The Coughlin Report-First 100 Days Newsletter

8/9/2019 The Coughlin Report-First 100 Days Newsletter

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Volume 1, Issue 1

The Coughlin Repor t

N EW JERSEY GENERAL A SSEMBLY, DISTRICT 19

R e m i n d e r s :

Complete the 2010 Census

Graduated Driver License

Law takes effect May 1, 2010

Natives of Puerto Rico need

new birth cert ificates

New pedestrian safety law is

now in effect:

Stop and Stay Stopped

Letter from AssemblymanCraig J. Coughlin

2

Commit tee Assignments 2

Legislative Initiatives 2

Read Across America 3

Around the 19thLegislative District

3

Upcoming Events 3

Meet the Staff 4

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

A lot can happen in 100 days. In fact, the NewJersey State Legislature has been workingdiligently to combat the numerous issues

impacting the residents of this great state.

Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin is no exception.He has hit the ground running since being

elected and sworn into office in January.During his first few months as yourAssemblyman, he has formed a J oint LegislativeOffice with State Senator Joseph F. Vitale in

Woodbridge to better serve the citizens of the

19 th Legislative District.

Some of the major issues that the StateLegislatu re ha ve been debating thu s far a re pen-sion reform, school funding, and the upcomingfiscal year 2011 budget. Assemblyman Coughlin

is working hard to ensure the 19th LegislativeDistrict gets its fair share of State funding and

cont inues t o enjoy great sta te services.

To better help the residents of the 19thLegislative District, Assemblyman Coughlin willbe hosting a Budget Forum with Senator Joseph

F. Vitale a nd Assemblyman J ohn S. Wisniewski.

The forum will be open to th e pu blic to voice

100 Days & Count ing...

April 22, 2010

Fiscal Year 2011 BudgetGovernor Christie hasproposed a balanced$28.3 billion budget for

the Legislatures review.As proposed, the budgetan d th e Govern ors pro-posed cuts will be painful

for all of us.

Frankly, New Jersey isstuck between a rock and

a h ard place.

There is pain on everypage. Of particular con-troversy is the $820 mil-

lion reduction in schoolaid to our school districts.Specifically, our fivetowns in the 19 t h Legisla-

tive District are losing acombined $21.1 million.

Our college students andtheir families are alsofaced with a $173 million

reduction to our public

colleges a nd un iversities.

The result of the proposallikely raises tuition andat the same time reduces

t h e a v a i l a b i l i t y o f

Continu ed on Page 4

Assemblyman Coughlin sworn in by SpeakerShelia Oliver on January 12. Photo by Ed Cardinali

their support or opposition toGovern or Chr isties pr oposed F iscal

Year 2011 budget.

Please join us at the Woodbridge

High School auditorium on Monday,May 10 from 6 P .M. -8 P.M. for thisspecial opportunity to speak up and

be heard by your representatives.

The next 100 days will be aschallenging as th e first but we can be

assured Assemblyman Coughlin will

confront the issues head on.


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The Labor committee addresses issuesincluding Unemployment Insurance,Family Leave, Minimum Wage, and

other issues to help improve the work-

force opportu nities in New J ersey.

The Regulated Professions committeeworks with issues pertaining to li-censed pr ofessiona ls such as veterinar i-ans, doctors, architects, morticians, or

plumbers. Asm. Coughlin stronglybelieves licensed professionals ensure aquality workforce for a healthy and

safe consumer experience. Whileseparate, together these committeesinterrelate by providing our State

with an educated and well-trained

workforce for our future needs.

Assemblyman Coughlin was alsoselected t o serve on t he In tergovern-mental Relat ions Commissionwhich serves as a forum to discuss

intergovernmental issues betweenNew Jer sey, neighboring sta tes, and

the Federal Governm ent.

A s s e m b l y m a n C o u g h l i n w a sappointed to serve on threecommittees in the General Assem-

bly. Those committees are Higher

Education, Labor, and RegulatedProfessions.

The Higher Education committee isdealing with certain issues such asthe continuation of NJ STARS,

combating college tuition hikes, andmaking improvements to financial

aid, among other issues.

Trenton can be

daunting at first to afreshman legislator,

but I have hit the ground running;learning and understanding theprocess in Trenton. Though I maybe new to Trenton, I am not new to

the issues that impact the way oflife here in the 19 th Legislative

District.

First and foremost, it is my primaryaim to restore trust in government.Too may times we have been failed

in the past and I refuse to be a part

of the status quo. I will challengemy colleagues to move the state ofNew J ersey forwar d. Legislators n ot

only need to answer the needs of

their constituents, but anticipate

their needs. They need to be willingand ready to tackle the challenges

that confront them head on ratherthan push them aside. That is the

legislator I aim to be.

Furthermore, I will continue tofight for our schools and to make

sure that we receive our fair share

of sta te funding.

I take the responsibility as yourAssemblyman with a strong senseof purpose and an unwavering

commitment to serving the people ofthe 19th Legislative District whoha ve entr usted me to look aftertheir best interests. It is truly my

honor and privilege to serve you

and I pledge that I will continue towork hard for your best interests in

the n ext 100 days and beyond.

I invite you to contact me wheneveryou have a question, a criticism, ora sugges t ion regard ing s ta teservices or issues. It will be a

pleasure to hear from you and tohave other opportunities to serve

you.

Best personal regards,

Craig J. Coughlin

to help stimulate economic growthand job creation, and bills that re-

store trust in government.

Asm. Coughlin also strives

to reach a balance withhow we regulate thereneeds to be oversight, but

it has to be efficient.

One example, the hoteloccupancy tax bill, Assem-

In just 100 days, Assemblyman

Coughlin has been the primarysponsor of ten pieces of

legislation, with six oft h o s e b i l l s t o b e

introduced in May.

The Assemblyman isworking hard to draft bills

that will keep a close eyeon unfunded mandates,continue to compose bills

bly Bill 2579, would require the

State to act as the collection agentof the occupancy tax on behalf of

municipalities, and return theoccupancy tax revenue back to mu-nicipalities on a periodic basis. Also,information from the Treasurer

would allow mu nicipalities todetermine which, if any, hotels ormotels become delinquent in their

occupan cy tax obligation.

Commit tee Assignments

First Impressions

Legislat ive Por t folio

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

Assemblyman Coughlinsfirst vote.

Photo by Ed Cardinali


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To help promote a love of reading inschool-aged children in New Jersey,Assemblyman Coughlin partici-

pated in "National Read Across

America Day."

"Increasing literacy rates in youngchildren has to be one of our tope d u c a t i o n a l

priorities," saidA s s e m b l y m a nCoughlin. "Toooften kids get tocollege without

strong reading andwriting skills. Pro-grams like 'Read

Across America'aim to change tha t ."

Read Across Amer-

ica is an annual reading motivationand awareness program, created in1998 by the National Education

Association (NEA) to motivate chil-dren to read. The annual event isheld on March 2, the birthday ofcelebrated children's author Theo-

dor Seuss Geisel, better known as

Dr. Seuss.

Asm. Coughlinparticipated innine Read AcrossAmerica events in

the 19th Legisla-t i v e D i s t r i c tthroughout the

first week ofMarch, beginningo n Tu e s d a y ,March 2 and end-

ing Friday, March 5.

The Assemblyman read selectionsfrom Dr. Seuss and from several

social studies texts. He plans tohold additional reading events atschools in the district throughout

the rest of the year.

"My wife, Tish, an d I a lways did ourbest to instill our love of reading inour children," said Asm. Coughlin.

"Reading is the gateway to theimagination; anything and every-thing can happen on the printedpage. It's my hope that the children

I met this past week get toexperience a little bit of that magicand continue to pursue it on their

own, long after my visit."

encouraged to attend.

The Outstanding High SchoolArtist Recognition Program isdesigned to give our local

district high schools an oppor-tunity to proudly display theart work of their mosttalented students in Assem-

blyman Coughlins office.The first art projects on

Looking ahead into the springand summer, AssemblymanCoughlins office has numer-

ous projects that will be held.

On May 10, Asm. Coughlinwill host a Budget Forum from6 P.M.- 8 P.M. with SenatorJoe Vitale and Assemblyman

John Wisniewski at Wood-bridge High School and all are

display will be unveiled on J une 3rd.

Please stay tuned for more specialprojects in the district. In the mean-time, please let the office know how it

can assist with your communityproject. Last ly, be sure to check outAssemblyman Coughlin as he contin-ues to fulfill his favorite hobby of

broadcasting Woodbridge Township

High School spring s porting events.

Important Informat ion for 19th Dist r ict Residents

Read Across America

Looking Ahead

Craig with Grand MarshallTom Henderson, Colonia

Census back.

Nat ive s o f Pue r to R ico need

new b i r t h c e r t i fi c a t e s .

Come July 1, 2010,o r i g i n a l b i r t hcertificates for those

born in Puerto Ricowill be considerednull and void. Thechange is part of a

new law designed to

reduce identity theft and passport

fraud.

Please contact the Office of VitalStat is t ics in Puerto Rico at

www.salud.gov.pror 787-767-9120

after J uly 1.

There are roughly1 2 5 , 0 0 0 N e wJersey residents

affected by th is new

law.

The 2010 Census i s h ere!

The Census is an important toolthat is mandated by the UnitedStates Constitution for all residents

to complete. The Census results,which are compiled every ten years,are used to determine population,Congressional seats, electoral votes,

and Federal government funding.

Please do your part and fill out the

ten simple questions and mail your

2nd grade students at Lafayett e Estates School #25 inFords. Picture by Krista Sweeney

PAGE 3THE COUGHLIN REPORTVO LUME 1, ISSUE 1

Congratulations to Mayor

Wilda Diaz for her exemplary

efforts to promote a complete

Census count in the

City of Perth Amboy!


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The Honorable Craig J. Coughlin569 Rahway Avenue

Woodbridge, NJ07095

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

The dynamic duo starting at the

two forward positions are KristaSweeney, from Menlo Par k Terr ace,

who schedules all Appointments forthe Legislators and RosannaEsoldo, of Colonia, who is in charge

of Constituent Services.

The big man at center, coming to

you by way of Colonia, is DanielHarris. He is the Legislative Direc-

tor for Assemblyman Coughlin.

Anchoring the staff is none otherthan US Marine, Jack McGreevey,

of Carteret, who is responsible forVeterans Affairs. Alsooff the bench are JudyValdes, from Carteret,who works on SpecialProjects and Commu-

nity Outreach Assis-t a n t , J e f f r e y

Mayerowitz, of Fords.

The Joint Office staff is simply the

best team in the State, period. It isa team consisting of individuals

with varying degrees of knowledge,skill, and experience. All are hardworking and dedicated to helpingthe r esidents of th e 19th Legislat ive

District.

In the spirit of NCAA March Mad-ness and Assemblyman Coughlin'slove of sports, starting for the Joint

Office tea m...

We have a talented duo at the two

guard positions. From Woodbridge,is Cathy McLaughlin,Chief of Staff to both leg-islators. At the otherguard position, fromSewaren, with a Masters

degree in Public Healthfrom Columbia, we haveLaurie Cancialosi, Sena-tor Vitales Legislative

Director.

This winning team is coached by

two great State Legislators, SenatorJoseph F. Vitale of Woodbridge and

Assemblyman Craig J. Coughlin of

Fords.

We encourage you to visit our officeand meet this winning team. Ouroffice is located at 569 Rah way Ave-

nue in Woodbridge. Office hours are9 A.M. to 5 P.M., Monday to Friday.You may also reach us by phone732-855-7441, by fax 732-855-7558,

an d e-ma il AsmCoughlin @njleg.org.

Our website is under constructionso please check back in the near

future.

Want to join the team as an intern?Give us a call at the office! Whileunpaid, we offer flexible hours, newskil ls , and a great learning

environment for all adult students.

Meet the Joint Office Team

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 1 9t h

Leg i s la t i ve D i s t 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

Office at 569 Rahway Ave, Woodbridge

Continu ed from Fiscal Year 2011 Bud geton page 1

fina ncial aid.

Our municipal governments will share the pain with a $466million reduction in municipal aid. Additionally, Carteret andPerth Amboy will lose funding for their Urban Enterprise Zone(UEZ) accounts costing both municipalitys valuable resources

th at provide essent ial economic opportun ities.

Our senior citizens will also bear the impact of the Governorsproposed budget. Christie has proposed reforming the HomesteadRebate Program so that 2009 rebates would be paid in quarterlyinsta llments a s credits on a h omeowners property t ax bill.

Homeowners would r eceive th e first quar terly credit in Ma y 2011.

While Assemblyman Coughlin agrees with the Governors call for

shared sacrifices given New Jerseys myriad of economic and fiscalchallenges, he is perplexed as to why the Governor excludedreinst at ing t he millionaires t ax on New J erseys wea lthiestresidents. The middle class is truly bearing the brunt of Governor

Chr isties cuts wh ile New Jer seys wealth y are being given a t ax

break.

Assemblyman Coughlin promises that the Governors proposedbudget will be given his fullest at tent ion and discussion.

With all due respect to Governor Christie, anybody in his positionwould ha ve had a har d time t rying to find fat on this budget t o cut.I simply disagree with his ta ctics. He clearly is out of tun e with t he

needs of the middle class.

Documents

The Coughlin Report-First 100 Days Newsletter