Go New Jersey! Ask the Assembly, Where is Family Leave Insurance?
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GoogleWe're at a critical juncture in our fight for Family Leave Insurance -- a hurdle that, if we don't jump it, will kill the bill. Right now our bill is stuck in the legislative process because it hasn't been scheduled for a hearing by the Assembly Labor Committee. This committee will have only a few more chances to bring this bill up for a vote so it can be heard by the full Assembly. Right now they, along with Assembly leadership, hold the cards for the future of Family Leave Insurance in New Jersey. You can help.
Ask the Assembly Labor Committee - Where is Family Leave Insurance? Using the simple script below, call them (one or all of them!), and the Assembly leadership today to ask them, will they give Family Leave Insurance a chance to be heard this year? Even if you've already contacted your legislators, they need to hear from us again.
***Did you make the call? Tell us what they said!*** Below, in the text box, type in the response you got from the Assembly members you called--make sure to include their name so we can track their positions. After you type in your response, hit "submit". your reply should appear right below this blog entry.
Ready to make a call? Read the directions below and, don't forget to post the responses here.
Act now. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Step 1: Call a committee member or the speaker at the number below.
Step 2: Use the phone script when you talk to their staff.
Step 3: Tell us what they said on our blog at www.momsrising.org/NewJerseyCallBlog
Call. Below are the phone numbers for the offices of the Labor Committee members and Assembly leadership. When you call them, you can use the script below to ask them if they will give Family Leave Insurance the fair chance to be heard and voted on by the full Assembly, or if their committee will be the place this bill stops. And, make sure they know that when they do pass this bill out of committee, small business employees need to be included in the insurance program.
Phone numbers (Call one or more--it's up to you.):
Asm. Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. -- (856) 742-7600
*Asm Nelson T. Albano (856) 293-8353
*Committe Chair Asm. Joseph V. Egan -- (732) 249-4550
Asm Neil Cohen -- (908) 624-0880
Aswm Sheila Oliver -- (973) 395-1166
Asm Guy Gregg -- (973) 584-5422
Asm Michael Doherty -- (908) 835-0552
*Asm Jeff Van Drew -- (856) 293-8353 and (856) 696-7109
*Asm Fred Scalera -- (973) 667-4431
*These Assembly members cosponsored the Family Leave Insurance bill. Make sure to thank them for their work.
What to say when you call:
Hi, I'm a member of MomsRising.org and a New Jersey resident. I am calling to find out if [Asm. name] will support scheduling a vote on Family Leave Insurance in the Labor Committee this year. Will the Assemblymember support the passage of this bill out of committee this year?
And, just a follow up question, will [Asm name] leave the bill intact with no amendment leaving small business employees out of the program?
Thank you for your time. Please support family leave insurance for all working families in New Jersey.
(If nobody answers the phone, please leave a message that you support family leave insurance.)
Blog all about it!
After you talk to the staff person, go online to www.momsrising.org/NewJerseyCallBlog
and tell us what they said! We'll keep an eye on the blog to make sure those who support the legislation get full credit and recognition for their work and to help share information about potential roadblocks to the bill's passage this year!
Believe it or not, taking a moment to call your the Assembly Labor Committee to ask for their help pushing this bill out of the committee will make a big difference.
Your help is essential to the passage of this legislation. Thank you for all you do.
Family Leave is not the only issue in NJ
Dear Katie,
while this is very important issue, we have one, even more pressing
one in NJ - health freedom. Thanks to the Big Pharma, 4 new vaccines
have been added to compulsory schedule, including very controversial flu
vaccine. This will impact the whole country, as other states will follow
the suit. Many parents are lobbying and trying hard to have Gov.
Corzine overturn this or at least to pass the Conscientious Exemption Bill
that has been sitting in legislature for the past 4 years. As a parent,
I want to be able to decide what to inject or not inject into my
children, not state. To me and many others this is even more important than
Family Leave, which, by the way, I am fully supporting and have made
calls and sent letters. I would like to see Momsrising.org help with
vaccine action as well.
Thank you,
Aleksandra
I'm glad to hear that you
I'm glad to hear that you also are supportive of Conscientious Exemption for Mandatory vaccinations. We are going strong in district 21 and 26.
Keep your fingers crossed for Family Leave Insurance tomorrow!
We're making headway!
According to the article at the end of this email and from what we are hearing from members of the Legislature, the caucus meeting on Thursday, December 13 will be a behind doors poll of Legislators to determine if this bill has the votes it needs to pass.
*SO KEEP THOSE CALLS COMING!* Grassroots pressure is the key to our success.
Article about what's happening in the Assembly now:
Assembly labor panel to consider paid family leave measure
By GREGORY J. VOLPE
GANNETT STATE BUREAU
The chairman of the Assembly Labor Committee said Thursday that he expects his committee to meet again this session to consider a bill to guarantee workers paid family leave.
The measure has not moved in the Assembly and remains before the Assembly Labor Committee, which concluded its last scheduled meeting
Thursday morning. Assemblyman Joseph V. Egan, D-Middlesex, said that if the panel meets, the family leave proposal backed by incoming
Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney, D-Gloucester, and Gov. Corzine will be on the agenda.
"I believe we will have another session, barring anything, and I believe it will be on," Egan said. "I am definitely in favor of it.
At some point in time in history, you will see this as important as putting in Social Security."
Assembly Democrats have said they will discuss the matter privately next Thursday to see if there's support to get it approved during the lame-duck legislative session, as advocates for the plan are pushing.
After Thursday, the only date planned for Assembly committees to meet is Jan. 3.
Those advocates, who expect few workers to use the program, say the plan allows workers to be paid two-thirds of their salary, up to $502 a week, through an employee-funded program if they need to take off to care for a newborn or a sick family member.
Business groups fighting the measure say it will disrupt their operations and put them at a competitive disadvantage compared with peers in other states.
Some critics are also leery of increasing a tax — not more than $50 per year — on workers.
"It's a tax increase on every worker in the state of New Jersey, said Assemblyman Michael Doherty, R-Warren. "Every paycheck you're going to be paying this, and I oppose higher taxes."
It's unclear whether that concern is permeating through the majority's caucus.
"No one's reached out for me, so I don't know what the concerns are,"Egan said.
What NJ Lobbyists are Saying
I haven't made my phone calls yet, but I wanted to get to the bottom of who's really calling the shots here. It appears that the South NJ Chamber has the ears of the legislature, and it will be a hard, ugly fight between NJ citizens and businesses.
It may be a question of who has the power to line the pockets of the Labor committee?
Here's the link to the South NJ Chamber of Commerce Web site:
http://www.chambersnj.com/legislative/issues.aspx
Are there statistics or studies that can be forwarded to the Assembly and/or Chambers of Commerce to debunk their preconceived notions that this will hurt the bottom line?
Sponsors
Did a little digging on the Legislature's website.
Sheila Oliver is the Primary Sponsor of the bill, and Egan, the cahir of the Labor Committee, is a co-sponsor. Supposedly, the chair has the power to move the bill, but he hasn't done it. The Speaker of the Assembly, Roberts is also a co-sponsor. So what's the problem here?
Labor Committee
Egan - pro
Cohen - ?
Oliver- pro
Gregg- ?
Doherty - con
Van Drew - pro
Scalera - ?
Hmmm...
Not good news
I spoke with Albano's chief of staff. She says it's been pulled from committee and it is undergoing revisions. She doesn't expect the Labor Committee to take it up until January.
I'm going back to Egan's office to find out more.
new jersey
I talked just now with the chief of staff for Asm Michael Doherty -- (908) 835-0552 and Doherty will not be supporting Family Leave Insurance for two reasons: because he says it increases taxes on workers, and because he says that small businesses can't affort this, they couldn't function, there's not enough depth in the organization to cover an extended absence. I told him I disagreed and he seemed to agree to disagree.
Called Roberts' office
The staff person I got in Roberts's office said that it was up to the committee chair to move it. He was stumped when I said that the staff in the chairman's office said that the speaker was holding it up.
Something's going on here.
Got Egan's office
Apparently Egan is a cosponsor of the Family Leave Insurance bill. When I asked if it was going to be voted out of committee, the staff person said that it was up to the speaker.
Called Van Drew
The staff in Van Drew's office said that he's a supporter of the bill and that right now it's being "tweaked" by Albano's office. Not sure what that means. I hope they don't tweak it too much!
They wouldn't say what his position was on leaving out small business employees. Looks like we have work to do.
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