The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
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Trenton NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon announced today that he is reintroducing legislation from 2008 that would revoke public pensions for government officials and employees who are convicted of any crime while in office. Senator Edward Durr (R-3) will sign on as a co-prime sponsor of the bill.
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Trenton NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon called the administration at Rutgers an embarrassment and said that the University’s President and leadership cabinet should resign after doubling down on their COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Continue reading NJ State Senator Calls for the Ouster of Rutgers Administrators
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New Brunswick NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon sharply criticized Rutgers ongoing COVID vaccine mandate as being out of step with science and logic following news that Rutgers University is continuing to require students to provide proof of immunization from COVID-19 or face possible dis-enrollment from the school.
Continue reading NJ State Senator Calls Rutgers Ongoing COVID Vaccine Mandate ‘Ludicrous’
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Trenton NJ, The Republican members of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee called on the Democrat Majority to immediately release explanations for the hundreds of line items that were added to the FY 2024 State Budget in the hours before its adoption.
Continue reading Democrats’ “Crazy Eddie” Budget Resolutions Costing Taxpayers Billions
Matthew J. Platkin, Attorney General of NJ
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Middletown NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon, Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger and Assemblywoman Victoria Flynn (Monmouth-R’s) respond to the latest attempt by the State of New Jersey to limit parental rights as news comes that the Middletown and Marlboro boards of education have become the object of a lawsuit by the State’s Attorney General’s Office (OAG).
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Ocean City NJ, Senator Anthony M. Bucco and Senator Declan O’Scanlon said it’s time to undo some mistakes that were made with juvenile criminal justice reforms to help New Jersey stay safe this summer.
Continue reading Drunken Rampaging Teens Mar Memorial Day Weekend at Jersey Shore
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Trenton NJ, New Jersey Senate Republicans will hold an independent hearing on Wednesday, May 3 to receive testimony on the surge of whale and dolphin deaths along the Jersey Shore in recent months and potential links to wind farms that are under development. The virtual hearing will be livestreamed on Facebook Live.
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Long Beach Island NJ, Christine Todd Whitman, who as head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under George W Bush at the time of the 9/11 attacks told the public the air around Ground Zero in New York was safe to breathe, has admitted for the first time she was wrong.
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Trenton NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon and Senator Ed Durr have introduced a resolution urging the state and federal governments to place an immediate moratorium on all sonar testing and wind turbine mapping in response to the surge of unexplained marine wildlife deaths along the coast of New Jersey.
Continue reading NJ Senators Introduce Resolution Urging Moratorium on Offshore Wind Projects
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Trenton NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon said Governor Phil Murphy should explain the nearly $70 million cut to municipal aid that appears in his budget proposal for next year, which will drive large property tax increases when paired with soaring health benefit costs for local governments.
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Trenton NJ, The Office of the State Comptroller (OSC) released a report finding the overwhelming majority of the New Jersey towns it sampled are wasting taxpayer funds by making and agreeing to make excessive sick leave payments to public employees.
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Trenton NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon highlighted the delayed and failed tax relief in the FY 2023 State Budget that Governor Phil Murphy signed, including a payroll tax increase that takes effect tomorrow, ANCHOR rebates that won’t be delivered until 2023, and child tax credits that won’t help parents until 2024, and tax bracket creep that remains unaddressed.
Continue reading ANCHOR Property Tax Rebates Delayed Until 2023
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Trenton NJ, New Jersey Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio accused of intentionally misleading legislators on behalf of the Murphy administration in an attempt to hide the state’s rapidly increasing debt, the Republican members of the Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee repeated their calls for the Treasurer to be held accountable by the committee in a letter today (click here for PDF) to Senate Budget Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-36).
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Trenton NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon is warning that Governor Murphy’s proposal to replace two tax rebate programs (the longstanding Homestead Rebate Program and the “middle class rebate program” created last year) with a new “ANCHOR” rebate will reduce existing renters’ rebates by up to 50 percent, meaninglessly increase total funding for rebates, and won’t be distributed for 13 months (until May of 2023).
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Trenton NJ, Senator Declan O’Scanlon has introduced legislation that would set new limits on emergency powers, ensure effective legislative oversight, and restore the balance of power as envisioned by our state constitution.
