• Prohibiting manufactures from arbitrarily and unilaterally reducing the retail price of parts required for warranty and safety recall services immediately preceding or during a recall campaign to avoid paying dealers fair compensation for warranty and safety recall work. As of the time of this publication, the bill has not yet been introduced. This is a perfect time for our members to prepare themselves for the work we will need to do together. Assess your readiness and availability for hosting dealership visits by legislators (or for you to visit your legislators’ offices) and ensure all of your employees are included in our NJ CARPOOL grassroots email list. NJ CARPOOL is our grassroots team that sends emails to state legislators to voice their support for our industry. Most NJ CARPOOL members are dealership employees. Please take steps today to ensure that your dealership is in NJ CARPOOL (membership requires the approval of a dealership principal). Confirming your NJ CARPOOL membership now will be important before we engage with the new Legislature elected in November 2023. 2023 ELECTION RESULTS IN MANY NEW FACES IN TRENTON Following the November 2023 election results, the Democrats retained control in both houses and gained seats in the Assembly. In the 80-seat Assembly, Democrats grew their lead 52 to 28; in the 40-seat Senate, Democrats retained their lead 25 to 15. When the 221st New Jersey Legislature was sworn in on January 9th, beginning the new legislative session, 25% (30 of the 120 legislators) were new faces. That means our bill will be considered by many people who do not know us or have any previous state legislative experience. For NJ CAR members, that means we want to continue our relationships with the remaining 90 experienced legislators while introducing ourselves and our priorities to the new 30. Below is a brief listing of the legislative districts (LDs) in which the new legislators are located: 3 New Senators without prior state legislative experience • LD 8 — Senator Latham Tiver (R) • LD 9 — Senator Carmen Amato (R) • LD 12 — Senator Owen Henry (R) 27 New Assemblymembers without prior state legislative experience • LD 3 — Assemblywoman Heather Simmons (D) and Assemblyman Dave Bailey, Jr. (D) • LD 4 — Assemblyman Dan Hutchison (D) and Assemblyman Cody Miller (D) • LD 8 — Assemblywoman Andrea Katz (D) • LD 9 — Assemblyman Gregory Myhre (R) • LD 10 — Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R) • LD 11 — Assemblywoman Margie Donlon (D) and Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul (D) • LD 14 — Assemblywoman Tennille McCoy (D) • LD 16 — Assemblywoman Mitchelle Drulis (D) • LD 17 — Assemblyman Kevin Egan (D) • LD 24 — Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia (R) and Assemblyman Michael Inganamort (R) • LD 27 — Assemblywoman Rosy Bagolie (D) and Assemblywoman Alixon Collazos-Gill (D) • LD 28 — Assemblywoman Garnet Hall (D) • LD 30 — Assemblyman Avi Schnall (D) • LD 31 — Assemblywoman Barbara McCann Stamato (D) • LD 32 — Assemblywoman Jessica Ramirez (D) and Assemblyman John Allen (D) • LD 33 — Assemblyman Gabriel Rodriguez (D) and Assemblyman Julio Marenco (D) • LD 34 — Assemblyman Michael Venezia (D) and Assemblywoman Carmen Morales (D) • LD 39 — Assemblyman John Azzariti (R) • LD 40 — Assemblyman Al Barlas (R) Fortunately, some new Senators (who were previously Assemblymembers) already know about the tremendous value New Jersey’s neighborhood new car and truck dealerships bring to the State’s economy. These new Senators are: 6 New Senators with Prior Legislative Experience • LD 3 — Senator John Burzichelli (D) • LD 24 — Senator Parker Space (R) • LD 27 — Senator John McKeon (D) • LD 31 — Senator Angela McKnight (D) • LD 32 — Senator Raj Mukherji (D) • LD 34 — Senator Britnee Timberlake (D) Equally beneficial for NJ CAR dealership members is that the Democrat leadership — which maintains control — has been supportive of our $40 billion industry. Ultimately, since this will be OUR initiative, we will need to be very active in educating the legislative members about the benefits of supporting our bill and encouraging passage in 2024. Please contact me if you are interested in setting up legislator visits (either at your dealerships or in their offices). Also, please contact NJ CAR Member Liaison Anne Smith (asmith@njcar.org) about participating in NJ CARPOOL, in order to help the Coalition with grassroots outreach to legislators. 23 new jersey auto retailer
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