Measure Would Expand Homestead Property Tax Reimbursement Benefit to More Surviving Spouses

TRENTON – The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee today approved legislation sponsored by Senator Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, Cumberland and Atlantic, to expand the State’s property tax relief program, commonly known as the “Senior Freeze,” to more surviving spouses of deceased participants.

The measure, a Senate Committee Substitute for S-593, S-880 and S-1111, would lower to 62 the minimum age a surviving spouse of a participant in the State’s Homestead Property Tax Reimbursement Program can continue receiving the property tax relief benefit for the same home.

Senator Van Drew introduced legislation to lower the age threshold after learning that a constituent from Buena Borough, Atlantic County, was hit with a property tax hike after the 2006 death of her husband, who had participated in the senior freeze program for several years.

By Matthew Milam, Assemblyman, First Legislative District

It didn’t take long, after being first elected to the state Assembly two years ago, for me to come to the conclusion that if state government is ever going to pull itself out of the deep fiscal hole in which it finds itself, the administration and Legislature must take the steps necessary to run the statehouse more like a business.

I came to Trenton, and am returning for a second two years, with what I consider a unique skill set – as the owner and CEO of a successful business in Vineland. The opportunity to bring my business expertise to Trenton was one of the most important reasons I ran for elected office and the same applies this time around. That approach is fully supported by my 1st District colleagues, Senator Jeff Van Drew and Assemblyman Nelson Albano, both of whom I have worked hard with, and with whom I will continue to work to change the way the administration and the Legislature does business.

By Nelson Albano, Assemblyman, First Legislative District

Agriculture – one of the economic bedrocks of the state of New Jersey – must always have a bright future in our state and in Cumberland County in particular. It is up to the new administration and Legislature to ensure that bright future.

The second part in a two-part series on the difference real people are making everyday. By State Senator Jeff Van Drew.

The first part in a two-part column series on the difference real people are making everyday. By State Senator Jeff Van Drew

“We won’t sugar coat the truth: property taxes are high because Trenton politicians care only about themselves. Our tax relief plan may not be popular with the political bosses politicians, but we know it will deliver the real relief South Jersey needs.”

Nelson and Matt’s plan is the same simple rules our families live by every day: don’t spend what you don’t have, don’t spend every dollar you make and don’t buy what you can’t afford. Their plan will eliminate millions in wasteful spending and pass the savings on to taxpayers.

July 4, 2009

(TRENTON) – With Independence Day’s arrival, legislation sponsored by Senator Jeff Van Drew, Assemblyman Nelson Albano, and Assemblyman Matt Milam to require the state to buy only United States and New Jersey flags manufactured in the United States has been signed into law.

“It makes absolutely no sense to allow even one dime of the public’s money to be spent on an American flag made anywhere but in America,” said Albano (D-Cumberland/Atlantic/Cape May). “It is bad enough that our state and nation’s manufacturing bases have largely evaporated as jobs were shipped elsewhere. Buying the most-recognized symbol of our nation from overseas just adds insult to injury.”

The lawmakers said the measure (A-1784) sends the strong message that using taxpayer funds to purchase flags made overseas is an insult to hard-working American families.

According to the Flag Manufacturers Association of America, four domestic flag producers meet the group’s “Made in the USA” requirements, including Annin & Co. of Bergen County.

By Assemblyman Nelson Albano
 
Anyone who meets Samantha Ravelli would not be able to tell right off the bat that she’s not your typical 6th grader. And it’s not that she does anything out of the ordinary for a child her age – she’s active in school and makes the honor roll. What makes Samantha different is that she’s on the verge of changing the way an entire state teaches kids like her.
 
Samantha has dyslexia, a neurological disorder in which the brain has difficulty decoding words and sounds. Researchers estimate that roughly 20 percent of the population suffers from some form of dyslexia that makes it difficult to read. But for those with severe dyslexia, like Samantha, words that most people take for granted as easy – words as simple as “cat” or “dog” – appear to a dyslexic as if they are written in a foreign language.
 

By Jeff Van Drew, Senator, First Legislative District
Daily Journal - Vineland, N.J.
Jun 24, 2009
      The letters and e-mails keep coming. Hundreds of First District constituents telling me and my Assembly colleagues, Nelson Albano and Matt Milam, that they can not afford increasing taxes, fees, tolls, and regulatory charges that continue to add to their financial burden – especially given the economic tailspin our state and our country is experiencing.
      We are opposed to the budget as it is presently constructed. We’ve been fighting a long battle to have the state government run in a more fiscally responsible way.  We support restrictions on additional spending in order to lessen our state’s reliance on taxes, particularly as a means of combating the seemingly constant increases in so many tax rates throughout the state. We are also opposed to one-time budget gimmicks that hurt taxpayers in the long-run.

By Assemblyman Matthew W. Milam
     The recently approved federal stimulus package is a golden opportunity to create and sustain jobs, spark economic growth and reshape New Jersey’s future during this global economic recession, but that will only happen if everybody benefits.
     Leaving Cumberland County out of vital stimulus spending would dilute the impact of these efforts to jumpstart our economy, which is why I’ve worked hard in recent weeks along with Assemblymen Nelson T. Albano and Sen. Jeff Van Drew to ensure Cumberland County gets its fair share.
    We were extremely disappointed to learn in March that Cumberland County – New Jersey’s poorest county – was to receive no money from the state's share of $894 million in transportation funding from the federal economic stimulus package.
    This was an inexplicable decision, and we weren’t going to accept it.