The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
Christie won’t withhold funding over PARCC opt-outs
A new state law prohibits New Jersey from punishing schools financially for having a high percentage of students refuse to take state exams. Adam Clark, NJ.comRead more
Gov. Chris Christie Panel Proposes Overhaul of New Jersey’s Pension System
Gov. Chris Christie’s committee to study New Jersey’s troubled pension system wants to overhaul the retirement program for public employees, freezing the current setup and replacing it with a “cash balance” plan.
The plan would spread out the current pension system’s unfunded liability over many years, and would more closely reflect benefits in the private sector, according to members of the commission. Mr. Christie endorsed the report conclusions Tuesday in a speech to the Legislature. (Dawsey/The Wall Street Journal)
Schar Report:A Whole lot of Nothing
Committee cannot conclude what Christie knew about GWB lane closures
Prepared and submitted to the NJ Legislative Committee yesterday by attorney Reid J. Schar from Jenner and Block, a report regarding the George Washington Bridge lane closures asserts that the committee is not currently in a position to conclude what Governor Chris Christie “himself knew about the lane closures or when and how his knowledge of these events developed.” (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
AARP applauds Gov. Chris Christie and legislative sponsors for the recent enactment of, a new law establishing strong consumer protections
N.J. law protects consumers from misleading energy supplier calls
When temperatures plummet well below zero and we are faced with the risk of home pipes freezing and people who own them not far behind — the list of things to worry about is long. The last thing we need to concern ourselves with is the truthfulness of the stories we were told (often repeatedly) by third-party energy suppliers about how switching to them would result in lower energy rates. But as demonstrated by the soaring bills that have been hitting the mailboxes of many New Jerseyans this winter, it seems that indeed, many consumers were misled straight into massive energy bills at a time when they could least afford it.
This is why AARP applauds Gov. Chris Christie and legislative sponsors for the recent enactment of A3422, a new law establishing strong consumer protections on a variety of fronts, including the emerging energy market. The bill prohibits certain energy suppliers from making false and misleading claims to potential customers and prohibits suppliers’ repeated cold calls.
The bill, sponsored by Assemblyman Dan Benson (D-Mercer) and Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex) passed the Legislature with near-unanimous bipartisan support. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Christie in January.
New Jersey deregulated its energy supply market more than a decade ago, but it is only recently that a third-party energy market has emerged with the drop in natural gas prices. Reports of aggressive marketing tactics and confusing and/or misleading information raised concerns at AARP and with members of the state Legislature. (Abramo/New York Times)