Is The Government Coming For Your Gas Stove? Capitol Comments

Assemblyman Alex Sauickie

By Assemblyman Alex Sauickie

Many people were relieved when a spokesperson for President Biden said recently, “The President does not support banning gas stoves – and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which is independent, is not banning gas stoves.”

The statement was in response to reports that a member of that federal commission, a Biden appointee, expressed concerns that gas stoves emit toxic chemicals and said, “Any option is on the table. Products that can’t be made safe can be banned.” He later said that the commission “isn’t coming for anyone’s gas stoves” and that the commission’s regulations “apply to new products.”

So, the clarification seems to be that the government won’t take your gas stove, but might ban new gas stoves in the future. The commissioner had also said that other options include “setting standards on emissions from the appliances.”

Between 60 and 80 percent of New Jersey households use natural gas for cooking, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. In light of the statement from the White House and the clarification from the commissioner, should New Jersey residents let go of any concerns about whether the government will stop them from cooking with gas?

To see if we can find an answer, let’s take a look at some other statements and actions by both President Biden and Governor Murphy on energy.

“I want you to look at my eyes. I guarantee you, I guarantee you we’re going to end fossil fuels,” President Biden said in New Hampshire as a candidate in 2019. Also, as a candidate in 2020, Biden said, “We are going to get rid of fossil fuels.” As president, Biden has set a national goal of 100% “clean” electricity by 2035. Natural gas is, of course, a fossil fuel. This sure sounds like a promise not necessarily to take your gas stove, but to stop you from using the gas it needs to cook your food.

How about Governor Murphy? His 2019 Energy Master Plan consists of seven “strategies.” These strategies include “decarbonization and electrification of new and existing buildings” and “[d]ecarbonizing and [m]odernizing” the state’s energy system, including “reducing our reliance on natural gas.”

The plan would phase out the use of natural gas, reports NJ Spotlight News. But to be fair, the plan’s finer print says it includes a study “to determine if continued support [of using natural gas] aligns with state goals” (a main goal of the plan is 100% clean power by 2050). So the state will get back to you on whether you can continue to use your gas stove. Meanwhile, the President still has a promise in place that would render such a study meaningless.

Yet just recently, Gov. Murphy pulled the plug on scheduled public hearings on his plan. These hearings were to discuss updating the plan, but they were delayed until later this year. Why? Well, maybe because it’s not a good time to talk about the implications: the forced electrification of a single family home would cost about $20,000.

NJ Spotlight News notes that this is an election year for the Legislature, and “the delay of any updates to the plan could avert tough election-year decisions for the administration that have the potential to further increase energy bills for consumers.”

Last month, the Murphy administration backed off from proposed regulations that would have required new boilers that heat buildings to be electric rather than gas-powered, costing each building owner about $2 million. This came after strong pushback from a broad coalition of labor and business on the cost and inefficiency of such a forced conversion. Perhaps that raised concerns about how voters would react to costly forced electrification of their homes.

It may be that the administration touched the proverbial hot stove, and got burned. Alex Sauickie is a life-long Jackson resident who represents his home town and 13 other towns in the State Assembly.

Lawmakers Push Back Against Biden Administration’s Proposed Asylum Transit Ban

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Cory Booker and Bob Menendez (both D-N.J.) and U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.-14), alongside Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX-35), and Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ07), led a bicameral group of nearly 80 lawmakers urging President Joe Biden to reverse his administration’s expansion of the failed border policy known as Title 42 and to abandon the proposed asylum “transit ban” rule.” The lawmakers also encouraged the President and his administration to work with Congress to ensure they develop safe, humane, and orderly border policies that enforce our immigration laws and uphold the right to asylum under domestic and international law.

“The administration’s announced border enforcement actions circumvent [domestic and international] law by not only expanding Title 42 beyond what is required by any court but by further implementing policies to deter and penalize people exercising their legal right to seek asylum at the border,” wrote the bicameral group of lawmakers to President Biden. “…We are therefore distressed by the deeply inconsistent choice to expand restrictions on asylum seekers after your administration determined it was no longer necessary for public health. Title 42 circumvents domestic law and international law. Human rights groups have extensively documented more than 10,000 violent attacks – including kidnappings, serious assaults, and deaths – against individuals who were expelled to or blocked in Mexico due to Title 42 since the beginning of your administration, with a disproportionate impact on Black, Brown, LGBTQ+, and Indigenous migrants.”

Sens. Booker and Menendez and Reps. Ocasio-Cortez and Casar hosted a press conference outside the Senate steps to detail their request to President Biden.

“We are further concerned by the administration’s announcement that it will be issuing a proposed rulemaking in the coming days that would require asylum seekers to first apply for asylum in a transit country instead of allowing them to seek their legal right to asylum at our southern border. This, in effect, is a transit ban. The courts rightly rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to categorically end asylum when he similarly required asylum seekers to seek asylum in transit countries,” added the lawmakers. “Specifically, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals found that the Trump-Era Third Country Transit ban violated well-settled U.S. asylum laws that prohibit turning people away unless they have ‘firmly resettled’ in a transit country, especially not if conditions in the transit country are not safe… At the time of this ruling, countries across the Western Hemisphere were unable to meet such requirements. There does not appear to be evidence to show that country conditions in transit countries have improved since the relevant appellate decision was rendered as to justify a new Third Country Transit bar. As the administration well knows, current conditions in Mexico – the primary transit country – cannot ensure safety for the families seeking refuge in the United States.”

“It is unconscionable that asylum seekers have no option but to sleep in the streets of El Paso, in overcrowded shelters in Juarez, or in tents in Reynosa, but new asylum restrictions against migrants will not solve this problem. We believe that your administration can and must continue to expand legal pathways for migrants and refugees into the United States – without further dismantling the right to seek asylum at our border. This right is a pillar of the post-war international order to which the United States has committed itself. We are ready to work with you to ensure that we can have a safe, humane, and orderly border that upholds the right to asylum,” concluded the lawmakers.

Joining Sens. Booker, Menendez, Luján, and Padilla in signing the letter in the Senate are Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Tina Smith (D-MN), Brian Schatz (D-HI), and Peter Welch (D-VT). Joining Reps. Ocasio-Cortez, Casar, and Grijalva in signing the letter in the House are Reps. Jesús G. “Chuy” García (D-IL-04), Juan Vargas (DCA-52), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI-12), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.-13), Nanette Barragán (DCA-44), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.-12), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL-09), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.-16), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.At-Large), Nydia Velázquez (D-N.Y.-07),

Hank Johnson (D-GA-04), Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.-09), Sylvia Garcia (D-TX-29), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA-07), Tony Cárdenas (D-CA-29), Judy Chu (D-CA-28), Lou Correa (D-CA-46), Cori Bush (D-MO-01), Grace Meng (D-N.Y.-06), Mark DeSaulnier (D-CA-10), Barbara Lee (D-CA-12), Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL-20), Joaquin Castro (D-TX-20), Frederica Wilson (D-FL24), Adam Smith (D-WA-09), Ilhan Omar (D-MN-05), Shri Thanedar (D-MI-13), Jim McGovern (D-MA-02), Gerry Connolly (DVA-11), Jimmy Gomez (D-CA-34), Pramila Jayapal (D-WA-07), Gwen Moore (D-WI-04), Delia Ramirez (D-IL-03), Chellie Pingree (D-ME-01), Dwight Evans (D-PA-03), Becca Balint (D-VT-At-Large), Grace Napolitano (D-CA-31), Mark Takano (D-CA-39), Frank Pallone (D-N.J.-06), Robert Garcia (D-CA42), Betty McCollum (D-MN-04), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-03), Doris Matsui (D-CA07), Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.-03), Norma Torres (D-CA-35), Maxwell Frost (D-FL-10), Rob Menendez (D-N.J.-08), Danny Davis (D-IL-07), Donald Payne Jr. (D-N.J.-10), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA37), Mark Pocan (D-WI-02), Adam Schiff (D-CA-30), Ted Lieu (D-CA-36), Jill Tokuda (D-HI-02), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.-15), Linda Sanchez (D-CA-38), Ruben Gallego (D-AZ03), Alma Adams (D-N.C.-12), Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), Katie Porter (D-CA-47), and Summer Lee (D-PA-12).

Volunteers Have Cats Available For Adoption

JACKSON – Calling All Cats is a cat rescue group made up of volunteers, some of whom work at a spay and neuter clinic. People would drop off unwanted cats. As a group, they save the babies that are left alone, the countless mothers that have had numerous litters and those that are losing or have lost their home.

Cookie came back to the shelter when her dad got sick and he was only able to bring one of his cats to his new house. Such a sad situation. She is very sweet and seems interested in her foster brother Vision, so she should go to a house with other cats.

To help humanely lower the feline population, they spay and neuter feral cats and then find homes for the friendly adults and the offspring that have been born. The rescue works extremely hard to find the best homes for cats of all shapes, sizes, colors and ages. While these cats wait, they are cared for in safe, loving, and nurturing foster homes

To start the application process, visit Calling All Cats on Facebook and Petfinder.com

Jackson Recreation Summer Camp Job Fair

JACKSON – Make a difference in the life of a child while having the time of your life! Jackson Recreation is now hiring for their 2023 summer camp. The job fair will be on March 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Jackson Senior Center, 45 Don Connor Boulevard.

Nights of weekends! They are seeking staff candidates for the following positions:

• Camp Counselors

• Camp Leaders

• Camp Head Leaders

• Bus Drivers

• Monitors introduced to new instruments, learning skills like following rhythm and patterns in music, and collaborating with their peers while singing and playing along to their favorite songs,” special education teacher Angela Koletis added.

The minimum age to apply for any position is 14 years old. Applicants who are 18 and older and are hired will be required to complete a background check.

Learn all about the summer camp job opportunities available this year. Call 732-928-1260 for more information.

Zacharias said that when she was offered a position at Mosaic Music Therapy, she was told that a school had inquired about receiving services from the practice. Mosaic was looking for not only another therapist to take on new clients for the practice, but an individual who would be interested in facilitating services at the Regional Day School.

“I enjoy working with music therapy in groups because it is a great way of using music to strengthen social interactions/communication and promote growth, which is why I was eager to accept the responsibility of bringing music to these amazing students,” Zacharias said.

Zacharias began coordinating with the school’s principal, Lisa Michalis, to formulate a music therapy schedule back in September 2021. “The school was kind enough to provide some musical instruments and equipment they had previously stored and through multiple adjustments regarding session length, settings, participants, and staff assistance, the program was eventually transformed into what it is now.”

She said, in terms of training, “music therapists are required to obtain their bachelor’s degree from an accredited music therapy program approved by the American Music Therapy Association. Program curriculums include various classes on music therapy such as improvisation, functional music therapy, multicultural music therapy, music therapy orientations, as well as general music classes including music theory, piano, voice, and guitar techniques.

“Throughout their education, music therapy students are assigned to practicum sites to begin applying and practicing the skills they had learned in their other classes. They then complete a six-month internship where they gain experience in the field operating under a supervisor who provides them with feedback and guidance during this time,” Zacharias added.

She noted that some individuals choose to pursue a master’s degree to gain more education and to open up more job opportunities, though it is not a requirement at this time.

“Following our internship, we then must pass a national certification exam to become a Board-Certified Music Therapist (MT-BC). This gives us the certification to begin practicing professionally in our field. Many states are also now implementing music therapy licensure to allow for better access to music therapy in healthcare facilities, educational facilities, etc.,” she said.

The therapist said, “it also helps to establish a state-based protection program to ensure that music therapy is provided by individuals who have met the educational and training qualifications. Many parents and teachers have expressed their gratitude and satisfaction for the program.”

“I have been told many students are now more verbal during classes, including those who experience difficulty in communication. Teachers have noticed an increase in attention and self-esteem with older students, and more impulse control in younger students,” she said.

She added that parents have reported an increase in motivation to participate in music, as well as other classroom discussions and activities. “I have also received great feedback from our end-of-the-year performance showcase that the students participate in.

“Many parents and teachers love seeing the students succeed musically and exhibit confidence in their abilities. Music therapy involves the use of music and music techniques to achieve social, emotional, cognitive, physical, and spiritual goals that help guide an individual towards success,” Zacharias said.

“Though many are not aware of its benefits, it is continuing to acquire more recognition and we hope that knowledge of the career keeps growing,” she added.

Michallis added, “we are very fortunate to have this very valuable program through the support of our Superintendent of Schools, Central Office Personnel and Board of Education. We look forward to our Spring Showcase.”

Fire & Ice Festival At New Egypt Flea Market Village

NEW EGYPT – Join for an amazing day filled with Fire, Ice and shopping!

The festival will be at the New Egypt Flea Market Village on February 4 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and February 5 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at 933 Monmouth Road, Cream Ridge.

Enjoy:

• Beautiful Ice Sculptures Created by

• Larry & The Bikini Boys

• Fire Pits

• Cream Ridge Winery

• Handmade Makers

• Food Trucks

• Village Shoppes Open

• Fire Juggling

• Music by DJ Lenny Lounge

• Fear Marvelous pics with Olaf, Pennywise & Jack Skellington (specifics TBA)

Added Surprises TBA. Pet Friendly. Admission is $5 per person. Rain date is February 11 and 12.

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Dumpster: Continued From Page 1 every single day, you can see a significant rise to many, many things out of your control,” he added.

Sargent said, “the one thing we don’t need is an additional tax here in Jackson on a dumpster. When you do something like that, a resident could then put their garbage in the back yard and wait for the Public Works Department to come around the following spring to pick up your garbage.”

“That is an undue burden on the Public Works Department and an undue burden on the taxpayers of Jackson.

I would ask that the council president review that,” the councilman added.

Kudos to Assemblyman Sauickie

During that same meeting, Council Vice President Steve Chisholm thanked 12th District Assemblyman Alex Sauickie, a former Jackson councilman, on a few pieces of legislation, “to address some of the warehouse development, not just in Jackson but around the state. Some of you have noticed a lot of towns have been complaining about it, especially if you are near a highway.”

“Whether it is 195, the Turnpike, the Parkway - wherever there is access to get trucks on and off. It is putting extra stress on those roadways and in residential communities,” Chisholm added.

Chisholm said Assemblyman Sauickie was “also developing another one dealing with state planning divisions to model ordinances that can be used by municipalities for their master plans.”

“He is also working with the Department of Community Affairs to have a module for warehouse and high-density development and training courses for these officials so I’m glad to see he is doing good things in Trenton and keeping up the good work he did here for us in Jackson,” the Council Vice President said.

In other business, a resolution was approved that continued a shared services/mutual aid agreement between Jackson and Millstone townships pertaining to conflict-of-interest emergency coverage for construction code enforcement services.

A resolution was also passed for the appointment of Acuity as affordable housing administrative agent and housing rehabilitation program administrator services.

Integra Realty Resources was approved in another resolution to perform appraisal services for the township.

Family Awareness In Addiction Recovery

TOMS RIVER – Join Quantum Behavioral Health Services every last Wednesday of the month for informative discussions surrounding the role of family in addiction recovery. They will discuss things like boundaries, rebuilding trust, and repairing relationships.

Meetings are in person at their facility and can also be attended via live stream, by visiting qtreatment.com/ family-awareness and clicking the link provided. They take place on the last Wednesday of every month from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

AAUW Northern Ocean County Meeting

OCEAN COUNTY – American Association of University Women (AAUW Northern Ocean County Branch) is having a Zoom meeting on February 13. After a short business meeting from 6 to 7 p.m., at 7 p.m. the Summit College Club Branch will present our speaker, Edwina Sessons, on What Inclusion Really Means. Ms. Sessons is the AAUW NJ Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI). For the Zoom Link, contact Program Director Beth Maher at bethmahe@gmail.com.