NJPIRG Weighs In On NJ Transit Fare Hike Proposal
New Jersey Transit is seeking its third substantial fare hike in five years. If this hike is adopted, it will mean fares will have gone up roughly twice as fast as inflation, and significantly more than wages. Although the fare hike has a large impact on transit riders, it will only generate $60 million, less than 3 percent of New Jersey Transit’s total budget, and a miniscule fraction of the state’s.

NJPIRG opposes the fare hike because it is unaffordable for many who rely on the buses and trains to commute to work, and because even those who can afford it may be persuaded to return to their cars, worsening traffic and air pollution and New Jersey’s quality of life. NJPIRG has voiced its opposition by holding a press conference with the Sierra Club, TriState Transportation Campaign and the New Jersey Environmental Federation, and by testifying at the public hearing New Jersey Transit held at its headquarters in Newark.

Congress Votes To Increase The Pell Grant
In January, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to increase the size of the maximum Pell Grant by $260, to $4,310. This is the first time the size of the Pell Grant has been increased since 2002.

The Pell Grant is the federal government’s premier need-based grant aid program, providing aid to more than five million low-income students.

Over the last five years, while students have paid more for college, the maximum Pell Grant has remained frozen. As a result students have had to make up the gap between tuition and aid with more work and larger loans. This increase will start to provide students with the aid they need to access an affordable college education.

To fully restore the Pell Grant to its historic value, NJPIRG is continuing to call for the maximum to be increased to $5,100 in the coming budget cycle.

NJPIRG Helps Pass Law To Reduce Cigarette Fires
NJPIRG, working with various firefighter groups, the American Cancer Society and Assemblyman Conners, succeeded in passing legislation that will reduce cigarette-caused fires and thereby save many lives.

Cigarette-caused fires kill more Americans every year, particularly the elderly, kids and firefighters, than any other type of fire. These fires are typically started because cigarettes keep smoldering long after the smoker has stopped smoking. The law works by setting a strict performance standard for how quickly smoldering, unsmoked cigarettes go out. The same standard was successfully imposed in New York, Vermont, California, Illinois, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Cigarette manufacturers most commonly meet the standard by wrapping a series of paper bands around the cigarette. Preliminary data available from New York suggest the standard is working as intended: cigarette-caused fires are way down.

	CLOSE OYSTER CREEK—NJPIRG’s Adam Garber talks with concerned citizens about the dangers of Oyster Creek, and got them to sign a petition calling for the governor to close the plant.

Citizens Speak Out To Oppose Relicensing Oyster Creek
There are only a few months left before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides on the relicensing of Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant, so we’ve stepped up our activities.

Starting in late December, NJPIRG helped plan and organize a series of public events across New Jersey highlighting the dangers of Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant. These events have been organized in conjunction with groups like the League of Women Voters and religious organizations to generate petitions opposing the relicensing process. We also organized citizens to speak out at a public hearing in Tom’s River in May.

These events are only the latest in a campaign by NJPIRG and other organizations to oppose the relicensing of Oyster Creek. Combining research, advocacy and citizen action, NJPIRG and a growing group of citizens, organizations and legislators continue to raise safety concerns about the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant.