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Holly Schepisi

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Assembly Approves Flood Buyout Tax Relief Bill

The bill would make towns exempt from paying taxes for flood-prone properties they acquire.

The New Jersey Assembly passed a bill Monday which would protect towns buying flood-prone properties from tax expenses. Currently, towns like Westwood which are using state and federal grant money to purchase flood-prone homes will be responsible for paying the school and county taxes for the year in which the purchase is made if the properties are bought after October 1. The bill (A-3362) would exempt towns from having to pay these taxes. It passed by a vote of 74-0 Monday. An identical bill in the state senate has not yet been voted on. District 39 Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi sponsored the bill. “The effort to preserve open space should not be derailed because a town cannot afford to assume the obligation of paying a seller’s property …

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Gov. Signs Schepisi's Drinking Water Protection Bill

The new law prohibits health care facilities from dumping drugs in sewers or septic systems.

Governor Chris Christie signed a law Monday which "prohibits health care facilities from discharging prescription medications into sewer or septic systems." The legislation, A-733, was written in response to a 2008 Associated Press report which found "a vast array of pharmaceuticals" in the drinking water of at least 41 million Americans. There were seven drugs, including caffeine, carbamazepine, codeine, cotinine, dehydronifedipine, diphenhydramine and sulfathiazole found in northern New Jersey drinking water, according to the report. The bill was sponsored by Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen and Passaic). “The safest way to make sure children aren’t at risk from pharmaceuticals in our drinking water is to stop dumping medicine into…

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