Your Legislators: Rockland-Bergen River Commission Created

The Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee approved bipartisan legislation this week that would create the Rockland-Bergen Bistate River Commission for a coordinated flood management and prevention plan between the neighboring New Jersey and New York counties. It is primarily sponsored by Assembly Republicans Charlotte Vandervalk and Bob Schroeder, both R-Bergen of District 39.

“We have been fighting flooding problems along our streams and reservoirs for years,” Vandervalk said. “While we respect geographic boundaries, overflowing water does not. We started this process years ago when I held meetings with representatives from our Pascack Valley towns. We provided the towns with a ‘one-stop’ number at the Department of Environmental Protection to help them with the necessary permitting to keep these waterways free from obstruction, but we also recognized that we needed a coordinated approach to stream management and flood mitigation. We need to include all the communities in Bergen and Rockland counties that face the same flooding problems. Our streams originate in New York. The private dam that broke during Tropical Storm Floyd was in New York. Our bill will get everyone working together on a comprehensive plan to mitigate flooding problems of these regional waterways.”

The bill, A-2440, which has bipartisan support, would create an 18-member Rockland-Bergen Bistate River Commission to facilitate the cooperation of governments in New Jersey and New York to protect the streams flowing south from Rockland County into Bergen County including the Hackensack River, Sparkill Brook/Creek, Saddle River, Ramapo/Mahwah River and their tributaries as well as the communities that are prone to flooding.

“This is a common-sense approach to managing waterways that will protect the environment and homes,” Schroeder said. “One town's flooding solution may make things worse for another. Now, our communities can work together to resolve flooding issues in an inclusive, holistic way.”

The commission would be selected by elected officials of both parties from both states. Its duties would include coordinating a comprehensive plan to remediate existing hazards, assessing potential development that could impact the waterways and coordinating environmental cleanup, maintenance and protection efforts.

“It makes no sense for a community to desilt and desnag its streams only to have an upstream neighbor literally ‘muddy the waters’ by cleaning out their section of the stream a year later,” explained Vandervalk. “Silt and debris just flow downstream negating much of the good work done by the first town. What happens upstream in New York affects us downstream here in New Jersey.”

“Stream management and flooding mitigation are ongoing problems that require ongoing efforts,” concluded Schroeder. “And they can’t be done piecemeal. We need a regional approach if we are truly going to get a handle on the problem.  This bill will put us a long way toward that goal.”

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Senators Joe Kyrillos (District 13) and Gerald Cardinale (District 39) introduced legislation that would make New Jersey more competitive for small businesses and hospitable to retirees.

The bill, S-2778, would increase the filing limit for the estate tax to $1 million. Currently, returns for the estate tax must be filed if the estate is in excess of $675,000.

“The estate tax is an attractive revenue source for the class warfare crowd-but it has real consequences for job creators,” Kyrillos began. “This bill is fair to the heirs of small business owners who worked their entire lives to provide for their families. Most small businesses in New Jersey far exceed the common-sense threshold that this bill implements. This legislation is crafted to make New Jersey more competitive, keep the entrepreneurs who create jobs in this state, and stop the drain of taxpayers to other states that offer a better deal.”

The measure is included in Governor Christie’s proposed FY 2012 budget in a package of fiscally responsible job creation measures.

“Small business owners have paid income taxes, sales taxes and property taxes on their businesses for the entire time that the business was operating,” Cardinale continued. “To subject families to the death tax following a lifetime of sacrifice building a better future will hamper the entrepreneurship that is the keystone of private sector job growth. The death tax is one of the many taxes that make our state an unaffordable place to do business. This measure is paid for in the Governor’s budget, and should be considered immediately if the Majority is truly serious about spurring job creation and giving needed relief to businesses.”

The New Jersey estate tax is imposed on the estate of a resident decedent equal to the amount of the credit allowed under federal estate tax law for state inheritances taxes paid based on the terms of the federal estate tax in effect on December 31, 2001.