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New Jersey Gas Tax to Increase October 1st

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the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ, after a thorough review of fuel consumption statistics and consultation with the Legislative Budget and Finance Officer, the Department of the Treasury announced today that New Jersey’s gas tax rate will increase by 0.9 cents per gallon beginning October 1 to comport with the 2016 law that requires a steady stream of revenue to support the State’s Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) program.

Continue reading New Jersey Gas Tax to Increase October 1st

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Christie administration pushes on in labor dispute over public worker pay increases

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Posted on September 3, 2017 at 7:20 AM

By Samantha Marcus

smarcus@njadvancemedia.com,

NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie’s administration is digging in on a labor dispute in which it refuses to pay public employees’ step increases after their contracts expired, despite state court rulings that have largely upheld the practice.

The administration has asked the Public Employment Relations Commission to block the union’s request to go to arbitration to argue that the state should pay their step increases.

Tens of thousands of state employees have missed one or more of these longevity pay bumps as the state froze salaries for workers whose contracts expired June 30, 2015. The state relied on a decision from PERC that upended a four-decades-old custom of step increases outliving the term of a contract.

Hetty Rosenstein, state director of the Communications Workers of America, New Jersey’s largest state employee union, said that despite a state Supreme Court ruling in August rebuking PERC, Christie’s administration is still seeking to freeze employees on the salary guide.

https://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/09/christie_pushes_on_in_labor_dispute_over_pay_incre.html#incart_2box_nj-homepage-featured

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Christie Administration Launches Online Portal to Report Abuse or Diversion of Prescription Opioid Fueling Addiction Crisis

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Atlantic County Pharmacist Credited with Tip Leading to Arrest of Essex County Doc Accused of Prescribing Pain Pills to South Jersey Drug Ring
August 3,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ,  Expanding Governor Chris Christie’s efforts to stem the flow of pain pills and other prescription drugs fueling New Jersey’s opioid crisis, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino and the Division of Consumer Affairs today announced a new web-based portal that will allow pharmacists, medical practitioners, and members of the public to easily report suspected abuse or diversion of controlled substances.

The Suspicious Activity Report (“SAR”) portal, a new feature of the NJ Prescription Monitoring Program (NJPMP), permits individuals to report suspicious activities such as the overprescribing of controlled substances, “doctor shopping” to stockpile drugs, or the circulation of forged or stolen prescriptions.

The SAR portal can be accessed on the Division’s website. Information contained in filed reports will be reviewed for possible administrative and criminal enforcement action.

“As the deadly scourge of addiction continues to claim lives in our state, we’re making it easier than ever for New Jerseyans to fight back,” said Attorney General Porrino. “By taking a few minutes to submit a Suspicious Activity Report online, you could be preventing a fresh supply of habit-forming drugs from hitting the streets and destroying lives.”

It was a tip from an Atlantic County pharmacist that led to last week’s arrest of Essex County internist Dr. Craig Gialanella and 16 alleged drug dealers accused of running an illegal pill ring that distributed tens of thousands of high-dose opioid pain pills.

Gialanella was charged with second-degree distribution of narcotics for allegedly writing the prescriptions that supplied dealers with large quantities of oxycodone and alprazolam, a generic form of Xanax, for sale on the street. Upon his arrest, Gialanella, signed a Consent Order with the State Board of Medical Examiners agreeing to the temporary suspension of his medical license and his registration to prescribe Controlled Dangerous Substances (“CDS”) in the state, pending further action by the Board.

“The sharp eyes and quick actions of this Atlantic County pharmacist helped bring down a drug ring allegedly being supplied by a doctor abusing his prescribing privileges,” said Steve Lee, Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “We’re hoping the new Suspicious Activity Report portal will encourage more individuals to play an active role in preventing deadly drugs from falling into the hands of addicts or dealers.”

The Division began investigating Gialanella in October 2016, when the Atlantic County pharmacist, who has not been identified, reported that numerous local residents were obtaining large quantities of opioids from Gialanella, a Belleville internist whose office is 100 miles away.

The pharmacist noted that Gialanella’s “patients” frequently presented prescriptions for oxycodone that were issued in the same name with a different date of birth, in an apparent attempt to avoid detection by the NJPMP and to avoid limits on permitted quantities of such narcotics.

A subsequent review of the NJPMP revealed that Gialanella had issued and/or authorized to be issued 6,600 CDS prescriptions in large quantities – for a total of 734,000 dosage units – since the beginning of 2015. His patients had filled prescriptions at 500 pharmacies throughout the state, including Atlantic County, according to the Consent Order.

The Division of Consumer Affairs referred the case to the state Division of Criminal Justice which launched a criminal investigation that led to the arrest of Gialanella and the 16 alleged street dealers he was allegedly supplying.

According to the criminal charges, Gialanella charged purported patients $50 to $100 for an “office visit,” which typically lasted just a few minutes and did not involve any type of exam, testing or treatment. Gialanella would write prescriptions for 90 or 180 tablets of oxycodone 30 milligram, and 90 tablets of alprazolam 2 milligram, according to the criminal charges. It is alleged that Gialanella would write from two to as many as five prescriptions for each drug for a single patient every 30 days, frequently leaving the date of birth blank.

The alleged dealers sold the 30 milligram oxycodone tablets, known as “Blues,” for between $18 and $25 per pill. They allegedly sold the alprazolam pills, known as “Zannies,” for $5 each, according to the criminal charges.

The criminal investigation is ongoing, and it is suspected that Dr. Gialanella may have been illegally prescribing oxycodone to individuals in other counties.

The new SAR portal is the latest enhancement to the NJPMP, a centralized data sharing system for healthcare providers and pharmacists in partner states to track prescription sales of narcotic painkillers, and other drugs that often lead to deadly heroin addictions.

Last month, the Division expanded the NJPMP’s capabilities to allow users to review two years’ worth of prescription records, instead of just one. In addition, the system now automatically converts all opioid medicines to a standard “morphine milligram equivalent” dose to help avoid over-prescribing or patient overdose.

Established in 2011, the NJPMP now contains nearly 74 million prescriptions written or filled in New Jersey. Each record in the database contains the names and addresses of the patient, doctor, and pharmacy; drug dispensing date; type, days’ supply, and quantity of medication; and method of payment.

Practitioners are required to check the NJPMP the first time they prescribe a Schedule II CDS to a new or current patient for acute or chronic pain, and on a quarterly basis (every three months) during the period of time a current patient continues to receive a prescription for a Schedule II CDS for acute or chronic pain.

Pharmacies that dispense Schedule II-V CDS and Human Growth Hormone (HGH) in New Jersey, or into New Jersey, are required to submit data on all transactions for such drugs to the NJPMP on a daily basis.

Twelve states – Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine, West Virginia, Virginia, South Carolina, and Minnesota – share data with the NJPMP.

The NJPMP is also a valuable tool for law enforcement and regulatory investigations into the unlawful diversion of prescription narcotics. The database has been used to identify and successfully prosecute healthcare professionals associated with “pill mills” that dispense narcotics without a legitimate medical purpose.

For more information visit the Division’s NJPMP website at www.NJConsumerAffairs.gov/pmp.

For information on New Jersey’s new opioid prescribing regulations, or to find guidance on safer pain medication prescribing practices, visit the Division’s Prescribing for Pain website at www.njconsumeraffairs.gov/prescribing-for-pain.
Patients who believe that a licensed health care professional is prescribing CDS inappropriately can file an online complaint with the State Division of Consumer Affairs by visiting its website or by calling 1-800-242-5846 (toll free within New Jersey) or 973-504- 6200.

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Christie Administration Releases the 2017 Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending

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file photo by Boyd Loving

April 22,2017

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton NJ ,The Department of Education today released the 2017 Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending.
“The annual spending guide is a tool designed to provide transparency to New Jerseyans about how schools spend their taxpayer dollars to educate students,” said Acting Education Commissioner Kimberley Harrington.

The Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending includes two types of total expenditures for school districts’ annual budgets:

Total Spending Per Pupil – Comprises all district expenditures, including costs paid by the state on behalf of districts, as well as fees and tuition paid for out-of-district programs; and
Budgetary Cost Per Pupil – Comprises costs borne by the school district, excluding costs that aren’t comparable among school districts, such as transportation and facilities costs.

For the 2015-16 school year, the average Total Spending Per Pupil in the state, which includes pension payments made by the state and other ancillary costs that vary by district, is $20,385. This is 3.8 percentage points higher than the prior year’s average of $19,641.

The Budgetary Cost Per Pupil, which does not include pension payments made by the state and other district-specific costs, increased by 1.4 percentage points, from $14,736 in the 2014-15 school year to $14,939 in 2015-16.

The Taxpayers’ Guide to Education Spending can be found online
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Christie Administration Announces Funding to Combat Opioid Overdose Epidemic

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Wednesday, August 31, 2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie today announced The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) a $727,688 competitive grant to enhance efforts to curb the opioid crisis through a series of initiatives and the New Jersey Department of Human Services (DHS) approximately $6.9 million to target prescription and opioid misuse.

“Today is International Overdose Awareness Day, a reminder that the disease of addiction is preventable through education and intervention,” said Governor Christie.  “These funding grants are another important step in combating opioid misuse and abuse in New Jersey while strengthening our ability to positively impact the opioid crisis in our state by saving lives.”

Funding for DOH  will enable the agency to enhance its data access and analysis; improve prevention planning, including implementing a statewide strategic plan; assess the impact of state-level policies on the opioid crisis; identify and engage communities most impacted by the effects of the opioid crisis; and maximize the New Jersey Prescription Monitoring Program’s public health surveillance potential.

The CDC’s Prescription Drug Overdose Prevention grant helps states combat ongoing prescription drug overdose challenges. The purpose is to provide state health departments with resources and support needed to advance interventions for preventing prescription drug overdoses.

Through 2019, CDC plans to give selected states annual awards between $750,000 and $1 million to advance prevention in four key areas: maximizing prescription drug monitoring programs; community, insurer or health systems interventions; policy evaluations and Rapid Response projects.

Through SAMHSA, DHS  will receive a Strategic Prevention Framework for Prescription Drugs five-year grant award for approximately $1.9 million to target prescription drug misuse. The program is designed to raise awareness about the dangers of sharing medications and educate pharmaceutical and medical communities on the risks of overprescribing to young adults.

This grant also will fund prescription drug abuse prevention activities and education to schools, communities, parents, prescribers, and their patients. SAMHSA will track reductions in opioid overdoses and the incorporation of Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) data into needs assessments and strategic plans as indicators of the program’s success. The cooperative agreement between DHS and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) calls for up to 25 awards of about $371,616 annually.

The reports developed from the DHS’ Division of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) data analysis will be shared with other state agencies and with DMHAS’ Regional Prevention Coalitions to inform planning in local communities.

In addition, DHS is receiving $5 million to target the reduction of the number of prescription drug/opioid overdose related deaths and adverse events among 18 year olds and older.  The grant will focus on training key community sectors on the prevention of prescription drug/opioid overdose related deaths and implementing prevention strategies, including the purchase and distribution of naloxone kits. A cooperative agreement between DHS and SAMHSA calls for up to 11 awards of $1million annually.

International Overdose Awareness Day is a global event held annually on August 31 that aims to raise awareness of overdoses and reduce the stigma of drug-related deaths. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends who have experienced death or permanent injury as a result of drug overdoses.

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Christie administration: Road fund could go broke this summer

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New Jersey’s transportation funding system is in disarray, and neither the governor nor state legislators has a plan for how to plug a financing gap that tops $2 billion, administration officials and Assembly members said Wednesday at the first budget hearing of the season. Christopher Maag, The Record Read more

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CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEW INTERACTIVE FLOOD WARNING MAPS OF HO HO KUS BROOK

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file photo by Boyd Loving

CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES NEW INTERACTIVE FLOOD WARNING MAPS FOR PASSAIC RIVER BASIN 

MAP DETAILS SIX-MILE STRETCH OF RIVER RUNNING THROUGH WALDWICK, HO-HOKUS AND RIDGEWOOD IN BERGEN COUNTY 

Ridgewood NJ, The fourth in a series of online, interactive flood-preparation maps designed to aid emergency management personnel and to inform residents in the Passaic River Basin about flooding events in real time has been launched, Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin announced today. The Ho-Ho-Kus Brook Flood Inundation Map, covering a 6-mile span of the river in Bergen County’s Waldwick Borough, Ho-Ho-Kus Borough and Ridgewood, is the fourth map designated for the Passaic River Basin in response to recommendations made by Governor Christie’s Passaic River Basin Advisory Commission.
The map was developed in a partnership between the DEP and U.S. Geological Survey. Fifteen additional maps covering critical areas of the basin will be produced in coming months as part of a cooperative effort between the DEP, USGS and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Flood inundation mapping is among the recommendations in the commission’s 15-point plan for short-term and long-term measures to help mitigate flooding impacts in the basin. Governor Christie formed the commission in 2011 in response to a series of damaging floods in the basin, which covers significant portions of Bergen, Morris and Passaic counties.
Key recommendations of the plan called for better information to help prepare for and respond to flooding emergencies. “The Christie Administration remains committed to addressing flooding issues in the Passaic River Basin through mitigation, property acquisitions, de-snagging efforts and emergency preparedness and response,” Commissioner Martin said. “These easy-to-use online maps offer real-time information to residents about conditions during significant rainfalls and will assist local, state and federal officials in making critical decision to protect the public in the event of flooding.” “This flood preparedness tool highlights how our agencies and local officials are working together to create more resilient communities, and to provide better flood preparedness and responses to flooding,” added USGS Associate Director for Water Bill Werkheiser.
In addition to this latest map, flood inundation maps are being developed for Lodi, Ridgewood and Upper Saddle River along the Saddle River; for Little Falls, Pine Brook, Chatham, Millington and Clifton along the Passaic River. Maps are also being created for Pompton Lakes, Mahwah and Oakland along the Wanaque River; for two locations in Wanaque along the Wanaque River; for Pompton Plains along the Pompton River; for Riverdale and the Macopin Intake Dam along the Pequannock River; and for Little Falls along the Peckman River. Previous flood inundation maps were produced for a 2.75-mile reach of the Saddle River in Lodi; a 4.1-mile stretch of the river in Saddle River Borough; and for a 5.4-mile span of the river running downstream from Ho-Ho-Kus Borough through the Village of Ridgewood and Paramus Borough to the confluence with Hohokus Brook in the Village of Ridgewood.
To view the Hohokus Brook map, visit: https://wimcloud.usgs.gov/apps/FIM/FloodInundationMapper.html?siteno=01391000. A click on the map shows the stream flows and water depths for the stretch of the stream that extends from White’s Lake Dam in Waldwick Borough, downstream through Ho-Ho-Kus Borough to Grove Street in the Village of Ridgewood.
Monitoring tools include current stream gauges, which provide real-time data via satellites to the USGS and the National Weather Service. The flood inundation map shows where floodwaters are expected to travel. Emergency management officials and residents can use this information to evaluate the potential threat of floodwaters to property and infrastructure.
Through the website, users will also have the option to receive email notifications in real time of critical thresholds reached in the river via the USGS WaterAlert. To view the Scientific Investigations Report (SIR 2015-5064) documenting the development and methods used to create the flood inundations maps, visit: https://dx.doi.org/10.3133/sir20155064 For current conditions for USGS stream gauge 013910000 Hohokus Brook at Ho-Ho-Kus, visit: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/nwis/uv?site_no=01391000
For information on the Governor’s 15-point Passaic Basin plan and the Passaic River Basin Flood Advisory Commission, visit: https://www.nj.gov/dep/passaicriver/
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Pension payment cuts in response to fiscal emergency, Christie administration says in court papers

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Pension payment cuts in response to fiscal emergency, Christie administration says in court papers

Governor Christie cut payments to the state pension fund because New Jersey is in a fiscal emergency, his administration claimed Wednesday in a challenge to unions trying to block the move. That fiscal emergency, which could not have been predicted, allowed Christie to take direct action and cut part of his planned pension payment, the Attorney General’s Office said in court papers filed as part of the union lawsuit. And if the courts do get involved, that would hinder a budgetary process that was assigned to the Legislature and executive branch and be an action beyond the court’s authority, the administration said. (Phillis/The Bergen Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/news/pension-payment-cuts-in-response-to-fiscal-emergency-christie-administration-says-in-court-papers-1.1037240