WEC Staff

As worries over lead in drinking water continue to dominate, Gov. Phil Murphy announced a multi-pronged program Monday to bolster the state’s response to specifically addressing the existence of lead in public schools’ water. The steps announced include: Increasing inspections of school drinking water from the current once every six years to every three years; enhancing enforcement against schools that do not comply with testing protocols; and improving the state’s and the schools’ reporting of water results, including a central database kept by the state. “It’s a whole-of-New-Jersey problem, but it’s one we are here today to strengthen our efforts to overcome,” Murphy said in announcing the steps with Rep. Josh Gottheimer in Bergenfield. Read the full story at NJ Spotlight.

New Jersey advocates, community organizations and workers collectively demanded today that the Legislature pass meaningful reforms to the state’s economic incentives program following the release of a new report that found that New Jersey saw little return on its investments under the failed Economic Opportunity Act of 2013, which expired in June. A broad-based coalition including New Jersey Working Families, New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Policy Perspective, New Jersey Work Environment Council, Workers United and 32BJ SEIU called on Trenton to adopt a series of six evidence-based reforms to its tax incentive program to ensure that future corporate subsidies benefit underserved communities and working families. “Not a dime of tax incentives should be given to any business that cannot, at the very least, guarantee the bodily safety of its employees,” said Brandon Castro of the New Jersey Work Environment Council. “Companies receiving incentives must provide affordable healthcare and assure safe and healthy working conditions. The EDA should also require onsite consultation with the NJ Department of Labor and Workforce Development for any company in their first year of receiving awards.” Read the full story at InsiderNJ.com.

Edison, NJ —  Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin and Assemblyman Robert Karabinchak joined with Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center and Jersey Renews to take electric car — and the promise of a zero carbon transportation future for New Jersey — for a test drive during National Drive Electric Week. Edison residents tried out cars like the Audi eTron, Chevy Volt, and Tesla Model 3 at Lake Papaianni Park, after local leaders and environmental advocates called for policies that ease the transition to cleaner, greener, electrified vehicle travel in New Jersey. “Electric vehicles are here now, and New Jersey needs to do more to make it easier to plug in,” said Doug O’Malley, director of Environment New Jersey Research & Policy Center. “Electrifying our transportation sector is one of the most critical things we can do to fight air pollution and climate change. By taking steps to improve our EV infrastructure and accelerate the transition to electric transportation, New Jersey can create a roadmap for other states to follow. But we need to provide more resources and funding to communities like Edison to install more EV charging stations around the state.” Climate change is a major threat to New Jersey, with more [...]

The “Thomas P. Canzanella 21st Century First Responders Protection Act”, named after the Professional Firefighter Association of New Jersey former President Thomas Canzanella who worked on the 9/11 “pile” and passed in June 2007, will modernize the workers’ compensation system in New Jersey.   The Act ensures the meeting of the critical needs of public safety workers who are New Jersey’s first line of defense in the event of catastrophic emergencies, epidemics and terrorist attacks, and assures that those workers are not denied a level of support which is commensurate to the sacrifices they and their families make for the safety and wellbeing of the citizens of this State and the Nation.  This new law reforms New Jersey’s workers’ compensation law to create a rebuttable presumption of coverage for public safety workers for certain illnesses. For firefighters, those with seven or more years of service who suffer an injury, illness or death caused by certain types of medical conditions would not be required to demonstrate causation or exposure before receiving medical benefits and financial compensation. Other first responders, including first-aid or rescue squad members, police, corrections officers, nurses, medical technicians, and other medical personnel, are also not required to demonstrate causation of [...]

WEC Divests from Wall Street In 1981, the Reagan administration enacted a slew of financial deregulations and tax reforms which made private equity and hedge fund activity significantly more profitable. This included cutting the tax on capital gains, and legalizing stock buybacks – a practice previously considered illegal stock manipulation. In 1982, U.S. Secretary Treasurer William Simon, with two partners, borrowed $79 million, mostly from large banks, to purchase Gibson Greetings, one of the largest greeting card companies in the U.S. The purchase saddled Gibson Greeting with millions of dollars of debt, debt which fell on the company itself. To pay it off, workers’ wages, pensions, and benefits were slashed.  Sixteen months later, they sold Gibson Greeting, resulting in massive profits for themselves and the bankers and investors involved. This began a trend in a deregulated financial sector: big banks irresponsibly lend money to greedy private equity firms and hedge funds, who make billions off debt financing by piling it onto workers. The reckless activities of big banks and Wall Street is largely responsible for stagnant wages for workers. It has led to the erosion of tax bases and public services in the United States. The New Jersey Work Environment [...]