Thread: N.J.: Council to offer support for proposed legislation

Council to offer support for proposed legislation
April 9, 2008

Bills in Trenton focus on hiring of illegals and residential overcrowding
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO Staff Writer


FREEHOLD - Members of the Borough Council were expected to approve a pair of resolutions on April 7 that support proposed state legislation which seeks to crack down on residential overcrowding and to ban the intentional hiring of illegal aliens by business operators.

Officials believe the legislation, if passed by the Assembly and Senate and eventually signed into law by the governor, could have an impact on Freehold Borough.

Overcrowding in rental housing has been an issue in the borough in the recent past. An influx of immigrants who are looking for affordable housing and a rise in absentee ownership of residential properties have been cited as reasons why this situation is occurring.

S-164, whose primary sponsor is Sen. Anthony Bucco (R-Morris County), "would allow municipalities to adopt ordinances authorizing the issuance of summonses upon certain landlords and tenants alleged to have violated occupancy requirements resulting in overcrowding.

"The bill would allow for the imposition of fines upon a culpable landlord or tenant of up to $2,500 for a first violation, $5,000 for a second violation and $10,000 for each subsequent violation. These fines would be in addition to any other fines or penalties authorized by law. The bill would require that a hearing be held before any fines could be imposed. The bill would not be applicable to seasonal rentals or to buildings with more than four residential rental units."

Mayor MichaelWilson said, "We are in favor of anything that increases fines." The mayor said he believes the bill will be helpful in sending the word out to landlords who do not pay close attention to what is going on at their rental properties.

The bill which addresses overcrowding clarifies existing law by distinguishing between illegal occupancy resulting in overcrowding that is caused by landlords and that which is caused by tenants. It specifies that landlords would not be obligated to pay for a tenant's relocation when the tenant's own conduct is the principal cause of the residential overcrowding.

Councilman Marc Le Vine said, "We have supported Sen. Bucco's bill in the past and we will support it each and every time it is presented until it becomes New Jersey law.

"Freehold Borough understands, better than any other town, what it will take to curb the illegal and offensive behaviors of non-compliant landlords and their inconsiderate tenants involved in the overcrowding of rental properties," the councilman said.

He said the bill would adequately punish landlords who sometimes treat the smaller fines they receive for overcrowding as a normal cost of doing business.

"Often many slumlords will divide today's lesser fines among their tenants to pay. To them we say try doing that with [a fine of] up to $10,000. To level the playing field a bit, this bill also gives landlords a greater ability to evict tenants who encourage and allow overcrowding at (the landlord's) properties, often unbeknownst to them," Le Vine explained.

In addition to the bill which focuses on residential overcrowding, state Senate Majority Leader Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D-Salem, Cumberland and Gloucester) has introduced legislation that seeks to punish businesses operators who knowingly hire illegal aliens.

S-1312 prohibits the employment of illegal aliens. According to the document, the bill will impose penalties on employers who knowingly or intentionally employ people who are not in the United States legally.

The bill states that "for the first violation where an employer knowingly hired unauthorized aliens, a court shall order the employer to terminate such employment, to be subject to a three-year probationary period during which the employer shall submit quarterly reports for each new hire, to file a sworn affidavit within three business days after the order has been issued or face the suspension of any business license held by the employer until such time as a signed affidavit is filed. In addition, a court may consider a number of factors surrounding the violation and order the suspension of any business license for a period not to exceed 10 business days.

"For the first violation where an employer intentionally hired unauthorized aliens, a court shall order the employer to terminate such employment; a five-year probationary period during which the employer shall submit quarterly reports for each new hire; the suspension of any business license for a minimum of 10 days after considering all the facts surrounding the violation; and the employer to file a sworn affidavit until which all licenses shall remain suspended."

Under this proposal, any second violation will order the permanent revocation of any and all of the employers' business licenses issued by the state or any political subdivision of the state.

State Sen. Robert Singer (R-Ocean, Monmouth, Burlington, Mercer) is a cosponsor of both bills. Singer is a member of the Township Committee in Lakewood, a municipality which has dealt with the same type of issues - residential overcrowding and the employment of illegal aliens- that Freehold Borough has faced over the past decade.

Singer said S-1312 targets employers who hire illegal aliens who do not pay federal and state taxes, unemployment taxes or disability taxes.

"They are able to charge less than the competition and the rest of us are picking up the tab for them," Singer said. "This bill does not go after individuals, it goes after businesses. If you hire someone, that person must present a legitimate Social Security card and there are ways now to prove that. It is the employer's responsibility to do the right thing. If they don't, it costs others thousands, for instance, if a worker gets hurt on the job."

Singer said employers who hire undocumented workers are taking jobs away from legal citizens who may need the work.

"The honest businessman is losing out here. What kind of message are we sending to them?" he asked.

Singer said employers must hire employees properly or "pay the price."

"Hire someone in the proper way, period," the senator added.

According to Le Vine, S-1312 is currently under consideration in the Senate Labor Committee. He said the passage of this bill would "go a long way in solving our state's illegal alien problem."

Le Vine said it is any mayor's and council's responsibility to encourage, monitor, communicate and support any and all state and federal legislation that seeks to protect their town's residents from unlawful abuses, which negatively affect their lives.

"In this particular case, the abuse comes at the hands of the many employers who knowingly and deliberately ignore state and federal employment laws to hire those not authorized to work in the United States. By doing so they suppress fair wages, keep jobs away from those legally entitled to accept them and very often take advantage of undocumented workers, who are not anyone's radar screen," he said.

"Allowing illegal employment to prevail only seeks to continue the status quo of a broken system feeding an underground economy comprised of greed and freedom from the legal and personal accountabilities," Le Vine said. "These are the responsibilities accepted by all honest and hard working Americas.

"The argument that employment laws can be overlooked just because people need to work, or because employers need to fill jobs nobody wants or to use tax dollars instead of profits to artificially increase wages are all very weak defenses for permitting illegal employment to flourish. If the borough supports Sen. Sweeny's legislation, it is because it is our legal and moral right to do so, along with our pledged responsibility to do what is right for America, New Jersey and Freehold Borough," the councilman added.

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The bill takes Barlettas efforts which the town of Hazleton could not afford to adequately defend and rolls them out state wide so that the cost and the risk is shared. I hope it passes.