May 16, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Senator Diane Allen (R- Burlington) will hold a press conference with Mr. Stuart Chaifetz to unveil legislation aimed at speeding the termination process for teachers caught bullying students. Mr. Chaifetz is the father of Akian Chaifetz, a student in the Cherry Hill school district that was verbally abused by school staff.
Who: Senator Diane Allen and Mr. Stuart Chaifetz
What: Press conference to unveil legislation to speed termination process for teachers caught bullying students.
Where: New Jersey State House, Room 103
When: Thursday, May 17th, 2012 at Noon
(more…)
April 27, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Senator Diane Allen (R-Burlington) applauded the announcement by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection that over $350,000 will be awarded to communities in the 7th legislative district for litter abatement programs.
The grants are part of New Jersey’s “Clean Communities Program.”
“In a time of tight budgets, local officials are forced to cut back on programs aimed at addressing quality of life and aesthetic issues in their towns,” said Allen. “That hurts property values and economic development. Curbing litter is not just a matter of appearances- it is an important way for a community to improve its attractiveness to new residents and businesses.”
(more…)
April 23, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Legislation seeking to encourage organ and tissue donation sponsored by Senator Diane Allen (R- Burlington) has been signed into law by Governor Chris Christie.
Under the new law (formerly S-376, Allen/Vitale), the New Jersey State Treasurer is required to disseminate information about organ and tissue donation via state employee pay stubs, as well as encourage all businesses awarded contracts with the State to similarly inform their employees. The legislation also designates the month of April as “Donate Life Month” in New Jersey.
(more…)
April 9, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Senator Diane Allen (R- Burlington) today lauded the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ award of $75,267 to the Burlington County Community Action Program (BCCAP) as part of the agency’s Community Services Block Grant program.
The funds are awarded to local agencies that provide assistance such as housing, health care, education, and employment services to low income New Jerseyans.
(more…)
March 15, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Both houses of the Legislature have approved legislation sponsored by Senator Diane Allen needed to preserve New Jersey’s landmark Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act.
S-1789 remedies a state Council of Local Mandates ruling that threatened to negate the law by appropriating $1 million to pay for grants to districts that incur costs due to implementation and compliance with ABBRA. Districts are also offered training and other resources free of charge through the New Jersey Department of Education.
(more…)
March 8, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Bill Providing Financial Aid, Support to School Districts Clears Senate Committee
One day after earning Governor Christie’s support, legislation aimed at saving New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act has cleared the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
Senator Diane Allen (R- Burlington) is the sponsor of S-1789, legislation that alleviates unfunded mandate concerns regarding the law expressed by the Council on Local Mandates and extends the assistance of a seven member task force to help districts implement the new law.
(more…)
March 7, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Senator Diane Allen (R- Burlington) today voiced her strong support for Governor Christie’s pledge to preserve New Jersey’s Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act (ABBRA), saying that a collaborative effort with the Administration, herself, and others has yielded a remedy to unfunded mandate concerns expressed by the New Jersey Council on Local Mandates that put the law in jeopardy of being nullified.
Governor Chris Christie holds press conference, with Senator Diane Allen, Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle, Garden State Equality Chair and CEO Steven Goldstein and Garden State Equality Vice Chair Luanne Peterpaul, announce the introduction of bipartisan legislation to fix the Anti-Bullying law at the Statehouse in Trenton, N.J. on Wednesday, March 7, 2012. The agreement will strengthen the law and allow the protections it affords to New Jersey students to remain in place. (Governor’s Office/Tim Larsen)
Allen, a prime sponsor of the landmark anti-bullying legislation, is sponsoring changes in light of a recent decision by the Council on Local Mandates to strike down ABBRA due to unfunded cost concerns. Governor Christie thanked the Senator and her staff for their hard work on this legislative fix. Without changes being signed into law this month, the law would most likely be nullified.
(more…)
February 17, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
With some permanently disabled veterans not seeing an increase in assistance payments from the state in decades, Senator Diane Allen (R- Burlington) today praised the Military and Veteran’s Affairs Committee’s passage of a bill (S-390, formerly S-1289) that would increase the annual payments by 60 percent.
“The annual assistance amounts for blind and paralyzed veterans have not been increased since 1971 and 1981, respectively,” said Senator Allen. “In a state with one of the highest costs of living in America, $750 just does not get you very far. My legislation offers a substantial increase in the help we provide to those who have paid a steep price in service to our country.”
(more…)
February 16, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
Broadens Existing Civil Service Preference to Include All ex-Service Members Who Become Disabled on Active Duty
An amendment to the New Jersey Constitution proposed by Senator Diane Allen that would broaden the preferential consideration for government employment of former members of the military has been approved by the Senate Military and Veterans Affairs Committee.
SCR-48 would place a change to the state constitution’s mandate that veterans of war are given preferential treatment in civil service hiring before voters. The change would extend this preference to any ex-service member who becomes disabled while on active duty, whether in a time of war or not.
(more…)
February 7, 2012
Contact: Adam Bauer / (609) 847-3600
Senator Diane Allen
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed into law S-2145/A-1816, requiring hospitals and doctor’s offices to provide patients more information about the state health care appeals program. The bill was sponsored by Senator Diane Allen, R-District 7, and in the Assembly by Assemblywomen Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini, R-District 11.
At a press conference today Assemblywoman Casagrande said she is pleased the Governor signed the measure because very few people are even aware they have the right to appeal their health insurer’s decision to an independent panel of physicians. “Many have accepted unjust denials for treatment because they did not know their rights” says Casagrande.
(more…)
