CONTINUED GAS TAX AND TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND NEGOTIATIONS

This week has been another extremely busy week for Eric and I, full of meetings with legislators across the State. As I discussed last week, falling gas prices have led to a dangerously small price differential between New Jersey and New York. I've called for meetings with as many legislators as I can possibly schedule to discuss the issues of replenishing the Transportation Trust Fund in a way that will not endanger my members and their businesses, especially those on the border with New York State, where a gas tax increase of 23¢ will result in a less than 5¢ differential in some cases. I continue to advocate for self-serve as a potential money-saving option for motorists, and I was on NJ 101.5 in the 4:00 PM hour today discussing that very issue.
 
On Friday, a hearing on the 23¢ gas tax increase and elimination of the estate tax was held in the Senate Budget Committee. The bill passed through Committee, and the entire Senate was supposed to vote on Monday.  However, while the Senate did have enough votes for the bill to pass (21 out of 40) they did not have a veto-proof majority (which they will need when to override Governor Christie’s veto of the bill), so the Senate did NOT vote on Monday.  As you can see, the food fight continues. I was quoted in a news article on Friday after testifying in front of the Committee and you can read my comments HERE. We continue to wait to see how this all plays out.
 
Due to the extremely rigorous schedule of meetings that Eric arranged for this week, I instructed Jacy to make this week's Road Warrior just a short update, and I'll be back again next week. I know that I said I would discuss the issue of “all gas tax funds being dedicated only to transportation funding” and the myths and untruths surrounding that issue, but I just didn’t have the time this week.  That’s on tap for next week!

Thanks for reading -- See you all next week!

Sal Risalvato
Executive Director

08/02/2016:
New T.O.T.A.L. Website Focuses on Local Tobacco Restrictions
In response to the multiplying number of local tobacco ordinances around the country, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets has been working to create a new website, www.tobaccoordinances.info, which will serve as a resource center for retailers and local elected officials alike. This new website is known as T.O.T.A.L., which stands for “Tobacco Ordinances: Take Another Look.” The website is designed to help retailers with the information they need to respond to unnecessary tobacco restrictions. The site includes viewable and downloadable information sheets on coupon redemption bans, flavored-tobacco product bans, local cigarette and OTP taxes, prohibitions on promotionally priced products, raising the legal age to buy tobacco products, cigar pack size and minimum pricing requirements, what are “social sources,” the cause and effect of local tobacco ordinances, the negative outcomes associated with the adoption of local ordinances, and alternatives to adopting additional restrictions on the retail sale of tobacco products.
 
07/30/2016:
Raising the minimum wage in Seattle did little to help workers
Things seem to be going pretty well since Seattle bumped the hourly minimum wage for large businesses up to $11 last year, from the statewide minimum of $9.47 an hour. Low-wage workers are getting more time on the job and making more money. Fewer businesses are closing, and more new ones are opening. The technology and construction sectors are booming. Even the weather cooperated for a change. The spring was unusually dry in Seattle, which was good for the city's fishing fleet. Yet the actual benefits to workers might have been minimal, according to a group of economists whom the city commissioned to study the minimum wage and who presented their initial findings last week. The average hourly wage for workers affected by the increase jumped from $9.96 to $11.14, but wages likely would have increased some anyway due to Seattle's overall economy. Meanwhile, although workers were earning more, fewer of them had a job than would have without an increase. Those who did work had fewer hours than they would have without the wage hike.
 
07/26/2016:
Amount of crude oil shipped through N.J. drops significantly
The amount of volatile crude oil shipped by train through New Jersey has dropped significantly over the past few months as oil prices continue to fall and production slows, executives at a major rail company said Tuesday. Anywhere from five to 15 trains now haul Bakken crude each week from New York into New Jersey down from the 15 to 30 trains weekly over the past few years, a spokesman for CSX rail said. While the drop is welcomed by many in the 11 Bergen County towns that the trains traverse, some officials say the risk of a fiery derailment in a densely-populated community is still too great. “The problem is it only takes one car to go off and explode and cause a great deal of damage,” Bergenfield Mayor Norman Schmelz said. “It’s like if you play two lottery tickets instead of one. Are your odds that much different?” CSX informed New Jersey emergency management officials of the decrease in May, said Rob Doolittle, a company spokesman. “The volume of oil we carry depends on what our customers ask us to do,” Doolittle said. “As the price of oil comes down, less is being produced, less is being shipped.”