Tag: Department of Labor

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Assemblywomen Threatened at Unemployment Office

Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi

February 13,2018

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Hackensack NJ , Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi intervenes in a constituents unemployment claim is almost tossed from the building.

According to Schepisi’s Facebook post  , “Over the past two weeks I watched through social media the struggles of Monica Brinson as she attempts to have an unemployment claim fixed. Today I went to the unemployment office to see firsthand how it operates. I almost got physically removed for videotaping the attached but afterwards did get a comprehensive tour and analysis of the good, bad and ugly of these offices. First, the State needs to provide additional personnel. There is currently 1 employee working today in this office to service a county of almost 1 million people. They stopped handing out tickets to see people at number 7. That is right, for the entire day they will only be able to service 7 people. The group of people to the far right in the video against the wall are there to try to reach a live person at the Department of Labor. These are “dedicated phone lines” that are supposed to allow people to reach a human being but the minimum wait time on these phones is in excess of 1 1/2 hours. Many of the people I spoke to this morning wait outside in the cold for upwards of several hours because only 5 people at a time are generally allowed in the building. People will wait for 3-4 hours inside and then find out that they cannot be seen that day. We must find a better way to provide staffing.
On the upside I was provided with a comprehensive tour of the building, including the employment opportunities, the Bergen One-Stop Career Center and the available training programs. In a separate post I will provide some of the resources given to me today.
Finally I am glad that I did not need bail money today. The armed guard with the weapon on his side did tell me that if I continued to hand out my assembly business card to those seeking help that I would be physically removed from the premises. An exciting way to begin a Monday morning.”

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Retirement Planning should not be only a Luxury for the Rich

scott garrett ridgewood blog

Rep Scott Garrett promoting North Jersey Business

Rep Scott Garrett on Department of Labor’s Fiduciary Rule: Another roadblock between people and their financial goals

Apr 6, 2016
the staff  of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Rep. Scott Garrett (NJ-05), Chairman of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, issued the following statement after the Department of Labor (DOL) announced their finalized rule for retirement advisors—known as the “fiduciary rule”—that could turn retirement planning into an unaffordable luxury. The hyper-partisan rule was unveiled at the liberal think tank, the Center for American Progress, with a group of Democrat lawmakers.

“Saving for the future shouldn’t be a privilege for the wealthy, and Washington doesn’t need to put another roadblock between people and their financial goals. By ignoring the advice of the SEC and Congress, the DOL’s rule will increase the cost of retirement advice for lower- and middle-income Americans while creating a preferred class of rich investors. I will continue to fight for everyone’s right to get good financial advice because—unlike this administration—I believe in the people of New Jersey to make the best choices for their families and their futures.”

The DOL fiduciary rule could result in many people finding out that their accounts are too small to qualify for professional advice because providers will be forced to only service large accounts. In many cases, minimum account balances will increase substantially, effectively shutting down the ability of average investors to receive advice. It could also limit access to financial products that people are able to utilize when developing a retirement savings portfolio.

In October, Congressman Garrett voted for H.R. 1090, the Retail Investor Protection Act, which would block the DOL’s rule and ask for advice and expertise from the Securities and Exchange Commission before implementing any new rules.