The following is a sampling of bills passed recently by the United States Senate and House of Representatives, a brief description, and how your representatives, Senators Robert Menendez (D) and Frank R. Lautenberg (D), and Congressman Steven Rothman (D-9) voted. All federal legislation and how your representatives voted can be accessed via the US Senate and US House of Representatives websites. Senate Votes PN604 (6/30) – Confirmation of David H. Petraeus, of New Hampshire, to be Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Confirmation passed Senate 94-0-6.)Menendez – YesLautenberg – Yes S.…
District 38 legislators supported the state FY 2012 budgetthis week in favor of putting signifcant funding back to Bergen and Passaic counties. Assemblywoman Connie Wagner, D-Paramus stated, "Before this budget process started I made it clear to my colleagues that I would not vote for a budget which did not restore cuts to our suburban school districts. As a retired educator, I am pleased to support this budget and the millions of dollars that will come back to our districts for students." School districts across the new 38th district will receive$18,392,638, with Bergen and Passaic …
District 38 state legislators Senator Bob Gordon and Assemblywomen Joan Voss and Connie Wagner are all encouraging residents of the county who experienced damage to their homes from the 2010 Nor’easter storms (between March 10 to March 17, 2010) to apply for low-interest loans recently made available through the Small Business Administration. Homeowners and renters in Bergen County are eligible for loans up to $200,000 to repair damaged or destroyed real estate and up to $40,000 to repair or replace damaged or destroyed personal property. "Flood damage can be devastating and costly. Anyone …
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) released the following statement Friday on Pride Month 2011: This month I join with millions of Americans to celebrate Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Pride Month. This month marks the 42nd Anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which sparked the modern LGBT movement in New York City on June 28, 1969. At the time, police raids on bars catering to LGBT patrons were common, but that night, the patrons of the Stonewall Inn fought back heroically. The response of the Stonewall patrons ignited a national firestorm of activism that brought new visibility…
Legislation S2465, co-sponsored by Senator Bob Gordon, which will now make the process of municipalities that wish to seek studies for the purpose of merging and/or consolidating with other municipalities was recently signed into law. This will now permit municipalities seeking to petition the Local Finance Board for the Formation of a Municipal Consolidation Study Commission to obtain board approval either through voter petition or application by a municipal governing body. Previously the board would only accept an application if the municipalities used the same procedure. Previously two …
A resolution co-sponsored in the state senate by Senators Bob Gordon (D-District 38) and Loretta Weinberg (D-District 37) that calls on the state to apply for federal funds in order to help create a pilot program that would assist children in need of mental health services has passed the full Senate. The federal government has grants available through the Department of Health and Human Services that would pay for full implementation of the pilot program, but a New Jersey state department or agency has to apply for the funding in order to receive it. The deadline to apply for this funding is …
Dozens of people—both Fort Lee residents and constituents from other nearby towns—packed the Fort Lee Recreation Center Thursday afternoon, when Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), who represents Fort Lee in Congress, held his third of four town hall-style “listening sessions” of the week. Originally scheduled to be a 90-minute event, Rothman stuck around more than an hour beyond the scheduled 3:30 p.m. ending time “to make sure everybody’s questions were answered.” “I was happy to stay,” Rothman told Patch after the listening session did end and before he headed off to Fair Lawn, where he was …
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), who represents Fort Lee in Congress, announced the dates for his upcoming “listening sessions” this week, and Fort Lee is one of four towns the Congressman from Fair Lawn will be visiting. Rothman will be at the Fort Lee Recreation Center Thursday from 2 to 3:30 p.m. “I encourage my constituents to attend one or more of the four Listening Sessions I'll be holding this month,” Rothman was quoted as saying in a blog post from his office on Patch. “They should feel free to attend any of the Sessions at their convenience – they do not have to live in the town to …
State Sen. Bob Gordon (D-38) has introduced a resolution in the Senate urging the state to apply for federal funds to establish a pilot program in Bergen County that would improve access to mental health services for children and adolescents. According to Gordon approximately 70 percent of children and adolescents who need mental health treatment do not receive it and the ones that do primarily receive treatment from their primary care physician which have limited resources for their kinds of needs. The pilot program would provide primary care physicians with immediate access, through …
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), who represents Fort Lee in Congress, recently congratulated Gabriel Giraldo of Leonia, an undergraduate science student attending Rutgers University, for his work in energy-efficient water filtration. Gabriel and his parents were in Washington, DC on April 12 because he was selected as part of Rutgers’ prestigious Council on Undergraduate Research’s (CUR) “Posters on the Hill” Showcase. Gabriel specifically researched carbon-nanotube membranes and their potential to greatly increase the energy efficiency and cost effectiveness of water filtration and …
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9) recently introduced the Vieques Recovery and Development Act of 2011. “The U.S. government must address the serious and disabling health care problems affecting the people of Vieques and this bill is the first step. These health issues were caused by more than 62 years of the U.S. bombing that island with military ordinance, which, our own government has acknowledged, created a federal superfund site that contains dozens of extremely dangerous, toxic and harmful poisons,” Rothman said in a statement. “The injustice toward the people of Vieques, Puerto Rico must …
Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), who represents Fort Lee in Congress and is a member of the House Appropriations Committee, released the following statement on his opposition to the budget being proposed by the Republican Leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives Friday: America’s annual deficit and our growing national debt are critical problems that will not only burden our children for generations, but will severely weaken our country. I agree with what President Obama has said about the need for shared sacrifice and balance in making the cuts and investments to get our economy back on …
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9) released the following statement on the recent passing of former Congressman John Adler, who was 51: This is a terrible tragedy for John and his family, and a great loss to all of us who knew and loved him. He was a warm, extremely intelligent, hysterically funny, and caring individual, who was an outstanding public servant and devoted husband and father. I am still in shock at this news and am filled with great sorrow at John’s passing. My thoughts and prayers are with his wife Shelley, and his sons, Jeffrey, Alex, Andrew, and Oliver. Rothman Responds to Passage…
On Thursday, U.S. Reps. Steve Rothman (D-9) and Steve Austria (R-OH), both members of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations, sent a letter to President Barack Obama requesting his administration to insist that Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, reenter peace talks with Israel without preconditions. A majority of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, 39 members, signed the Rothman/Austria letter. In addition, seven members of Congress who did not sit on either of those …
As new details emerge about Bill Parisio, the Cranford man accused of murdering his girlfriend, Pamela Schmidt, Sunday afternoon in his family's Greaves Street Avenue home, some local lawmakers have introduced legislation to ban a new drug known as "bath salts." Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) has introduced legislation to ban Methylenedioxypyrovalerone, better known as MDVP, the primary drug in bath salts, in the state. In drug circles, the drug earned its nickname because it visually resembles therapeutic salts used in home tubs and spas. Those, available in convenience stores and …
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9)—a Fair Lawn resident as well as a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittees on State and Foreign Operations; and Defense—questioned Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at a hearing of the House Appropriations State and Foreign Operations Subcommittee on Thursday. Rothman's questions centered on America's strategy regarding concerns about Iranian influence in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, progress in Iraq, and the situation in Libya. Here is a transcript of the exchange between Rothman and Clinton: Rep. Rothman: …
U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9)—a Fair Lawn resident—spent an hour with the fourth-grade class of Roosevelt Elementary School in Garfield on Monday as part of the National Education Association’s (NEA) Read Across America program. Rothman read Dr. Seuss’s "The Lorax" to the students and spoke with them about the importance and fun of reading. "As a parent, I know how significant it is to get our children to enjoy reading at an early age and help them succeed in school," Rothman said in a statement. "I always look forward to reading to the children in my district. It is our collective …
When it comes to key budgetary issues such as public employee pensions and health benefits, education reform, and tax incentives for job creation, New Jersey's Democratic and Republican legislators have different ways of arriving at their goals but "pretty much believe in the same things," State Senator Bob Gordon (D-38) told members of area chambers of commerce Thursday. "We can work together, and we will," Gordon, a Fair Lawn resident whose office is located at Radburn Plaza, said of bi-partisan work on the state's finances leading up to final budget bill June 30. Speaking at Creme De La …
State Senator Bob Gordon (D-38) is used to running for office, but a man who says he has "never been accused of being an athlete before" recently stepped outside of his comfort zone to run in the literal sense. Gordon, a Fair Lawn resident, toughed it out in the cold weather to complete his first 5K last weekend in Glen Rock. He also recruited sponsors and runners for the Cupid's Chase 5K, which benefited Community Options Inc.—a non-profit that has been developing community-based home and employment support for people with disabilities since 1989. The legislator didn't know his exact time, …
