Legislature to study state vehicles

Philly.com is reporting today that the senate has submitted a bill to being a study of the use of state vehicles:

The New Jersey Senate's state government committee yesterday advanced a measure to study how to reduce the roughly 7,000 vehicles used for state business.

During the next five fiscal years, supporters say, the state could save an estimated $28 million. That would be offset by money the state spends on mileage reimbursements for employees who use their personal vehicles instead. There is no estimate on how much the reimbursements would total, according to the bill.

It is not clear whether the savings estimates are too high or grossly underestimate the costs of the states vehicle fleet. What is clear is that our state has WAY too many state owned vehicles sitting in people's driveways at night. And judging from the number of state vehicles converging on Trenton every day from every direction, one suspects that for many these vehicles are perks, not requirements of their job.

Read the entire article here.

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Community Service - Mandated by Trenton?

Philly.com reports that community service requirements may be coming to a school near you:

Community service may have inched closer to becoming a graduation requirement for New Jersey high school students under a bill signed into law in the final days of the Corzine administration.

The legislation calls for a four-year study to start this fall at 15 high schools, including five in the southern third of the state. Under the pilot program, incoming freshmen will complete at least 20 hours of community service during their high school careers. The service must be unpaid and can take place inside or outside school.

Let me be clear on this. I think it is a good idea for High School students to perform community service activities in their community. I also believe that they should be driven by the student themselves, not some bureaucrat in Trenton.

This initiative falls into the "well meaning but misguided" category of legislation that is so prone in the legislature in Trenton. It usually starts with some new member of the assembly fresh off their promotion from town council or county freeholder. They get elected and think "what a good idea this or that would be". They then proceed to "lets make that a law and MAKE everyone in the state do it".

And there is a good reason for legislation like mandated community service if you are an assembly member (or senator for that matter). If you are busy working on trivial legislation like this, maybe no one will notice that you aren't handling the really important issue to the state. It is also a product of "full time legislators". If our state legislators spent a lot less time in Trenton, they wouldn't have the time for garbage legislation like this.

Read the Philly.com article here.

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