BlueWaveNJ Priorities For 2019

With Democrats taking control of the house, we are in a position to make significant changes. We are working to put together our 2019 list of both national as well as state priorities and want input from the BlueWaveNJ community. Please let us know on the online form what your 2019 top priorities are for the country and New Jersey.

We will be finalizing this list before the end of the year, so please submit your suggestions by December 9th

Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.

Creation of a. NJ HEALTHCARE MARKETPLACE. GET OUT OF HEALTHCARE.GOV

ACA- GET NJ out of healthcare.gov and create our own marketplace to purchase insurance similar to NYS. If the Gov. can mandate health insurance for all then he can authorize a better way for NJ residents to choose health insurance.


Infrastructure and clean energy

Building a way into nyc would be a huge boon for nj. I also want to see nj lead the way on abandoning all use of coal. Lastly, i would say stricter gun control.


Infrastructure and clean energy

Building a way into nyc would be a huge boon for nj. I also want to see nj lead the way on abandoning all use of coal. Lastly, i would say stricter gun control.


Climate Change

The most important issue we face is climate change; it will kill the most people.



SO MANY ISSUES

1) Improve ACA for all 2) Improve gun laws- universal background check+ ban on all assault weapons 3) Climate change: rejoin Paris Accord, make sure that there is no drilling in the Atlantic. 4) Protect Mueller and Rosenstein investigations 5) Protect voting rights for ALL across our country.


Please see list:

1. Improve ACA for all 2. Gun sense laws at the Federal level. i.e. universal background check+ ban on all assault weapons 3. Climate change: rejoin Paris Accord, make sure that there is no drilling in the Atlantic including preliminary studies. 4. Reinstate SALT 5. Protect investigations related to all current federal Current administration.


Medicare for all


Voting Rights

Not sure what the deal on this is in NJ but being a criminal doesn't make you not an American


I am concerned that Mikie Sherrill joined the Blue Dog Coalition.

Yes, she did flip a seat but as my representative, but I am not happy. I don't know if anyone else feels this way. knowing that we too probably have different shades of blue. But I'm willing to join those who do want her to make any concessions or bend to any Republican's people negligent policies. Is this overreacting? Does she plan to push the other party towards more liberal/progressive policies? Time to watch and see


I have a laundry list...

1) Non-partisan redistricting and Improved voting access. - These are "root cause" issues. 2) Ethics legislation or constitutional amendments to explicitly prevent executive branch from self-dealing, profiting from government, prejudging legal cases or meddling in investigations of any kind, and making it clear that these are impeachable offenses. - We need to nip trumpism in the bud. 3) Environmental legislation to protect drinking water and surface water AND an emphasis on improved water supply and wastewater treatment infrastructure - These are two sides of the same coin. 4) Environmental legislation to protect air quality AND improved mass transit and clean energy infrastructure, especially - Again, these are two sides of the same coin.


Voting Rights

I would like to see us improve access to voting in NJ, and at a national level. Access to voting is the #1 way we're going to not only change things, but *keep* those changes. As we learned the hard way, all the progress in the world doesn't matter if the election is rigged and the next person can just turn things around. In NJ in particular, we made great strides this year with the automatic registration, but voting is still harder than it has to be. I'd like to see a push for more convenient voting-by-mail (VBM) as has been done in other states, with ballot boxes being put in public locations so that people can drop them off if they don't want to mail them (right now you can only drop them off at Clerk's offices during office hours). If we put just one box in each town, that would still greatly increase the options and the ease of VBM, though more than that would be better of course. Also, with the change in law of VBM applications this year, we saw in real time that some clerks just couldn't handle it. It seems that some money spent on educating county clerks offices on election information and specifically, VBM applications and ballots, is needed before the next election. Easier to read VBM applications and ballots wouldn't hurt either. I'd also like to see a push to get the general public to VBM more. I'm not saying we need to go completely VBM like some states, but if we could reach more of the non-voters and let them know they can VBM, it would help. ATNJ did that this year and we reached almost 300,000 non-voting Democrats. If you could work with them to do this next year (and next and next) that would be great. And finally, restoring voting rights to prisoners. Everyone should be able to vote. Period.


Federal and State Priorities

On the Federal Level.......Universal Healthcare i- improve and enhance the Affordable Care Act; Tax Relief by repealing and replacing the Tax Scam bill and removing the cap on Social Security; Campaign Finance Reform/End Citizens United; Gun Sense Laws, including expanding background checks, ban on assault weapons and bump stocks, expanding mental healthcare, prohibiting gun ownership to domestic violence abusers,etc); Climate Change impact by reinstating all the Obama initiatives on our climate, re-enter the Paris Climate Accords; Expand funding for Infrastructure programs; Comprehensive Immigration Reform, including getting DACCA implemented On the State Level.......Support A1524/S1500 on getting dark money out of politics; Eliminate Home Rule and govern at the County level NOT the Municipality level, which will have an immediate effect on reducing our taxes;


See all my suggestions below.

In response to your request for suggestions on priorities on both Federal and State levels, permit me to suggest the following: A. On the Federal level, have Congress enact legislation: 1. To make the dates for presidential and midterm elections Federal holidays 2. To require all candidates for the presidency to disclose their Federal and State tax returns for at least the past 10 years 3. To re-enact the Brady bill which was allowed to lapse (in 2004) with the inclusion of a ban on bump stocks and providing for universal background checks 4. To recreate the position of special prosecutor similar to the law enacted after Watergate which was allowed to lapse 5. To enact into law the provisions of DACA 6. To allow individuals to opt into Medicare upon attaining age 50. 7. To mandate that the Social Security Administration utilize the cost-of-living index for seniors in determining cost of living increases to social security benefits 8. To mandate that the newly-elected president either divest all his business interests or place them in a blind trust 9. To reinstate the Gateway Program 10. To approve the criminal justice reform bill recently enacted by the House if not approved by the Senate in the current lame-duck session 11. To provide for equal pay for equal work to benefit women with strong enforcement provisions 12. To adopt provisions for major infrastructure projects for a 21st century America 13. To amend the Voting Rights Act to update the provisions struck down by the Supreme Court B. On the State level, enact legislation: 1. To reduce property taxes 2. To stimulate job creation 3. To facilitate the Gateway Program 4. To eliminate cash bail in criminal proceedings


6 Suggestions listed below

Reinstate the SALT deduction; Stronger Gun control laws; Funding for infrastructure; Retention of and additional funding of Medicare, Funding for Climate change initiatives and re structuring of the Immigration laws. As all of these initiatives require money, when we list these as part of our platform, we must have a financial plan in hand to pay for them. If we don't, we will run the risk of people doubting them and saying that we'll pay for them by raising taxes. Honestly, we should legalize Marijuana, tax it and use the $ to help fund some of these programs. We must repeal the Trump tax cuts to help with that as well. Oh yes, and we will have a hefty deficit by then which we will have to reduce. I think by the time April 15 comes, most Americans will realize that they didn't get that much back into their pocket and be ready for the change.


New Jersey State Legislature Races

Focusing on increasing the Democrat majorities in the New Jersey statehouse.


Fiscal responsibility

Because of the fiscally reckless tax cuts and increased federal spending, the national debt is exploding which is an thoughtless and irresponsible legacy to leave future generations. The responsible thing to do is to tackle it head-on.


PATHWAYS TO OPPORTUNITY FOR POST HIGH SCHOOL

Staggering higher- ed drop -out rates leave youth unprepared and adrift Need pathways to post high school quality employment


Connecting w/ other groups

Feel like it is critical that you work with other groups--in my area there are so many. NJ11th for Change, MACTA, ATNJ.org, etc. A lot of efforts were duplicated with the Dec teams; going forward there will be less of a massive turnout of volunteers and more need for strategy.


Infrastructure for New Jersey - The Portal Bridge and a new tunnel under the Hudson.

I realize that Infrastructure is not a liberal priority, but it is necessary for New Jersey residents to have a safe and efficient commute into the city for work and pleasure. Blue states are paying for tax cuts in red states, so we should get more infrastructure money.