New Jersey Food Council
30 West Lafayette St., Trenton, NJ 08608
Phone: 609/392-8899
Fax: 609/396-6571
Email: njfc@njfoodcouncil.com

Donπt Miss the Night of Distinction!

The New Jersey Food Council will be honoring Dean Durling of Quick Chek, Judy Spires of Acme and Joel Perlmutter of Perlmart ShopRites with Industry Achievement awards at the 2007 Night of Distinction event.

Each year, NJFC honors a distinguished class of food industry leaders who have made a meaningful contribution to advance the mission of the Food Council, have achieved a significant food business success and have a history of civic service within the New Jersey food community. NJFC is proud to pay tribute to these industry leaders who have helped NJFC to become one of the finest food trade associations in New Jersey and throughout the country.

The Night of Distinction event will be held on March 22, 2007 at the Sheraton Meadowlands in East Rutherford and will again feature the popular Texas Poker exhibition. Please join us in celebrating these fine industry achievers.

State Assembly Passes Onerous Rebate Bill

This week, the NJ General Assembly passed a bill that could potentially force retailers to stop advertising manufacturers rebates to shoppers because it would require retailers to apply a manufacturerπs rebate to customers at the point of sale.

NJFC believes that this bill will create a clear disincentive for food retailers to advertise a manufacturerπs rebate to consumers because retailers would then be sacked with the financial burden of covering thousands of products sold by a food retailer at any time. NJFC testified in opposition to A-3539, sponsored by Assemblyman Buzichelli, and has started a dialog with the Assemblyman who has agreed to work with the industry to find ways to limit the billπs impact on food retailers.

The bill now heads to the Senate where it has been referenced to the Senate Commerce Committee.

Senate labor Committee to Consider Paid Family Leave Bill

On Monday, February 5, 2007, the Senate Labor Committee will be meeting to take testimony on S-2249, sponsored by Senators Sweeney and Buono. This bill would extend Temporary Disability Insurance (TDI) to workers caring for sick family members or newborn and newly adopted children by providing up to 12 weeks of paid leave per year. The bill also limits the amount of time an employer may require an employee to take available paid sick time or paid vacation time. The bill raises additional revenue for the TDI fund necessary to pay family leave benefits through an assessment paid by workers of 0.1% of each workerπs wages.

This bill will severely disrupt the workplace, create tension between employees, tilt the collective bargaining process against business and ultimately create great burdens on the business community. NJFC also fears that future legislative leaders may return to business to offset potential TDI fund deficits.

NJFC will testify in strong opposition to this detrimental proposal on Monday.

Legislature Takes Action of Property Tax Reform Proposals

This week, the Legislature took action on a number of bills to help reform property taxes in New Jersey including several bills that have now been sent to the Governor for final approval.

On the Governorπs desk is a bill to create an independent Office of State Comptroller designed to root out waste, identify misuse in spending and develop efficiencies while consolidating functions like fiscal audits and performance reviews. Also on the Governorπs desk, is a bill that establishes the New Jersey Tax and Fiscal Policy Study Commission to study the State and local tax structure and a separate bill that would establish a Local Unit Alignment, Reorganization and Consolidation Commission to discuss the elimination of certain layers of government. Both Houses of the Legislature have also passed identical bills to examine school district accountability and cost saving programs. In addition, the Legislature has sent Governor Corzine a bill that requires mandatory forfeiture of retirement benefits for public officers convicted of certain ethics related crimes.

The NJ General Assembly has also passed several bills that now head to the State Senate for consideration. A-1 establishes a property tax credit of up to 20 percent based on a homeownerπs income coupled with a four percent cap on local government spending. Governor Corzine has gone on record, saying that he will not sign a property tax rebate bill into law without this four percent cap. The bill has received scrutiny from State Republicans who question the billπs constitutionality as it relates to the Uniformity Clause because the bill treats homeowners differently based on their income. Also headed to the Senate is a bill that implements various recommendations of the Joint Legislative Committee on Public Employee Benefits Reform concerning pension and health care benefits as well as a bill to eliminate mandates imposed on public school districts.

Photos Galore

Don't forget to check out our library page to view photographs from our events including our recent Loss Prevention Conference & Exhibition.