Big Event, Pay Law Takes Effect, EV Mandate Repeal Votes, Trenton bills

May 29, 2025

NJGCA Conference Two Weeks Away–June 11th

Don’t wait, register now for our Conference on the afternoon of Wednesday June 11th at the APA Hotel in Woodbridge, just off Exit 131 on the Parkway. 

We will be hearing presentations from folks at Weights & Measures and the DEP, where they will be talking about common issues they are finding in the field and how you can avoid them, and the associated fines. 

They’ll also be taking questions from the audience, which are often some of the most interesting parts of any presentation. You’ll also be able to put faces to names, and make connections for the future.

We will have a panel discussion about industry trends, and an update on what the Association is fighting against and for in Trenton.

A hot lunch will be served, and there will be plenty of chances to network with others in the industry and vendors! 

If you’re interested in sponsoring the event and/or taking a vendor table, please email Nick@njgca.org 

You can view the agenda HERE and register to attend HERE. 

New Pay Transparency Law Takes Effect June 1

Because of a bill Governor Murphy signed into law six months ago, new restrictions on job postings take effect on Sunday June 1st (though NJ DOL has not posted its regulations yet, so enforcement may not technically be in effect for a while).

The law applies to employers with 10 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks. Those employers must disclose the hourly wage or salary, or a range of salary, and a general description of other benefits which the employee would be eligible for. Employers also have to make a “reasonable effort” to ensure that current employees are aware of any job openings they may be interested in applying for. 

A penalty for posting a job without any of this information is $300 for the first offense. If you have any job postings up right now without a salary (or range of potential salary), make sure you double check and correct them to be in compliance with this law. 

You can read the full law HERE or read the DOL’s FAQ HERE, or reach out to Eric@njgca.org or Nick@njgca.org with any questions. 

Legislation Moving in Trenton

May and June are perhaps the two busiest months of the year in the Statehouse. We continue to talk to legislators about why they shouldn’t increase taxes as part of the budget due on June 30th. Gov. Murphy proposed increased taxes on real estate sales (including commercial), cigarettes, vaping fluid, and deliveries from a warehouse. 

We did have one big victory that all c-stores can celebrate–the Assembly passed legislation we supported to ban the Lottery Commission’s proposal to sell lottery tickets online directly to consumers, bypassing stores completely. Not only that, but the bill passed 77-0, a big bipartisan rebuke that should give the Commission serious pause. We are grateful to Speaker Coughlin for posting the bill and Asm Sterley Stanley (D-Middlesex) for sponsoring it. It now needs to be taken up by the state Senate. Its been almost 3 years since this was first proposed but so far our advocacy has stopped the State from moving forward with their plan. We have however heard rumblings they may be looking to resurrect this idea. You can read our testimony HERE. 

We also testified in favor of a bill that would legalize and regulate intoxicating hemp products, like Delta-8 and Delta-10, and allow them to be sold in responsible c-stores. Many members have shied away from these risky products, but if the State were to pass reasonable legislation it would clean up the industry, ensure the products are tested and safe, and create a path for stores to sell them the way they sell tobacco products. Dedicated cannabis stores, however, want the market entirely for themselves. You can read our testimony on the issue HERE for more details. 

We also testified against a newly proposed bill that effectively ban stores from changing the price of most food items more than once every 24 hours, which would not only take away market freedom to respond to changing prices would also restrict a store’s ability to offer certain kinds of temporary sales. Thankfully the bill did not pass committee. You can read our testimony on it HERE. 

Finally, there were two bills we submitted statements on. One would create a special grant program to provide a little relief to businesses affected by serious road construction that limits the ability of customers to get into the location. We also opposed a change in the law that would require all employers to enroll their employees in the State-run Secure Choice Savings Program, which automatically deducts a portion of the employee’s salary and puts it in a retirement account. This just recently became a requirement for employers with more than 25 employees, and now the Assembly wants to make it a requirement for small employers as well. We’ll see if there is any support for it in the Senate. 

Congress passes resolutions to Repeal Gas/Diesel-Powered Vehicle Bans

This week we saw some good news out of DC, when the US Senate joined their colleagues in the House to vote for two resolutions to invalidate California’s Advanced Clean Cars II (ACC II) rule, and its Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule. These rules, which Governor Murphy’s DEP had the state of New Jersey adopt, would have required manufacturers of passenger vehicles and heavy duty trucks to ensure the phase out of the sale of vehicles powered by gasoline or diesel, with a target of banning the sale of new gas-powered vehicles in 2035. The phase out for passenger vehicles would have started next year, and the phase out for new trucks actually started this year and was causing chaos for trucking companies. 

All that is left is for the President to sign these resolutions into law, which he has committed to do. NJGCA has worked for years with others in a coalition effort to build support to repeal these rules in our state. Originally it seemed that it would take a new Governor to kill this rule, but the November elections of Trump and a fully Republican Congress opened this new opportunity. 

There was very little support in our elected Legislature for these bans, however because the Governor was able to opt in through the regulatory process he went around the Legislature, and leadership there was not interested in “embarrassing” a governor of their own party, especially since they suspected if they waited long enough the problem could get solved without them getting their hands dirty–which appears to have happened. 

Unfortunately, both of New Jersey’s Senators voted against these proposals, as did virtually every Senate Democrat, though many claimed they were objecting to the process more than the policy. When the House of Representatives voted three weeks ago, our state’s delegation split on party lines, with our Republicans voting in favor of repeal and the Democrats voting against. The exception was Congressman Josh Gottheimer, who did not cast a vote either way, he is running for governor currently. Also running for Governor is Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, who voted against repeal, a troubling sign since she has a small lead in the polls for the Democratic nomination. 

Reminder: Next week the US Senate is Planning a Vote on Lowering Swipe Fees

Make sure you take a few seconds to email our state’s Senators, Cory Booker and Andy Kim, to tell them they need to support the Marshall-Durbin Amendment, which attaches the language of the Credit Card Competition Act to upcoming legislation.

The cost of these fees has exploded over the last 20 years, and businesses in the US pay seven times more than retailers in Europe do. It is one of the most contentious fights in Congress, as the big banks have allies in both parties looking to stop this. 

The vote is coming in the form of an amendment to another bill, and its fate will be decided in the next few days. Banks are throwing millions of dollars at lobbyists and for advertisements to try and scare Senators into voting no, they need to hear from actual small businesses how much these fees hurt.

Click HERE to send a message. 

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