Post by medfordpiney on Jan 11, 2012 9:11:15 GMT -5
www.phillyburbs.com/ap/state/nj/how-bills-fared-on-last-day-of-nj-session/article_bd3a0277-bc0f-5ae1-ab4a-211451910bfd.html
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Bills to end a mandatory waiting period for couples to get married, let school boards pass budgets without voter approval and nonprofit groups to operate alternative schools in failing districts were all scheduled for votes late Monday on the last day of the New Jersey Legislature's 214th session.
Lawmakers were also to take final action on measures that would legalize sports betting — if a federal ban can be overturned — and set up a pilot program in which patrons at up to 12 bars or restaurants could place bets on horse races.
Earlier in the day Monday, lawmakers put on hold bills to let all levels of government publish their legal notices online instead of in newspapers and allow commercial lumberjacks to cut and sell trees from New Jersey's state-owned forests.
Here is a summary of action taken on some of the bills that were to be considered on the final day of the session:
___
PUT ON HOLD
LEGAL NOTICES
—A long-stalled bill letting governments post legal notices on their websites rather than in newspapers. The bill was scheduled for a vote on the last day of New Jersey's legislative session but was pulled late Monday.
Newspapers ran a full-page open letter from the industry's trade group, the New Jersey Press Association, arguing the change would make government less transparent. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, an Essex County Democrat, had said she favored moving ahead with the legislation because it gave towns a chance to save money. But she now plans to take "another look at it" in the new legislative session. Newspapers argued that handling the notices internally would create other governmental costs and not be a money-saver for taxpayers.
LOGGING IN STATE FORESTS
-A measure that would have allowed commercial lumberjacks to cut and sell trees from New Jersey's state-owned forests.Proponents say the program would have helped the state bring 800,000 acres of forest back to health by removing trees and allowing sunlight to feed new growth. They say that would have created new habitats and reduce the risk of fires. But environmental groups maintained the bill did little to address what they say is a major problem: the trouble caused by deer that eat most new plants in the forests.
The bill was pulled from the legislative agenda on Monday; it will now have to be reintroduced in the new session in order for it to advance.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Bills to end a mandatory waiting period for couples to get married, let school boards pass budgets without voter approval and nonprofit groups to operate alternative schools in failing districts were all scheduled for votes late Monday on the last day of the New Jersey Legislature's 214th session.
Lawmakers were also to take final action on measures that would legalize sports betting — if a federal ban can be overturned — and set up a pilot program in which patrons at up to 12 bars or restaurants could place bets on horse races.
Earlier in the day Monday, lawmakers put on hold bills to let all levels of government publish their legal notices online instead of in newspapers and allow commercial lumberjacks to cut and sell trees from New Jersey's state-owned forests.
Here is a summary of action taken on some of the bills that were to be considered on the final day of the session:
___
PUT ON HOLD
LEGAL NOTICES
—A long-stalled bill letting governments post legal notices on their websites rather than in newspapers. The bill was scheduled for a vote on the last day of New Jersey's legislative session but was pulled late Monday.
Newspapers ran a full-page open letter from the industry's trade group, the New Jersey Press Association, arguing the change would make government less transparent. Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver, an Essex County Democrat, had said she favored moving ahead with the legislation because it gave towns a chance to save money. But she now plans to take "another look at it" in the new legislative session. Newspapers argued that handling the notices internally would create other governmental costs and not be a money-saver for taxpayers.
LOGGING IN STATE FORESTS
-A measure that would have allowed commercial lumberjacks to cut and sell trees from New Jersey's state-owned forests.Proponents say the program would have helped the state bring 800,000 acres of forest back to health by removing trees and allowing sunlight to feed new growth. They say that would have created new habitats and reduce the risk of fires. But environmental groups maintained the bill did little to address what they say is a major problem: the trouble caused by deer that eat most new plants in the forests.
The bill was pulled from the legislative agenda on Monday; it will now have to be reintroduced in the new session in order for it to advance.