Police and Fire Pension Changes (s-5) More Work Needed

On Thursday May 10th Gov. Murphy conditionally vetoed S-5, a bill that would have placed the Retired Police & Fire Pension plan into the hands of a board made up of 2 police officers, 2 fire fighters currently on the job and only 1 retired member (either a retired police officer or fire fighter). The one vital change needed Gov. Murphy failed to recommend.  The current bill still allows the board to CUT PENSIONS AND BENEFITS. Gov. Murphy did make one change in this area.  Instead of a simple majority it would take a 2/3rds majority.  Local 9 of the New Jersey Retired Police and Fire wants this provision that would allow cuts to be dropped COMPLETELY. Please write, email or call Assembly Speaker Coughlin, Assemblywoman Lopez and Sen. Vital and let them know “NO CUTS” to benefits or pensions of current retirees.  Please protect those who spent their lives protecting YOU!

PIO Local 9

Raising the Minimum Age

Would raising the minimum age to 21 to purchase a firearm really prevent gun violence? That wouldn’t stop someone from misusing their parent’s firearms, like that case in Newtown CT, or elsewhere.

There’s a site from CCHR that links the use of psychotropic drugs (like Prozac) to the mass shootings that have occurred over the past two decades. No psychotropic drugs were in use until the late 1990s. School shootings were unknown before the 1968 Gun Control Act when firearms were more common. Since 1968 the number of violent firearms deaths have more than doubled.

Ronald A. Sobieraj