New Jersey October 2022

Contents no particular order)

Motor vehicle Insurance Verification (NJ)

Presidents, VPs and Congressional Members Trivia Quiz - Fun Facts

Voter Identification Mandate (NJ)

Cracking down on People not authorized to live and work in the United States (NJ)

Should patients be mandated to get the Covid vaccine in order to receive an organ transplant? (Congress)

9/11 Immigrant Worker Freedom Act (Congress)

Should the Department of Labor be reviewing top secret clearance candidates for federal positions? (Congress)

What does and for other purposes mean in bills? (Congress)

Editorial: To catch people wanted by the police

To address the misuse of opioids by students and student athletes *Congress)

Repeal the agreement among the states to elect the President by National Popular Vote

Please enjoy a sampling of photos throughout the mag that provide a glimpse of the beauty of NJ. None of the photographs deal with the subject matter on the page they are found.

About me, mag & contact info

I m Lisa Vallone. I have been involved with politics & government since my pre-teen years. The majority of my involvement centered around my role as a consultant to help various Party Chairs learn how to run more effective campaigns based on issues as well as training candidates on how to communicate constructively with those in their district. This led me to running for office myself, winning and proudly becoming the voice of my constituents. All of my experience has led me to this platform as I believe it is time we all more extensively educate ourselves on what bills are being considered for law on the State and Federal level. Afterall, we Americans need more than broad stroke concepts with no real meat of the issue for us to digest. We value the efforts of those elected officials and candidates who reach out with Town meetings and other measures to let us know what they are doing or plan to do in office. And we believe they are in the majority. But, we must seek out every avenue to let our Representatives hear our voice so they can better represent us in government.

Based on my background in government, teaching and communications I believe in 3 pillars as the foundation for any discussion (1) Educate yourself, (2) Communicate with others, and (3) Reciprocate respectfully. If we follow these pillars - if we educate ourselves, let our voices be heard in an environment of mutual respect for those in office, those seeking office or those with differing opinions, then we can make a more perfect union.

A couple of notes . . . In this magazine I intentionally leave off the name/ Party affiliation of the person who introduced the bill as we are more than our Party we are Americans looking for responsible government that represents us. Too often when we hear legislation has been proposed by the opposite Party we close our ears or immediately discount it. I do not want that to happen. Only during my podcast will this information be revealed. And only during my podcast will it be revealed if the legislation passed. Here is to the power of people to have the knowledge to know how hard their representatives work to represent them in government. Email: KnowTheIssuesWithLisaVallone@gmail.com Podcast on Most Platforms: Know The Issues With Lisa Vallone Website: KnowTheIssues.com

trivia quiz?

1. Which Presidential candidate ran for office while in jail: a. Eugene V Debs b. Richard M Nixon

2. The first Native American Congressman was: a. Charles Brent Curtis b. Thomas Ellicott

3. Which President named the “White House” the “White House”? a. Theodore Roosevelt b. Barack Obama

4. In Presidential elections having a height advantage seems to help a candidate as the taller candidate usually wins a. true b. false

5. This Congressman is the only Congressman to have a #1 hit on the Billboards Hot 100 a. Joe Walsh b. Sono Bono

6. Two archrival Presidents died on the same day. Were they a. Adams and Jefferson b. Adams and Washington

7. Glover Cleveland’s first name was actually “Stephen” before he changed it.

a. true b. false

Motor Vehicle Insurance Verification Act ?

New Jersey is one of the top 3 states with the lowest uninsured motorists. Currently it is at 3.1%. And NJ is working to drop that number even lower with Assembly bill 151 - to establish an “accessible system for online verification of the evidence of motor vehicle insurance. The goal of the system is to assist in the identification of uninsured motorists in the most effective way possible during its 9 month pilot program. It provides that when the commission has reason to believe that a motor vehicle has been or is currently being operated without insurance, the commission may suspend or revoke the owner’s motor vehicle registration. The registration will not be reinstated and a new registration will not be issued unless evidence of insurance has been provided to the commission and any applicable reinstatement fees as prescribed by the commission have been paid. It also provides that not more than 2 years after the establishment of the online insurance verification system, the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission, after consultation with representatives of the motor vehicle insurance industry, will report to the Governor and to the Legislature as to the costs for the system incurred by the commission, insurers and the public.”

Questions that you might have, and I hope to have addressed during my podcast are: (1) What can really be accomplished in 9 months and at what cost? (2) is there any budget parameters set up for this pilot program or is it a blank check that will be revealed 2 years later when the report is given to the Governor (3) the bill states “if the commission has reason to believe that a motor vehicle has been currently operated without insurance that the vehicle registration may be suspended” - is “has reason to believe” the same as “proof”?

If you would like to be on the podcast write knowtheissueswithlisavallone@gmail.com

Cleveland Clinic, University of Colorado Hospital and Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospitals are just 3 of a host of hospitals denying organ transplants to patients who have not had the COVID vaccine. Congressional bill S3985 was introduced to prohibit denying an individual from donating or receive an organ because of their COVID-19 vaccination status. It would also prevent Medicare and Medicaid providers from denying services to individuals based on their COVID-19 vaccination status.

The bill is called the Give Life Act (Doss’s Bill_ named after a “teenage Texan who was denied a kidney transplant because had had not been vaccinated against COVID-19.” Of note the same Senator who introduced this bill also introduced S3974 to end discrimination in Covid-19 treatments in determining eligibility for monoclonal antibody doses distributed by the Federal Government.

How do you feel about thiswant to be my podcast guest? Email: KnowTheIssuesWithLisaVallone@gmail.com

Should Patients be mandated to receive the COVID vaccine in order to receive or give an organ transplant?

I think I speak for everyone when I say America is forever thankful to those who put their lives at risk to save others on 9/11. And so with that thought, and without leading you in your opinion, I present the synopsis of this bill:

1. The title of the bill says it is “To provide individuals who performed rescue, recovery, demolition, debris cleanup, or other related services after the September 11 terrorist attacks an opportunity to adjust their status to that of lawful permanent residents, and for other purposes” Should these individuals who were here illegally, or were not born in the US, be afforded all the rights, privileges & benefits of a lawful citizen for providing help during our time of need?

2. Would your opinion change if you knew they worked or volunteered onsite for at least 24 hrs during the period beginning on September 11, 2001, and ending on September 30, 2001?

3. And is it a concern that the bill mentions that some of the the alien(s) were members of a fire or police department?

4 Does this bill fit the definition of “extraordinary circumstances” as we learned in the last issue is a private bill that can be introduced by Congressional members to grant citizenship to illegal aliens.

Photo of Central Railroad of NJ Terminal courtesy of Matt Nelson

What does and for other purposes

mean in the bills I read

If you have seen the title of a bill in Congress you may have noticed most say and for other purposes . For example, HR6549 reads To provide debt relief to developing countries with unsustainable levels of debt, and for other purposes. The phrase means all of the title could not fit so they shortened it. It should alert you to the fact that you should always read the entire bill to understand it completely. In this bill for example the and for other purposes includes such elements as standards for equitable burden sharing among all creditors with material claims on each participating debtor; robust debt disclosure; expanded eligibility criteria to include all countries with unsustainable levels of sovereign debt; standards for comprehensive creditor participation consistent with robust application of the policies of the International Monetary Funds relating to lending into arrears; and consistent enforcement and improvement of the policies of multilateral institutions relating to asset-based and revenue-based borrowing by participating debtors, and coordinated standards on restructuring collateralized debt. And that is just a small part of the and for other purposes . So it is important when discussing a bill take the time to read it all.

HR to address the misuse of opioids

by students and student athletes

According to the HHS.gov site in 2019, an estimated 10.1 million people aged 12 or older misused opioids in the past year. And according to the JAMA Network “prescription opioids were implicated in 6561 deaths (73.0%), and the mortality rate increased by 131.3%; methadone alone was implicated in 2358 (35.9%) prescription opioid deaths between 1999 and 2006”.

This is a serious and rapidly growing problem in the United States. This bill, if passed, would award grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements for planning, establishing, or administering programs to prevent and address the misuse of opioids, related drugs, and other drugs commonly used in pain management or injury recovery, as well as the co-use of one or more such drugs with other substances, by students and student athletes. Included in this bill would be the ability to carry out school-based programs and community-based programs, concerning the dangers and misuse and addiction of opioids and related drugs that are commonly used in pain management or injury recovery.

It would also allow for a method for engaging youth, high school, or collegiate athletic and recreation programs and associations concerning these dangers and provide for the training and educating of State and local officials, youth athletics organizers, school administrators and staff, teachers, athletic directors, athletic trainers, coaches, collegiate administrators, directors of campus recreation, and campus-based medical providers, on the signs of misuse of opioids and the options for treatment, including holistic and comprehensive pain management solutions, and prevention of such misuse.

Photo courtesy of Matt Donders

Repeal the "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote."

NJ A131 was designed to repeal the "Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote," adopted as part of the NJ statutes and amends various parts of the statutory law to remove any reference to the agreement.

“By requiring that the State’s electoral votes be allocated to the national popular vote winner instead of the candidate who won in New Jersey, the national popular vote agreement disenfranchises New Jersey voters and arguably amounts to the circumvention of the United States Constitution.

How do you feel about this bill?

Would you like to be a podcast guest?

If so what knowtheissueswithLisaVallone@gmail.com

Cracking down on people not authorized to live and work in the united states

With A142 New Jersey has come up with a way to help ensure only those legally allowed to be live and work here can do so.

The bill “requires every contractor who is required to pay its employees the prevailing wage rate to verify the employment eligibility of its employees through the E-Verify program. E-Verify is an electronic verification of work authorization program jointly operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration. The bill directs the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development to develop a Statewide random auditing program to inspect contractors for compliance with the E36 Verify requirement. The commissioner is also directed, upon receipt of a written and signed complaint against a contractor, or upon an investigation initiated by the commissioner for good cause, to institute an investigation if the commissioner finds reasonable grounds exist that a contractor violated the E-Verify requirement. The bill provides for the assessment of a civil penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000 on contractors found to be in violation of the E-Verify requirement. For a first occurrence involving a violation, if the contractor complies within 72 hours of notification by the commissioner, the contractor shall not be assessed a penalty. Any subsequent occurrence involving a violation by the contractor will result in the assessment of a civil penalty by the commissioner, and the commissioner may deny renewal, revoke, or suspend, for a period of not more than one year, 2 the contractor’s registration. A subsequent occurrence shall be treated as a first occurrence if the contractor has not committed a violation of the E-Verify requirement within the previous five years

Voter Identification mandate

NJ Assembly bill 113 would require voters to present documentation as proof of voter identity to vote. “A voter, whether voting in person or through mail-in ballot, would be required to show or submit a copy of a New Jersey’s driver’s license, New Jersey nondriver’s identification card, or other document, that includes all of the f ollowing criteria: (1) the name of the voter to whom the document was issued; (2) a photograph of the voter to whom the document was issued; (3) an expiration date, showing that the document is not expired or expired only after the date of the most recent election; and (4) was issued by the federal government or this State.

For first-time voters, this documentation would be required in addition to the production of any document necessary to fulfill the proof of identity requirement mandated by the federal “Help America Vote Act of 2002,” if that first-time voter had registered to vote by mail without submitting federally-acceptable identity verification with the registration. However, a first-time voter in this situation would be required to present only one document with respect to both identification requirements, if that document is able to satisfy the document criteria as applicable to each requirement.

The requirement for verifying voter identity through additional documentation would not apply to any voter entitled to vote by mail-in ballot under the federal “Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act,” or provided the right to vote otherwise than in person under the federal “Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act,” or any other federal law. Additionally, because the bill’s verification of identity requires the production of a document containing a photograph of the voter, it incorporates an exemption from the production of such document if the voter has a religious objection to being photographed, and this is established by a sworn affidavit from the voter. Finally, to ensure that no one is denied the right to vote based solely on an inability to pay for a government-issued document with photograph the MVC would issue a nondriver identification card without cost to any voter requiring such document upon execution of an affidavit of indigence.”

Should the Department of Labor be reviewing top secret clearance candidates for federal positions?

HR 6419 is titled Fair Chance Improvement Act and if passed would “revise provisions regarding the prohibition on federal contractors, including defense contractors, inquiring about applicants' criminal histories prior to conditional offers of employment.” The cost to implement this change would be negligible, according to the Representative introducing it.

With this bill there are at least two parts to contemplate (1) should applicants criminal histories be reviewed prior to conditional offers of employment? And if you believe it should be then (2) should this task be switched from the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) to the Department of Labor as the bill states it will be.

Is the Department of Labor equipped to investigate contractors with top secret clearances for national safety concerns? Will this change the mission of the Department of Labor? Will this actually add cost to train and hire people qualified for reviewing potential federal contractors with top secret clearance?

Photo: Courtesy of Gautam Krishnan

Answers to trivia quiz

1. Which President . . .:

a. Socialist candidate Eugene V Debs was in federal prison when he ran for office and although he lost he still received 900,000 votes (3.4% of the vote)

2. First Native American Congressman . . . .

a. Charles Brent Curtis starting in 1893. (Native American on his mother’s side) He was also the 1st and only Native American VP, having been on the winning ticket with Hoover. Interestingly enough Native Americans were not given the right to vote until the Snyder Act of 1924.

3. Which President named it the “White House” . . .

a. Theodore Roosevelt officially named it the White House. Prior to him taking office, the White House had different names including the “President’s Palace,” which sounded a bit like a throwback to England’s royalty, the “President’s House” and the “Executive Mansion.”

4. Taller candidate . . .

a. true. In the thirty-one presidential elections between 1900 and 2020, twenty-one of the 31 winning candidates have been taller than their opponents. In the JFK-Nixon televised debate voters are said to have thought JFK won the debate due to not only has tanned and relaxed look but also because of his height advantage.

5. This Congressman is the only Congressman to have a #1 hit on the Billboards Hot 100 b. Sonny Bono holds that title with his hit “I got you Babe” which stayed at #1 for 3 weeks.

6. Two archrival Presidents died on the same day. Were they a. Adams and Jefferson. The feud between these two Presidents is said to have begun over a disagreement regarding the Declaration of Independence. Adams thought the day to celebrate should be July 2nd as that is when the actual vote for Independence took place. Jefferson however argued that July 4th should be the date to celebrate as that is when the Declaration of Independence was adopted. Jefferson won that argument. Oddly enough both Presidents died on July 4, 1826 - 50 years after the adoption of the Declaration.

7. Grover Cleveland’s 1st name was actually Stephen. . . a. True. Does Stephen Cleveland have the same ring to you?

Photo courtesy of Juan Mayobre

Editorial: A brilliant new idea

for catching person(s) wanted by police enforcement

New Jersey, just like any other state has a percentage of its population who are considered fugitives from the law. Some of which are deemed armed and dangerous. Despite the best efforts of citizens and police, some of these criminals remain at large. This bill, A146, “requires a wanted person check to be conducted of all applicants for permits, driver’s licenses, and identification cards. Specifically, the bill requires the Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) to conduct a wanted person check of all applicants for a probationary or basic driver’s license, motorcycle license, examination permit, special learner’s permit, or non-driver identification card. A “wanted person check” is defined under the bill as a determination of whether a person has an outstanding arrest warrant or pending charges by accessing the NJ Wanted Person System (NJWPS) and New Jersey Criminal Justice Information System (NJCJIS) in the files of the National Crime Information Center.”

From reading this bill, it would seem to have negligble added cost, if any. Yet the net benefits of capturing a person who may be dangerous to the general public is significant. New Jersey lawmakers should be appauled for drafting this legislation.