LONG BRANCH, NJ—Congressman Frank Pallone joined Monmouth and Middlesex County New Jersey state legislators Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex), Senator Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth), Senator Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex), Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling (D-Monmouth), Assemblywoman Joann Downey (D-Monmouth), and Assemblywoman Yvonne Lopez (D-Middlesex) to call on Governor Murphy, NJ Transit Commissioner Gutierrez Scaccetti, and NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett to avoid taking any steps to alter existing one-seat ride schedules or expand these services should it mean a reduction in services from other rail lines in the system.

New Jersey residents may be aware of the Property Tax Reimbursement Program, also known as the “Senior Freeze” program: a state program that reimburses eligible senior citizens for property tax increases on their primary residence. Once a household applies for the “Senior Freeze,” their future property taxes are “frozen” at their current level for all future years in which they meet the requirements.

LONG BRANCH—Senator Vin Gopal released the following statement condemning the decision by the United States Immigrations and Customs agency to deport foreign students who are attending United States colleges that are operating entirely online this fall semester due to COVID-19 concerns:

OCEAN TOWNSHIP—Senator Vin Gopal issued the following statement following Governor Murphy's announcement that the reopening of indoor dining in New Jersey restaraunts will be indefinitely postponed due to COVID-19 concerns:

EATONTOWN, NJ—Senator Vin Gopal, Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling and Assemblywoman Joann Downey today announced that the Borough of Eatontown has received a $275,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) Local Aid Infrastructure Fund Program to create a walkable, undeveloped Eatontown Greenway from Wampum Park to Wolcott Park.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - This Friday, Governor Murphy signed bipartisan legislation introduced by Senator Vin Gopal aiming to protect New Jersey restaurants from rising takeout and delivery service fees charged by some third-party food delivery services similar to Grubhub, DoorDash, and UberEats. Under the new law (previously S2437), during the COVID-19 state of emergency, these service fees cannot exceed 10 percent of the price of the original order if the restaurant is using its own driver for the delivery, or 20 percent of the price of the original order otherwise.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - Senator Vin Gopal is introducing new legislation that would help protect senior citizens from fraud schemes and identity theft by directing the Commissioner of Human Services to issue an annual notice on fraud and identity theft.

We have received many questions from constituents concerned that their insurance coverage for telehealth or telemedicine will be ending on or about June 30th, or on another date later this summer. After receiving information from the New Jersey Association of Health Plans (NJAHP), which represents Aetna, AmeriGroup, AmeriHealth, Cigna, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Oscar, UnitedHealthcare, and WellCare, we can share the following information:

The COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Program (CVERAP) will provide temporary rental assistance to low- and moderate-income households that have lost income or become unemployed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - Senator Vin Gopal sent the following letter to President Robert Barchi of Rutgers University in response to the university's decision to lay off faculty and staff in the wake of the financial challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic:

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - Senator Vin Gopal is introducing new legislation that would expand patient access to psychological services by entering New Jersey into the Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact, an interstate agreement that would allow patients to see out-of-state psychologists through telehealth and telemedicine.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP—Senator Vin Gopal today joined Assemblywoman Joann Downey in sponsoring legislation that would require all New Jersey health benefits plans, Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare, and the State Health Benefits Programs (SHBP) and School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP) to provide expanded coverage for services provided using telemedicine and telehealth.

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - Senator Vin Gopal and Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker introduced new legislation this past Thursday that would expand vote-by-mail (VBM) education to New Jersey voters and poll workers, protect voters’ rights by preventing the rejection of VBM ballots due to faulty envelope design, and realize savings by removing VBM addresses that come back as undeliverable or that have not been used to vote by mail in at least two years.