Jason Butkowski

KARCHER BILL TO ENSURE SENIOR REPRESENTATION IN RETIREMENT COMMUNITY TRENTON - A bill sponsored by Senator Ellen Karcher which would require the inclusion of a senior resident of a continuing care retirement community on the facility's local governing board was approved by the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee by a vote of 9-0. "Seniors' rights to representative government do not end at the retirement home door," said Senator Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer, the Vice Chair of the health panel. "However, in the cases of residential care facilities, boards of directors often operate with quasi-governmental powers, establishing rules and regulations for the seniors who live there. The residents of these facilities should have a voice in the decision-making process, and be afforded the same right to representation as guaranteed by our nation's Constitution."

ACTING GOVERNOR CODEY OFFERS CONDOLENCES TO FAMILY OF SLAIN OFFICER

ORANGE - Acting Governor Richard J. Codey issued the following statement today following the fatal shooting of Detective Keiran Shields, a five-year veteran of the Orange Police Department, who was gunned down last night while investigating reports of gunfire at a Taylor Street home.

"I want to offer my deepest sympathy to the family of Detective Shields. I personally knew the family, and I pray that they have the strength to get through this tragedy.

DORIA STATEMENT ON TRANSPORTATION TRUST FUND APPROVAL

TRENTON - Senator Joseph V. Doria, a prime sponsor of legislation to refund the State's Transportation Trust Fund and ensure more oversight in spending, issued the following statement after the bill received final legislative approval in the Senate today by a vote of 25-13:

"New Jersey's roadways are the State's vital arteries, allowing the life's blood of commerce to flow freely and allow our citizens to travel between work and home with relative ease.

KARCHER STATEMENT ON SCI PROBE OF TREASURY DEPARTMENT

Senator Says Corrupt Officials Should be Punished to Full Extent of Law

Senator Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth and Mercer, a leading ethics and watchdog and government reform advocate in the State Senate, issued the following statement today regarding an SCI report, and the ongoing criminal investigation, into allegations of bribery within the State Treasury Department by a private vendor responsible for accepting tax payments on behalf of the State:

"If proven guilty in the course of the criminal investigation, the public officials responsible for casting a pall over the otherwise honest, hard work of the State Treasury deserve to be punished to the fullest extent of the law, to send a message to the people we represent that corruption will not be tolerated in any form.