Bergen Young Republicans

As a result of recent allegations over the misuse of public funds by the Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA), Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco, R-Gloucester and Camden, and Pennsylvania State Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, today called on the agency to refrain from implementing proposed toll hikes scheduled to take place next July until a thorough audit of its operation is completed.

Senator Christopher J. Connors, Assemblyman Brian E. Rumpf and Assemblywoman DiAnne C. Gove, along with the mayors of the six Long Beach Island municipalities, met this week with representatives of the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP). It was a follow-up to a meeting held in late April which was attended by DEP Commissioner Bob Martin.

As President Obama visits New Jersey today to promote federal legislation aimed at providing assistance to small businesses, Assemblymen Dave Wolfe and Jim Holzapfel, both R-Ocean, said that unless the President reverses his position on off-shore drilling for oil and natural gas, such help would be short-lived if a similar spill were to occur along the eastern seaboard.

School districts in the 4th Legislative District are eligible for $4.6 million in state school construction grants, as part of a $270 million statewide funding plan announced today by the Christie administration.

Assembly Republican Deputy Conference Leader Scott T. Rumana, R-Passaic, Bergen and Essex, congratulated Governor Christie today for positioning New Jersey as a finalist for the federal Race to the Top educational reform grant, which could mean an additional $400 million in federal education funding over the next four years.

Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco, R-Gloucester and Camden, joined with Pennsylvania State Rep. Mike Vereb, R-Montgomery, today to request a federal investigation of the Delaware River Port Authority, or DRPA, from New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and Pennsylvania’s Eastern District U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger.

Assemblyman Bob Schroeder, R-Bergen, today asked Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver to direct the Assembly Transportation Committee to hold a hearing this summer on proposed legislation that would repeal the requirement for provisional drivers in New Jersey to affix a red decal on the front and rear license plates of the car they are driving.

The Delaware River Port Authority, or DRPA’s, punishment of its chief public safety officer, who gave his daughter access to a publicly-funded E-ZPass transponder, does not go far enough to assure toll payers that abuse of public funds will not be tolerated at the bi-state agency, Assemblyman Domenick DiCicco said today.

Assembly Republican Budget Committee member Declan O’Scanlon, R- Monmouth and Mercer, said the committee should consider all important financial impacts on New Jersey taxpayers, especially property tax relief, not only revenue forecasts provided by the Office of Legislative Services (OLS).

Assemblymen John Amodeo and Vince Polistina issued the following statement on the report by Governor Chris Christie’s New Jersey Gaming, Sports and Entertainment Advisory Commission.