Government Affairs
LEGISLATIVE ISSUES – Spring 2010
The following is
a list of legislation currently pending before the 214th
State Legislature. If passed, these bills will have a significant
impact on the food distribution industry. This list was compiled
after
a thorough review of the NJFC bill tracking system and discussions
with several legislators. While it is impossible to definitively
determine what pieces of legislation the New Jersey Legislature
will review and
take action on, it is likely that a number of these bills
will be heard and or voted on during this session.
Labor/Taxation
Taxation-Personal
Income Tax
A-10 (Oliver/Cryan)
Position:OPPOSE
Impact: Increases gross income
tax rate on income exceeding $1,000,000 for taxable year 2010.<<TOP
Food;
Taxation-Sales Tax
A-496 (Polistina/Amodeo)
Position: SUPPORT
Impact: Provides sales tax exemption for sales of
prepared foods.<<TOP
Labor
A-673 (Greenstein/Oliver/Vainieri Huttle)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Establishes the "Healthy Workplace Act."<<TOP
Communications;
Motor Vehicles-Commercial
A-2542 (DeCroce/Rible)
Position: SUPPORT
Impact: Exempts use of citizen's band and two-way radios
by operators of commercial motor vehicles from prohibition on use of hand-held
wireless telephone or electronic communication devices while driving. <<TOP
Labor;
Public Safety-Homeland Security
A-2600 (Dancer)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Prohibits the employment of unauthorized aliens
and requires employers to use E-Verify program. <<TOP
Taxation-Personal
Income Tax
S-10 (Sweeney)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Increases gross income tax rate on income exceeding
$1,000,000 for taxable year 2010. <<TOP
Civil
Rights; Labor
S-1791 (Turner)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Prohibits employment discrimination on basis
of credit history or financial status. <<TOP
Labor;
Public Safety-Homeland Security
S-1842 (Singer/Oroho)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Prohibits the employment of unauthorized aliens
and requires employers to use the E-Verify program. <<TOP
Labor
S-1922 (Gill)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Prohibits practice of requiring credit check
as condition of employment. <<TOP
Food Issues
Consumer
Affairs-Product Safety; Food
A-631 (Moriarty/Lampitt)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Truth in Beef Packaging
Act of 2008.<<TOP
Consumer
Affairs-Consumer Protection; Food; Health
A-1247 (Stender)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Requires retailers to provide consumers with
information on origin of raw produce.<<TOP
Food
A-2305 (Milam/Albano/Riley/Wilson/Moriarty)
Position: SUPPORT
Impact: Expands "Jersey Fresh" program to
include "Made With Jersey Fresh" designation of certain baked goods
and other food products.<<TOP
Environment-Fish
And Wildlife
AR-63 (Amodeo/Albano)
Position: SUPPORT
Impact: Urges FDA and Interstate Shellfish Sanitation
Conference to work collaboratively to improve shellfish safety.<<TOP
Children;
Health-Pharmaceuticals
S-664 (Buono/Kean, T.)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Prohibits sale of products containing dextromethorphan
to minors under 18 years of age.<<TOP
Consumer
Affairs-Product Safety; Food
S-842 (Turner)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Requires retailers to provide food product
recall notices through loyalty card programs. <<TOP
Consumer Affairs
Gambling-Lotteries
A-647 (Moriarty/Burzichelli/Quijano)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Prohibits sale of lottery tickets or shares
after claim of top prizes.<<TOP
Consumer
Affairs
A-941 (Vainieri Huttle)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Requires prices to be quoted over telephone. <<TOP
Environment-Hazardous
And Toxic Substances; Food
A-1532 (Lampitt/Greenstein/Wolfe/Vainieri Huttle)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Prohibits sale of food and beverage packaging
and containers made with bisphenol A. <<TOP
Consumer
Affairs
A-1692 (Burzichelli/Biondi/Moriarty/Prieto/Wisniewski)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Regulates advertising of manufacturer’s
rebates by retail mercantile establishments. <<TOP
Consumer
Affairs
A-1732 (Watson Coleman)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Requires businesses to notify customers concerning
use of radio frequency identification systems that collect information about
customers. <<TOP
Environment
Environment-Solid
Waste And Recycling
A-930 (Vainieri Huttle/Greenstein/Stender)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: The "Smart Container Act."<<TOP
Environment-Solid
Waste And Recycling
A-1643 (Wagner)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Plastic Carryout Bag Reduction Act. <<TOP
Plastic
Bag Recycling Act
A-2112 (Conaway/Conners)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Plastic Bag Recycling Act. <<TOP
Environment-Solid
Waste And Recycling
A-2121 (Chivukula)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Reduce Plastic and Paper Bag Usage Act. <<TOP
Environment-Solid
Waste And Recycling
A-2225 (McKeon/Vainieri Huttle)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Plastic Container Recycling Enhancement Act. <<TOP
Environment-Solid
Waste And Recycling
A-2238 (McKeon)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Provides for decrease and eventual ban on use
of non-compostable plastic grocery bags. <<TOP
Environment-Solid
Waste And Recycling
S-238 (Bateman)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Plastic Carryout Bag and Film Plastic Recycling
Act. <<TOP
Environment-Solid
Waste And Recycling
S-456 (Smith)
Position: OPPOSE
Impact: Reduce Plastic and Paper Bag Usage Act. <<TOP
Liquor Licensing
Alcoholic
Beverages
A-2591 (Greenwald)
Position: SUPPORT
Impact: Removes plenary retail distribution license
limit for certain stores. <<TOP
Alcoholic
Beverages
S-1904 (Beach)
Position: SUPPORT
Impact: Removes plenary retail distribution license
limit for certain stores. <<TOP
Federal Issues
Card Check
Position: Oppose
Impact: NJFC
strongly opposes this bill which will create federal law recognizing
unionization of a workplace by Card Check method. The bill would
take away a worker’s right to a federally supervised private
ballot election when deciding whether or not to join a union. Under
this system, a worker’s vote is made public to the employer,
the union organizer and co-workers. <<TOP