In addition to details on our experience and our plan for change, we have also included a few tools to help you become involved and engaged in our campaign to keep South Jersey affordable for our families. As Election Day draws near, we'll continue posting new information to keep you, the voters, up to date on the latest developments and happenings in our District. We hope you will join our campaign for change.
Thank you for visiting — and remember to vote on Tuesday, November 3rd. Together, we can deliver the change our families deserve: real tax relief, affordable health care and much-needed job and economic growth.
— Herb & Jack
MAPLE SHADE -- Children dressed as monsters, witches and superheroes will march down Main Street in Maple Shade this Halloween thanks to a donation by two state legislators.
Assemblymen Herb Conaway Jr. and Jack Conners, both D-Burlington, have pledged $1,000 to close the funding gap for the town's nearly 40-year-old Halloween parade.
The 7th District representatives, which includes Maple Shade, said they decided to make the move after reading of the threatened parade in a Tuesday Courier-Post article.
"We know that the Maple Shade Halloween Parade is an institution in that town, and that many local children and their families look forward to it every year," Conners said. "We are happy to help this tradition continue."
"Understanding the hard work local volunteers put into these events, we felt it important to contribute to the effort," Conaway said.
The assemblymen, incumbent running mates up for election in November, plan to present the check to Maple Shade at Thursday night's council meeting.
Maple Shade Mayor Jim Fletcher and town manager George Haeuber said the fate of the parade was to be decided that evening.
Fletcher and Haeuber said the gift shows the assemblymen have a great appreciation of Maple Shade.
"I was extremely surprised and happy," Fletcher said, noting he's friends with both men. "Their generosity knows no bounds."
A South Jersey lawmaker will lobby Congress next week on behalf of nearly 1,000 state legislators who back federal health care reform.
Assemblyman Herb Conaway, D-Burlington, said his work as a physician gives him insight into a problem that affects both uninsured and insured New Jerseyans.
"You can just see all of the effects of not having health insurance," Conaway said at a teleconference Tuesday. "Blood pressures are not taken care of. Diabetes is not taken care of. They land in a hospital with a heart attack or stroke. It's a question of life and death for many."
Conaway was among 943 lawmakers from all states who joined a campaign overseen by Progressive States Network, a four-year-old non-profit that advocates on civil rights, workplace, energy, elections and other issues. Only one other New Jersey legislator — Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer — has signed the group's letter to Congress asking for health care reform within 12 months.
"We need more to sign on to this," Conaway said. "If we don't step up and get this thing passed … I don't know when we can do it."
About 1.2 million New Jerseyans lack health policies, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Senior Services. Nearly 120,000 of them are considered high income.
The so-called "public option" insurance or its alternative, a co-op, would let all U.S. citizens enroll in a plan, for an estimated government savings of $500 billion a year.
Advocates say New Jersey policyholders no longer would cover the $1.1 billion annual debt passed to them by insurers and hospitals that are stuck with uncollectible bills. Opponents say that President Obama's ideas are akin to socialized medicine and would dilute the quality of care.
Progressive States Network chose five state lawmakers, including Conaway, to urge members of Congress to support the Obama plan in meetings next week.
