Quick Hits: New Jersey news in brief for Friday, April 2
Report: All-electric bus fleet could lead to savings for New Jersey
Moving to an all-electric bus fleet could lead to savings for New Jersey in addition to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
That’s according to the “Roadmap to Electrifying New Jersey’s Public Bus Fleet” report by Nausheen Rajan, the 2020 Kathleen Crotty Fellow at the New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP).
According to the report, NJ Transit spends $263.1 million per year on bus maintenance, but an electric bus fleet would cost the agency $49.5 million for maintenance per year. Additionally, NJ Transit could save $44.5 million per year on fuel with an electric bus fleet.
Republicans say ‘Healthy Terminals Act’ will jeopardize jobs
Republican lawmakers say S-989, the “Healthy Terminals Act,” will mandate employers pay a health care supplement of $4.54 per hour on top of minimum wage.
It also guarantees all workers receive 11 paid holidays and two weeks of paid vacation after one year of service. Vacation increases to three weeks after five years of service and more after 15 and 25 years of service.
“This bill is giving them a litany of different privileges and benefits that are not available to everybody else, just because one particular group has got the ear of the majority party,” Assemblyman Brian Bergen, R-Morris, said in a news release.
Assembly advances bill to allow businesses to exempt tax on items for winterizing
The state Assembly has advanced A-4958, legislation allowing businesses with fewer than 20 full-time employees to exempt costs to winterize their businesses from sales and use tax.
“In order to help these businesses keep employees and customers safe while reducing the cost of cold weather-related adaptations, this legislation will allow eligible businesses to be reimbursed for the sales and use tax for the products and services allowing them to operate outdoors,” Assembly members Chris Tully, D-Bergen/Passaic; John Armato, D-Atlantic; Andrew Zwicker, D-Somerset/Mercer/Middlesex/Hunterdon, said in a joint statement.
Assembly passes bill banning police officers near polling places
The state Assembly passed A-4655, a measure to bar police officers from being stationed within 100 feet of a polling place. The legislation would establish a violation as a fourth-degree crime.
“I counted on my police department to make sure that my polling locations were OK and safe,” Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce, R-Morris, who was the municipal clerk in Roxbury Township from 1988 to 2010, said in a news release. “When I look at this bill, I look at it taking away some direction and responsibility that I had as a clerk making sure that my community was safe.”
A companion bill, S-2923, was introduced in the state Senate.
– The Center Square
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