Senior Property Tax Freeze Applications Now Available

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.

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July 09, 2020

Gopal Slams “Political” Deportation of International Students

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:

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July 07, 2020

Gopal Calls for Aid to Restaurants Following Indoor Dining Ban

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:

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July 01, 2020

Gopal, Houghtaling & Downey Announce $275,000 Eatontown Greenway Grant

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.

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June 30, 2020

Governor Signs Gopal Bill Protecting Restaurants from High Delivery Service Fees

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.

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June 26, 2020

New Gopal Bill Would Warn Seniors of Fraud & Identity Theft Risks

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.

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June 25, 2020

New Jersey Insurers Required to Continue Covering Telehealth

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:

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June 24, 2020

New Jersey Emergency Rental Assistance Program Opens July 6

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.

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June 18, 2020

Gopal Calls for Rutgers to Consider Alternatives to Layoffs

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:

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June 18, 2020

New Gopal Bill Expands Access to Psychologists Through Telehealth

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.

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June 11, 2020

Gopal Joins Downey to Sponsor Bill Requiring Insurance Companies to Cover Telehealth

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.

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June 09, 2020

Gopal and Zwicker Introduce Legislation Strengthening Protections of Vote-by-Mail Ballots

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.

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June 09, 2020

Gopal Introduces Bill Extending NJEDA Assistance to Veterans’ Organizations

OCEAN TOWNSHIP - Senator Vin Gopal, who serves as Senate Chair of Military and Veterans Affairs, introduced new legislation that would make New Jersey Economic Development Authority (NJEDA) economic assistance programs for traditional nonprofit organizations available to 501c19 veterans’ organizations. These programs would be available during periods of emergency declared by the Governor and for the duration of economic disruptions due to the emergency.

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June 02, 2020