Capitol news and comment

By: centraljersey.com
The following items are taken from reports issued by legislators and other items of political concern.
Sports brain injuries
With high school sports practices getting under way, Assembly members Patrick J. Diegnan Jr., Craig J. Coughlin, Thomas P. Giblin and Mila M. Jasey are pushing legislation to create an awareness program on the prevention, risk and treatment of sports-related brain injuries.
"Head injuries are always traumatic, doubly so when they affect the life of a young athlete," said Mr. Diegnan, D-Middlesex, chairman of the Assembly education panel. "With the competitive, high-impact nature of high school sports continuing to intensify, we owe it to these student athletes to look not just at the effects of these injuries, but to take an active role in their diagnosis and prevention."
The bill (A2743) would require the state Commissioner of Education, in consultation with the state Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, to develop an awareness program concerning the prevention, risk and treatment of sports-related concussions and other brain injuries among student athletes.
"Concussions in sports are a lot more common – and a lot more life threatening – than students, parents and coaches realize," said Mr. Coughlin, D-Middlesex. "By creating an awareness campaign with a set policy for treating these injuries, we will undoubtedly help save lives."
The program would create a brain injury fact sheet – to be distributed annually to student-athletes, parents, coaches and athletic trainers – which would provide information concerning the prevention, symptoms and dangers of concussions and other traumatic brain injuries and would contain information on the appropriate amount of time to delay a student’s return to physical activity after sustaining such injury.
The program also would require school districts develop a written policy concerning the prevention and treatment of sports-related concussions and other brain injuries to be used when it is suspected a student athlete has sustained such an injury.
"Because of the desire to win and the machismo of youth, many seriously injured players insist on getting back in the game," said Mr. Giblin, D-Essex. "Mandating – by law – that students who receive head injuries during a sports game must be removed from play until cleared by a doctor, will keep them from doing irreparable harm to themselves in an effort to ‘look tough.’"
Additionally, the bill would require any student athlete who sustains or is suspected of sustaining such an injury during practice or play be immediately removed from the game or practice. The student would not be able to participate in any further sports activity until evaluated by a physician trained in the evaluation and management of concussions and given written permission to return to physical activity.
"These student athletes have their whole lives ahead of them," said Ms. Jasey, D-Essex, a member of the education panel. "We have a responsibility to ensure that they do not jeopardize their futures and their continued health by attempting to stay in the game for ‘one more play’ after receiving a head injury."
"When it comes to head injuries, even a small delay in treatment can mean the difference between life and death," Mr. Diegnan said. "If improving the awareness of the serious nature of these types of head injuries helps even one athlete seek medical help instead of trying to return to the game, our efforts will have been worthwhile."
The bill was approved 78-0 by the Assembly in June and has now been referred to the Senate Education Committee for further consideration.
Waste, abuse
Two legislators are calling for a statewide offensive against spending and ethics abuses by enacting sweeping reforms that would apply to all public bodies – from the governor’s office and the Legislature on down to county and local governments, state and county colleges and universities, school and fire districts and including all independent state, county and local authorities in New Jersey.
The proposed law, sponsored by state Sen. Donald Norcross, D-5, Camden/Gloucester, and state Assemblyman Paul Moriarty, D-4, Gloucester/Camden, represents the most comprehensive effort yet to eliminate excesses that cost taxpayers untold millions of dollars and to make everyone earning a public paycheck or serving on public boards more accountable for their actions.
The far-reaching law would reduce costs by eliminating or sharply curtailing spending associated with everything from official perks such as luxury car stipends and housing allowances to personal drivers and government-issued credit cards.
It would impose strict new ethics standards, such as a revolving-door policy banning officials from working with certain private employers for two years after leaving their government job. And it would establish new standards of transparency and accountability for all public bodies.
"The taxpayers of New Jersey have spoken loud and clear. They are demanding that government wake up and live within its means, just like they and their families must do every day," said Mr. Norcross. "That means cutting the waste of taxpayer dollars due to patronage, perks and other excess spending."
"It’s time to cut up the government credit card," said Mr. Moriarty. "This law will be a reality check for all public officials and employees. While the great majority of them are honest, diligent workers who serve the public well, others have taken advantage of a system that offers too much opportunity for abuse."
The reform bill is a response, in part, to the recent revelation a Delaware River Port Authority official had abused access to a free EZ-Pass transponder for a family member. It is those kinds of perks – and the process that permits them – the reforms are intended to do away with.
As part of this legislation, Mr. Norcross and Mr. Moriarty are calling for the state legislatures in New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware to adopt the same reforms for such bi-state agencies as DRPA, the Delaware River Joint Bridge Toll Commission, the Delaware River and Bay Authority and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, among others.
Mr. Norcross and Mr. Moriarty said the proposals were commonsense requirements. The reforms, they said, will help restore public confidence in hundreds of public bodies that all too often live beyond their means.
The proposals would:
– Ban perks such as free EZ-Pass transponders.
It would end housing allowances for college presidents, authority executives or any public employee, stop luxury vehicle stipends, eliminate personal drivers (beyond official police security details) and end government-issued credit cards at all levels of government in New Jersey.
– Require the governor’s office to approve travel only for essential state purposes for all executive branch employees as well as employees and board members of the state’s autonomous agencies, state colleges and universities.
The Legislature already has a mechanism in place for the Senate president and Assembly speaker to approve all official travel for members in their respective chambers. The law also would restructure the approval process for county and local level official travel for boards, commissions and authorities as well as school and fire districts.
– Zero tolerance on gifts: No public employee or elected official at any level of government would be allowed to receive gifts, including meals, sporting tickets and entertainment expenses.
– Revolving door policy: Any employee or board member in a decision-making role over public contracts will be prohibited from working for a vendor they have hired for a period of two years from leaving that office.
– Any public official or employee who violated the law would be subject to the penalties under the Conflicts of Interest Law, including up to $10,000 per offense and also potential suspension or removal from office.
The reforms are without precedent in that they would cover every public body from the highly visible governor’s office and state Legislature, state colleges and universities to the more obscure local school boards and fire districts. They would apply to state, county and local governments as well as to the dozens of autonomous public authorities, agencies and commissions that operate with little oversight and public input. Constitutionally, the Judicial branch must govern itself, but should apply the same rules on its own.
"There must be a very clear line between someone’s private motivations and their commitment to the public interest," Mr. Norcross said. "There cannot even be the perception of a conflict of interest."
Mr. Norcross and Mr. Moriarty said their proposed law is an important first step in tearing down the walls of secrecy that permeate the operations of those independent authorities and agencies.
"They should be held to the same standards of openness and accountability required of state, local and county governments," Mr. Moriarty said. "They are, after all, spending the public’s money- and the public has the right to know that their tax dollars are being spent appropriately."