Advocacy E-News August 28, 2017

August 28, 2017

 

DEMOCRATS JUST HANDED CHRISTIE A WIN ON DISPUTED PLAN TO REVAMP MENTAL HEALTH AGENCY

Gov. Chris Christie will be allowed to proceed with his plan to reorganize the agencies in charge of mental health and addiction services, after the state Senate cancelled a Friday vote to block the move. Senate Majority Office spokeswoman Trish Graber confirmed Thursday the voting session had been cancelled because not enough members had committed to attend.

The state Assembly voted against Christie’s reorganization last month, and the Senate was expected to do the same. People who work in the mental health and addiction field warned the hasty restructuring of the Department of Human Services — the state’s largest bureaucracy — would create chaos without any obvious benefit.

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MURPHY SAYS HE WOULD SIGN GUN MEASURES REJECTED BY CHRISTIE

Phil Murphy, the Democratic nominee for governor, pledged Thursday to enact many of the gun-control measures that Republican Gov. Chris Christie has denied if he is elected in November.
In a conference call Murphy said he is considering a new tax on gun sales to support law enforcement and mental health programs, as well as a host of other gun-control measures he characterized as “common sense” measures that balance Second Amendment rights with public safety.

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ACA UNCERTAINTIES COULD MEAN FEWER ELIGIBLE PEOPLE ENROLLING

A federal study released last fall found that despite these benefits, some 6.9 million Americans who are eligible were not re-enrolled in the program; this included 44,000 Garden State residents. And experts said these people tend to be the hardest to reach — impoverished, homeless, suffering from substance-use disorders and mental illness, or all of the above.

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