Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Sen. Allen Remains Committed To NJ Anti-Bullying Law

New Jersey State Senator Diane Allen (R- Burlington), co-prime sponsor of New Jersey's landmark Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act (ABBRA), says she is committed to making any legislative fixes necessary to preserve the legislation in light of the laws rejection by the State Council on Local Mandates.

"The Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act is absolutely the correct response to increased incidences of bullying in our schools," says Allen. "While I disagree strongly with the Council's rejection of the law, the Legislature needs to fix the law in accordance with the Council's findings in order to preserve this important legal protection for children."

Senator Allen has spoken with Governor Christie and Senate President Sweeney, and is working with a bi-partisan group of legislators to begin crafting a remedy that will address the Council on Local Mandates' basis for rejection.

"Given the emotional and physical scars being inflicted on children by this behavior- sometimes with truly tragic consequences- we cannot afford to go without a comprehensive and compulsory response to bullying in the public school system," Allen said. "I have already spoken personally with the Governor and the Senate President, and it is my hope we can soon put forth legislation to address perceived deficiencies in the law so that ABBRA may continue to protect children without interruption."

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