Assemblyman Coughlinpar ticularly values this bill becau se it

began as a r equest of a group ofconst ituent s wh o discovered t he pr ob-lem in their own lives. Assemblyman

Contin ued Page 1limited to, a list of all of the hotelsand motels in the municipality thatsubmitted municipal occupancy taxrevenue to the State. Additionally,every municipality imposing the

occupancy tax would now have toannually provide the Treasury withthe n ames a nd addr esses of all hoteland motels located within the

municipality. The bill would make

Coughlin tr ies to remind hisconstituents t hat all laws comefrom people of all walks of life and

if you have an idea for legislation,please do not hesitate to contact

one of your state legislators.

Want t o learn m ore aboutAssemblyma n Coughlins work?

Visit www.njleg.stat e.nj.us/ andclick Find Your Legislator on the

left hand side.

Commit tee Repor t

First Impressions

Legislat ive Por t folio

PAGE 2 TH E CO UGH LIN REPORT VO LUME 1, ISSUE 2


3/4

Realizing the distr ess tha t food banksacross t he st at e face, AssemblymanCraig Coughlin is determ ined to help

ease this burden by hosting a charitybowling event dubbed Bowl for

Hunger.

The Bowl for Hunger fundraiserwill help raise fund s and a wareness

for our local 19th District food banks.

Assemblyman Coughlin ha s enlisted

the help of our local hospitalR ar i t an B ay M edica l C en te r andMidd lesex Water Compan y to forma wining team to combat hunger and

to assist our twent y-nine 19th

District food bank s.The charity bowling event will beheld at the Woodbridge Bowling

Center in Woodbridge on Su nda y,

October 3, 2010. Bowling begins a t

4:00 PM and ends at 6:00 PM.

If inter ested in par ticipat ing, please

contact our office at (732) 855-7441for more informat ion.

Fam ilies, businesses, and

individuals that wish to bowl will becharged $15 per participant. Eachpart icipant will be entitled to twohours of bowling, bowling shoes,

and a Bowl for Hun ger t-shirt.

Lane sponsorships are also

available for $100.

All monies r aised at th e Bowl for

Hunger event will be given to theMayors of each town so they candistribute the money amongst their

own food banks.

and local 19th District news an devents. Remember,

we want to hearfrom you so we ma ybett er ser ve you. Wecan always be

reached a t 732-855-7441 or by e-ma il at

AsmCough [email protected].

Assemblyman Coughlinhas joined the socialnetworking website

Facebook and h opesthat you will become afan a nd friend. On th ewebsite you will be able

to follow along withbreaking news regard-ing the Assemblyman , state issues,

Wan t to join our w inn ing t eam ?Internship opportunities are avail-able year round at our office. While

intern ships are un paid, they offervaluable work experience as well ascollege credit. Hours are flexible andthe work is diversified to meet our

interns interests a nd skill sets.Pleas e cont act th e office today if you

are interested in our internsh ip.

At tent ion:19th Dist r ict Residents

Looking Ahead - Bowl for Hunger

Social Networking - Stay Involved with the Team!

South A m boy- On a personal note,Assemblyman Coughlin salutes thelate Councilman Russell Stillwagon.

He wishes new Councilman Donald

Applegate the best of luck filling theshoes of a great leader and public

servant . He will be missed!

C a r t e r e t Carteret welcomes home

the Smithereens for a 30th anniver-sary concert on September 4. Also,every Sunday night of August,Concerts by the Bay at the

Water front Pa rk from 7:00-9:00 PM.

P e r t h A m b o y- Asm. Coughlincongrat ulates th e new City Council-men for stepping up and serving

their community. AssemblymanCoughlin also thanks ret i r ing

Councilpersons Peter Jimenez, BobSottilaro, and Gerry Bolanowski for

th eir years of dedicat ion and service.

Woodbr idge- Good news! Route 9 isscheduled to be resurfaced in theSpring of 2012. The New Jersey

Department of Transportation seeks

your input of where to clean up andimprove our highways. Please call or

e-ma il us with your observat ions.

Sayrevi l le- Assemblymen Coughlin

and Wisniewski have introduced abill to allocate $4.0 million toS a y r e v i l l e s f l o o d m i t i g a t i o n

programs.

PAGE 3THE COUGHLIN REPORTVO LUME 1, ISSUE 2

Follow Assemblyman

Coughlin on Facebook

today!!!

Assemblyman

C ough lin r ead s

to 2nd g ra de r s

in Pe r t h Am boy


4/4

The Honorable Craig J. Coughlin569 Rahway Avenue

Woodbridge, NJ07095

N EW JERSEY GEN ERA LA SSEM BLY, D I ST RIC T 19

The three students to participate

included:

Britney Cougle, a senior from

Cart eret High School.

Connor Lewis, a junior from John F.

Kennedy Mem orial High School

Tito Mantilla, a senior from

Pert h Amboy High S chool

Both Britney an d Tito ha ve recently

graduated from high school andlook forward to their education at

the collegiate level.

Our next Outstanding High SchoolArtist Recognition event will takeplace in October 2010. The office

hopes to increase par ticipat ion in

this fall event.

If interested in our program for ourfall event, the office request thateach school please contact my office

staff at 732-855-7441 to confirm

Youth Art Month is an annual

observance each March to promotethe value of art and art education

for all students in the UnitedStates. In honor of Youth ArtMonth, Assemblyman Coughlininvited all 19th District high schools

to participate in his newOutstanding High School Artist

Recognition P rogram in J une.

The program is designed to givestudents an opportunity to sharetheir artistic talents and successes

with the entire 19th

LegislativeDistrict as their artwork is dis-played throughout the district of-

fice.

This program takes place on a sea-sonal basis and our inaugural sum-

mer event took place on June 3,2010. We were privileged to havethree district high schools

participate.

th eir pa rt icipation. We look forward

to proudly displaying the art workof our many talented students and

increasing th e commun itys un der-

standing and interest in the arts.

Please feel free to drop by our office

anytime t o check out the a rtwork.

Outstanding High School Ar t ist Recognit ion Program

Phone: 732-855-7441Fax: 732-855-7558

Email: [email protected]

P r o u d l y S e r v in g t h e 19 t h

Legis la t ive Dist r i c t

Cartere t

Per th Am b oy

S a yrev i l l e

S o u t h A m b oy

Woodbrid ge Town ship

C ont inued B udge t f rom Page 1

There is a direct correlation between their success and thecommitment by the State to public education. Certainly we shouldalways seek to make the schools more effective and efficient, but

there is no reason the Governor should have indiscriminatelyslashed fundin g to all school districts without pr oper a nd t horoughanalysis. It is all the more concerning that he made these cuts toeducation funding while disregarding the law mandating how

school funding is allocated. Our children deserve a governmentthat cherishes their future, Assemblyman Coughlin argued.

The Republican-backed budget will impose real hardship on ourlocal governments. We will not see tax increases from the Statelevel. However, our municipalities and school districts will be leftwith the responsibility of providing services with less funding from

the state. In total, the Governor cut more than $350 million in aidto municipalities state-wide. The increased responsibilities onthese bodies will entail one of two thingsincreased taxes or areduction in services. Together, elected officials and their

constituents have many tough choices ahead.

Other budget decisions include the freezing of the Property Tax

Reimbursement Program, also known as, the Senior Freeze isfrozen at 2008 reimbursement level. New applicants will notreceive a payment , but a re encoura ged to apply to establish a baseyear. Another concern is the Governors decision to withhold theSta tes $3 billion in public employee pension contr ibutions. The

withholding of promised monies will only exacerbate the loomingproblem of th e Sta tes un funded liabilities to the ent ire pension

system.

Bri tney Cou gle , Car tere t H .S.

T i t o M a n t i l l a , P e r t h A m b o y H . S .

Documents

Coughlin Report 200 Days