Updated October 07, 2003
Phil Passantino
for
NJ Assembly - District 40
(Cedar
Grove, Franklin Lakes, Little Falls, Mahwah, Midland Park, Oakland,
Ridgewood, Ringwood, Verona, Wanaque, Wayne, Wyckoff)
Phil talks about current legislative issues:
My stances on some other issues recently pouring through the State Assembly are as follows:
· I support strict controls on telemarketing, as embodied in the recent legislation.
· I will work to reform malpractice insurance to benefit both doctors and patients.
· I will work to improve NJ's sprawl situation. I recognize NJ is a hub of business and growth which attracts more people who need more housing; but there has to be a balance. The traffic and quality of life are only getting worse. It will be a challenge to find a way to sensibly guide growth in NJ but I believe it can be done. McGreevey's Red Map is a good start, but it upsets many people.
· I will work to end pay-to-play and other forms of corruption.
· I will work for Clean Money / Voluntary Public Financing in NJ's future, following Maine's model. We need to get private money out of politics.! That will be the light at the end of a vast tunnel.
Maine's system allows candidates meeting ballot access requirements to
become eligible for public funding if they raise a nominal amount of money
through $5 donations from a specific number of voters in their state or
district. These donations are given to the public campaign fund.
A pre-set amount of money from the public campaign fund is given to qualified candidates who agree not to raise or spend private funds in their campaigns. The amounts vary for contested and uncontested races. For contested elections, the amount is equal to 75 percent of the average amount spent during the previous two elections for the office being sought.
· I will work for the legalization of medical marijuana. At the very least, New Jersey can follow the lead of Maryland's current Republican governor Robert Ehrlich and the decriminalization bill he signed on May 22, 2003: it sets a maximum $100 fine for very sick patients arrested with marijuana as opposed to the prior $1000-plus-jail-time punishment. In NJ a bill like this would be a small but significant step closer to unmolested relief for sufferers of multiple sclerosis, cancer, glaucoma, AIDS, and other painful ailments. People should not be punished for using their first choice of medicine if it is the one that is safest and most effective for them. The evidence for safe medical uses of cannabis is well-documented and has recently been the subject of feature stories in Time and USA Today.
Please
vote for me, Philip A. Passantino, for State Assembly in District 40, on
November 4, 2003.
My door will always be open to your concerns and perspectives. The Green Party means new ideas. Even in North Jersey.