By Dr. Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul, Esq.

Thank you everyone who came out to vote on election day and for your support in re-electing us to the State Assembly. It is a privilege and an honor to serve the residents of District 11 and Monmouth County.

We're focusing on our priorities of accountability, affordability, access to healthcare, and education for the final two months of this legislative session.  We will continue to work in bipartisan fashion to advance these goals throughout the new session that begins in January. 

As we continue our work in the Assembly Aging & Human Services and the Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance,  Commerce, Economic Development, and Agriculture Committees (Assemblywoman Peterpaul); and the Assembly Health and the Gaming, Tourism & the Arts Committees (Assemblywoman Donlon), here’s a look at some of our priority legislation.

Our educational initiatives include legislation that makes changes to the school funding law and the Educational Adequacy Report. This bill also establishes a Special Education Funding Review Task Force. The bill has already garnered bipartisan support in the state Senate, where it was sponsored by our LD11 partner, Senator Vin Gopal. It calls on the Department of Education to post on the department’s website the calculation of aid payable to each school district in a user-friendly manner, including explanations of the variables used to determine the district’s aid.

We have  sponsored legislation to permit boards of education to lease school property to Federally Qualified Health Centers without bidding in order to expand access to community healthcare. FQHC’s are already providing high quality healthcare to people regardless of their ability to pay in Asbury Park, Long Branch, Red Bank, and Freehold. FQHCs are the difference between having access to healthcare and remaining untreated for many residents who don’t have health insurance.

Another of our bills would establish an Advisory Commission to review state and local educational policies and practices. The commission would be charged with identifying best practices for ensuring inclusive and supportive school environments for everyone.

As we continue to focus on accountability, we will press for passage of our legislation to require municipalities to include certain information concerning beach costs and revenues in their municipal public access plan. This bill would require towns that charge an entrance fee for municipal beaches to provide an itemized budget of the actual costs; the revenues generated by each municipally owned beach; an itemized projection of costs for the upcoming beach season, and, when the revenues exceed the costs, an explanation of how the municipality will expend the excess revenue.

We also will support legislation to help our farm breweries, who have licenses, to sell their products for consumption on premises. Currently, these farmers may brew malt alcoholic beverages in regulated quantities but cannot sell them to consumers for consumption on the farm. While these farms can offer very limited samples, this legislation would allow farmers to sell their products to consumers to enjoy while visiting the farm, thus supporting our local small businesses and agriculture. 

Thank you again for voting and for your support during the past two years and as we continue to work to make New Jersey more affordable and fairer for all residents.

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