(TRENTON) - Legislation sponsored by Assembly Budget Chairman Lou Greenwald to continue allowing parents to enroll in the state's health insurance program for the working poor was released Monday by an Assembly panel.

The bill (A-3020) would reallocate $24.6 million of the $665 million that Gov. Chris Christie proposes in his budget to give hospitals for treating uninsured patients and use it to enroll working poor parents in NJ FamilyCare.

"Freezing enrollment in this successful program makes little sense for New Jersey taxpayers," said Greenwald (D-Camden). "It is poor public policy that will overburden hospitals struggling under the new Christie hospital tax. Preventing working parents from receiving health insurance has never been a core New Jersey value, and we shouldn't embrace it now."

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This article recently appeared in The Council--the magazine of the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities. I was proud to be a sponsor of this bill in the State Assembly:

State and Federal Efforts to Remove "R-Word" from Laws Advance
from The Council, July 2010 issue

A US Senate committee has approved legislation to remove the words "mental retardation" and "mentally retarded" from federal labor, health and education laws. The bill, sponsored by Senator Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and Senator Michael Enzi, R-Wyoming, was approved by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Commitee. It would replace the terms "mental retardation" and "mentally retarded" with "intellectual disability" and "individual with an intellectual disability."

The bill makes language used in federal law consistent with the language used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the World Health Organization, and the White House through the President's Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.

The bill would not affect services, rights or educational opportunities for people with disabilities, and a preliminary analysis from the Congressional Budget Office found no cost associated with the change.

The bill now moves to the full US Senate for consideration.

In New Jersey, the State Senate has voted to approve legislation that would remove outdated terms for individuals with developmental disabilities from state law.

Courier Post
Barbara Rothschild
June 21, 2010

Three South Jersey schools are included in Newsweek magazine's list of top high schools in the nation.

Haddonfield High School and both Cherry Hill High School West and East appear on the magazine's list of America's Best High Schools 2010, now available on Newsweek's website.

The list includes 1,623 high schools across the country and is based on how hard school staffs work to challenge students with Advanced Placement and similar college-level courses and tests.

According to Newsweek, 6 percent of the nation's approximately 27,000 public schools made the list.

Rankings were calculated using an index ranking achieved by taking the total number of Advanced Placement tests, International Baccalaureate exams and/or a third little-utilized exam known as the Cambridge tests given at a school each year and dividing that figure by the number of seniors graduating that spring. To appear on the list, schools had to achieve a ratio of at least 1.000, meaning they had as many tests taken by members of the Class of 2009 as they had graduates.

Each list is based on the previous year's data, so the 2010 list has numbers for 2009. The 1.000 index can be achieved if half the students at a school take one AP test during their junior year and another one in their senior year, for example.

In this year's list, Haddonfield came in at 1,022 with an index of 1.574. Cherry Hill West was ranked 1,441 with a 1.164 index and Cherry Hill East was ranked 1,559 with an index of 1.058.

Legislation Assemblymen Lou Greenwald, Vincent Prieto, Albert Coutinho , Ruben J. Ramos Jr. and Paul Moriarty sponsored to help jump-start New Jersey’s housing market by creating a tax credit for home purchases received final legislative approval on Thursday.

The Senate voted 38-0 to approve the bill. It was approved 67-8-2 by the Assembly on May 20. It now goes to the governor for his consideration.

“With this bill, we’re creating a substantial and immediate incentive for potential homebuyers,” said Greenwald (D-Camden). “As New Jersey’s housing market continues to struggle amid the global recession, this incentive will not only to reignite the homebuilding industry in this state, but also stimulate economic growth through spending related to home buying.”

“This is a creative and sensible way to revitalize our housing market and our economy,” aid Prieto (D-Hudson). “Much direct and indirect economic activity is generated through new home construction and home re-sales, so this is the smart thing to do in this tough economy.”

“This is a great incentive that could play a big role in invigorating our economy and housing market,” said Coutinho (D-Essex). “It will also help strengthen neighborhoods and spur activity in numerous sectors of our economy.”

“Our housing market has been showing signs of recovery, and this program can give it the boost it really needs to truly make a comeback,” said Ramos (D-Hudson). “This is good for residents and our economy.”

As of May 29th, constituents may apply for NJ SHARES if their gross monthly income ranges from 176% to 400% of the Federal poverty level (FPL) and they have not received a LIHEAP benefit this heating season. Our office will now refer to the USF chart in to determine income eligibility. For more information, contact our legislative office at 856-435-1247.