Trucking Tax and Permits Services

Hello, 4th Quarter IFTA tax is due,

Best regards,

BKS Accounting Services, LLC
227 Avenel Street
Avenel, NJ 07001

732-634-9800 (Phone)
732-326-5868 (Fax)
[email protected]

IFTA Tax for 2nd qtr 2017 is due, deadline JULY 30, 2017.

BKS Accounting Services, LLC
227 Avenel Street
Avenel, NJ 07001

732-634-9800 (Phone)

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Marketing For Business:

4 Action Steps To Get You Started

1. In marketing for business you must remember that everything counts!
■your customer service
■your graphics
■your testimonials and endorsements
■what you and your employees wear
■what your premises look like
■how your phones are answered
■just to name a few!

Action step: Review every area of your business to see if it is relaying the marketing message you want.

2. Your best customers are your current customers. We all know it’s six or seven times as hard to get a new customer than to re-sell to your existing customers. Yet, most entrepreneurs are still focused on getting NEW customers!

Action step: What else can you sell to your existing and past customers? They trust you, so they will be receptive to you, if you approach it correctly.

3. When marketing for small business, if your message is plain vanilla, you’re either leaving a heckuva lot of profits on the table, or you’re on your way out of business. You need a message that some people will be responsive to and will respond to. Most marketing is devoid of message; it is just that name, rank and serial number – the features. Remember how Subway re-created their message to be a fast food for weight loss and health? Brilliant! Before that, no one ever put together “fast food” and “health”!

Action step: Take a look at your message – is it vanilla or a much more exciting, compelling and provocative message?

4. You’ve undoubtedly heard that you need to have a Unique Selling Proposition that answers the question:

“Why should I do business with you

versus any and every other option available to me,

which includes doing nothing?”

When you have a great answer to this question, doors will open like you have the golden key to the vault. It’s an enormous accelerator because your business is now about something and for somebody and you have a message.

As someone who has been providing small business consulting services to small business owners for the past eight years, I have had the privilege of seeing what works and doesn’t work in many small businesses. Not to mention the 20 years I spent in small business before that, owning and running companies.

In order to help small businesses and their owners to thrive, I’ve put together this mini guide. I’m sure that whether you are just starting out or are a more seasoned business person, you will most likely get a few flashes of insight or recognition that will help you improve your business today.

Peter Drucker is famous for once saying that there are really only two core functions of any business: marketing and innovation – and that the rest are all costs. In this guide, I’m adding what I think are two additional core components for today’s small business person: productivity and planning for profitability. To me, this four legged stool provides you with a strong foundation from which to steer your business ship to continued and greater success.

INNOVATION: VALUE DELIVERY

First, our business must provide innovative products and services – ones that clients and customers need or want. The more we can put some extra value into our products and services, the more we can help people enjoy or benefit from them in a more effective or enjoyable way (innovation), the better we have served them and the better our business will do.

For example, I put extra value into my small business consulting services by giving my clients writing and editing help (this is very popular), free books when I think of one that would really help them (without overloading them with yet more to read!), birthday cards and other gifts to let them know I truly care about them and appreciate them being clients of mine, and in-person meetings when I am in their city or town.

Actually, innovation is typically what entrepreneurs love to do. So this one isn’t as tough, typically, as the other three legs.

MARKETING: GETTING THE WORD OUT, BRINGING THE PROSPECTS IN

I’d say a good portion of small business owners hate business development marketing. This is true despite the fact that they are in most cases the best ones to lead the marketing charge because of their passion for their products and services, their personal compelling story and their drive to have their company succeed.

Marketing for small business is, of course, how we get the word out to prospective customers, how we bring in the leads that our sales processes can then sell to. Small business marketing is of course a massive topic, and yet it’s easy to make it an overly
complex process, too. So here are three keys for marketing success.

#1. We have to start with WHO you think your target market is, or your “ideal client” as some like to call it, and work backward from there. There isn’t much in the world that “everybody” needs or wants. Even with such fundamentals as the food we eat, what one person chooses to eat can vary tremendously from the next guy or gal. So you MUST know WHO your business serves and then you must learn as much as you can about those people – their demographics, such as age and gender, location, and income, education, of course, but also their psychographics – attributes relating to personality, values, attitudes, interests, or lifestyles.

Then use all you have learned and make sure your marketing (including headlines and copy) really address the needs and wants of those people. Every business can be different, noteworthy and focused on a specific niche or demographic/psychographic.

#2. One key business marketing strategy is to use direct response marketing, not image or brand marketing (leave that to multinational corporations that sell to the mass consumer market like car companies, Proctor & Gamble, et al). You need marketing that incites the prospect to take an action and that action needs to be measurable. Then make sure you measure it! Track it. Tweak it. Rinse and repeat forever.

Remember the line about he business owner who says “50% of my marketing works great; I just don’t know which 50%”? You can’t afford to waste 50% of your marketing dollars or the time you and your team put into it.

#3. You need to be innovative, somehow unique, have a message. Don’t be afraid to be different – embrace it! It’s an interesting thing to me about the name of my company, Authentic Alternatives. I really liked it at the beginning, of course. A few years later I thought to myself “What a stupid name – nobody knows what it means, it’s not about business per se” – all those self-critical voices we get in our heads. Then a few years later I realized it really is a great name for my business, because it attracts the right kind of clients to me – business owners who march to the beat of a different drummer, who truly think outside the box, who want to be real (authentic) and who aren’t afraid to think a bit “alternatively.”

My advice to business is to make your business ABOUT something, like the way Subway repositioned itself to be about health and even weight loss. Pretty good trick for a fast food corporation!

It’s not easy getting noticed in this world of 7+ billion people and billions of marketing messages everywhere 24/7. So if you and your products need to be a little bit eye-opening and remarkable to reach the level of success you deserve.

PRODUCTIVITY: LIFE IS SHORT

As owner, if most of your day is not spent on innovation and/or marketing, you’re probably having a lot less success than you could be having. In the business coaching services I provide to business owners from a wide variety of industries, the same productivity principles apply, regardless of type of business. You must:

1) Manage your priorities
2) Manage your energy. (a better answer to time management for small business owners!)

Let’s look at each of these briefly.

Managing Priorities

Everyone knows they need to manage their priorities, but what does this really mean? The fact is, we all have too many priorities and too little time.

If you haven’t heard the story that Steven Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, passed along, it’s worth repeating. Pretend that a big glass jar represents your life. You have a bucket of sand and the sand represents all the hundreds of little things you need to do each day and every week. You have a bucket of big rocks and they represent your top priorities – the things that if you focus on them will bring you the true rewards you want from your business and life. If you put the sand in first, you won’t have room to cram in very many rocks. But if you put the big rocks in first, you can then pour the sand in and it will fill in all the space very nicely and it will all fit!

What this means is on a weekly and then daily basis you must decide what your big rocks are and then schedule them into your calendar. All the other stuff WILL either get done or if it doesn’t, your life won’t end.

In my small business coaching services, I recommend to my clients that they start by picking just three big rocks for the week and focus everything they can on those until they are done. My clients are high achievers, go-getters who set the bar for themselves very high. Most of the time – too high.

Even though they get a tremendous amount of work done, they continually feel either like failures or like they aren’t realty making progress. In fact, the opposite is usually true. They ARE making very good progress.

We need to open our eyes and be more aware of what the activities are that will truly move the ball forward for our business. If you know you really needs to upgrade your website for example but never seem to get around to launching the project, clear the decks!

Your email can wait, Twitter and Facebook can wait, your laundry can wait, doing someone’s performance review can wait.

You have to be RELENTLESSY FOCUSED on your big rocks. If you aren’t, the tsunami of “life” will roll over you and carry you far, far away at best and kill you at worst. So you must RUTHLESSLY protect your time and focus.

You have to develop a killer attitude toward your time, be as fiercely protective of it as a mother lion of her cubs.

If you have an open door policy, change it. You have to create chunks of time every day which are UNINTERRUPTED, meaning no drop ins (unless the building is on fire), no email (turn off sound alerts if you use them), no phone calls (let your voicemail take messages), no cell phone.

Think back to when you had a job and you went into the office on a weekend – how incredibly productive you were. Eliminating interruptions and distractions is a hugely important productivity strategy. Your customers, staff and family can live without you for a few hours. Really.

Managing Energy

What about managing energy? If you ever read The Power of Full Engagement by Loehr & Schwartz, you had your eyes opened about the fact that it’s not so much about time management as energy management.

Most small business owners run on adrenaline to fuel their endless activities. We know intellectually at least that long term a healthy and happy life cannot be sustainable if we run on adrenaline a lot of the time. None of us will fall apart if we have a cup or two of coffee, eat a candy bar now and then or short change sleep occasionally. However, if we overdo these, we will sooner or later start to be incredibly fuzzy and ineffective and head straight toward total burn out. Burn out can come in many forms, such as a failed business, a heart attack or a failed marriage. The Japanese even have a word for it: karoshi – death from overwork.

There’s been a ton written about work/life balance and the fact is running and growing a business is not for the land of “ideal work/life balance.” But what we can do is incorporate energy rituals into our daily lives. These are simple practices that take little time but serve to dramatically restore our energy and focus, our enthusiasm and commitment to the multitude of tasks at hand in running our businesses.

The term “creatures of habit” is incredibly important here – because all of us truly are creatures of habit. A huge percentage of what we do and think every day is habitual, meaning we don’t really think about it. This is a curse (if we have a bad habit) or a blessing (if we have a good one). If we can set up and program ourselves with just a couple key habits for positive energy management, we will experience a powerful and profound difference in how we feel about our business and in how well our businesses actually do!

So what am I talking about? An energy ritual will be unique to you and what it is that restores you. Since most of us overtrain emotionally & mentally and undertrain physically and spiritually, most of us need energy rituals that focus on the physical and spiritual.

Examples from clients of mine include:

- 10 minute break in your office doing a few stretches or yoga poses.
- Putting on your headphones and listening to music you love for 10 minutes.
- Reading 10 minutes from a book you find inspirational (e.g. the Dhammapada, the Bible, Tony Robbins, Martha Beck, etc.)
- 15 minute walk outside.

Businesses and marketing:
The top five things you need to know

When it comes to businesses and marketing, here are my top five things every small business owner must know.

1. There are only two core functions of a business: innovation and marketing. Innovation is creating the products and services that will give your customers what they want and need; marketing is getting prospective customers aware of what you have created and creating an environment where they want to buy it and benefit from them. So, marketing is a close second to having valuable products and services. Actually, I’d say they’re tied for first place, because without marketing your products and services won’t do anyone any good because they won’t have them!

2. What’s often true in businesses, and marketing is no exception, is that you must remember that everything counts – how your phones are answered, what you and your employees wear, what your premises look like, along with the obvious ones including your customer service, your graphics, your message, and your testimonials.

3. Marketing gets you prospects to know and trust you, sales is helping them buy from you. It’s often the case in businesses, and marketing is part of that of course, that entrepreneurs think sales and marketing are interchangeable. They’re different but related functions.

4. Your marketing must have a message. If you’re plain vanilla, you’re either leaving a heckuva lot of profits on the table, or you’re on your way out of business. You need a message that some people will be responsive to and will respond to. Most marketing is devoid of message; it is just that name, rank and serial number – the features.

5. As many marketing gurus have taught, you need to have a Unique Selling Proposition that answers the question “Why should I do business with you versus any and every other option available to me which includes doing nothing?” When you have a great answer to this question, businesses and marketing doors will open like you have the golden key to the vault. It’s an enormous accelerator because your business is now about something and for somebody and you have a message.

Gunman robs Investors Savings Bank in Edison

EDISON — A man with a gun robbed Investors Savings Bank Thursday afternoon before fleeing in a black vehicle, according to reports.

The robbery was reported about 2 p.m. at the branch, which is located at 946 Amboy
Avenue.

Lt. Andy Fresco told that the robber was black, about 6 feet tall and wearing a black baseball cap.

A search of the area did not turn up a suspect.

The FBI and Edison police are investigating.

New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Announces Settlement with Kmart, After 19 Stores Statewide Sold Expired Infant Formula, Non-Prescription Medications

Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa and the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs today announced a settlement with Kmart in which the retail giant will pay $302,500, donate $25,000 worth of infant formula to charity, pay for continued unannounced state inspections, and implement meaningful remedial measures to inspect its merchandise, after 19 Kmart stores in New Jersey were found to have sold or offered for sale expired infant formula and non-prescription medications.
Inspections by Division of Consumer Affairs investigators found a total of 257 packages of infant formula and/or non-prescription medications that were from 9 months to 29 months past the expiration date, but still available for purchase on the shelves at the 19 stores. Investigators purchased a total of 68 expired items. The stores are located in Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Essex, Gloucester, Mercer, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean, Passaic, and Somerset counties; the specific stores are identified in the attached Consent Order.

New Jersey’s Consumer Fraud Act expressly prohibits the sale of any infant formula or non-prescription drug subject to expiration dating requirements by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, if the expiration date has passed.

Under the settlement, Kmart will submit to several measures intended to prevent its stores from again selling infant formula or medication that has expired.

Kmart will appoint two senior level management employees for 18 months to serve as compliance liaisons with the Division. These employees will conduct unannounced inspections of Kmart’s New Jersey stores to identify expiring and expired products, and review the stores’ compliance with Kmart’s policies regarding the expiration dates of infant formula and non-prescription medication. At least 20 of Kmart’s New Jersey stores will be inspected each quarter. The compliance liaisons will then submit quarterly reports to the Division of Consumer Affairs that will include any findings or resolutions, and a full explanation about any expired products that may be found on store shelves. They will also conduct scheduled conference calls with representatives of the Division of Consumer Affairs. At the end of the 18-month period they will submit a final certified report that, among other things, will compile all instances in which expired items were identified at the stores, any actual or recommended changes to Kmart’s policies, and an explanation of why such changes were or should be made.

Kmart will also maintain two “date code specialists” in each New Jersey store, for at least the duration of the 18-month period. Those employees will, among other things, inspect all date-coded items on a written rotational calendar. Any breaches they find will be investigated by supervisory personnel within the store, and reviewed by a compliance liaison.

Pursuant to the settlement, Kmart will also provide funding for random, unannounced inspections of its New Jersey stores by the Division of Consumer Affairs, continuing for one year. The Division retains the authority to perform further unannounced inspections as the Division determines necessary.

“Our unannounced inspections revealed expired infant formula and non-prescription medications at more than half of all Kmart stores in New Jersey, including every region of our state. Some products were more than two years past the expiration date,” Attorney General Chiesa said. “This is unacceptable, and a clear violation of our consumer protection laws. This consent order includes a plan by which we will continue to hold accountable every Kmart store in New Jersey, monitor their compliance, and demand results if any store is found to repeat this mistake.”

Also under the settlement, Kmart will pay a total of $302,500 to the State, including $255,000 in civil penalties and the remainder to reimburse the State’s attorneys’ fees and investigative costs. Kmart will also donate $25,000 worth of infant formula, with at least 21 days remaining before its expiration date, to one or more charities that provide direct assistance to infants and their parents or legal guardians.

“When parents buy infant formula and over-the-counter medication for their children, they have the absolute right to receive formula that has not expired, and fully lives up to its advertised nutritional content. When patients buy medication, they expect that it has not expired, and will properly address their symptoms without unduly posing a new health risk,” Eric T. Kanefsky, Acting Director of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, said. “This is a no-brainer. The fact that we found this problem at Kmart stores throughout the state indicated a systemic problem at Kmart that we have addressed through this settlement.”

The FDA recognizes infant formula as often being “the sole source of nutrition by a vulnerable population during a critical period of growth and development,” and requires that it have an expiration date. Infant formula consumed beyond its expiration date increases the risk that it may not contain the nutrient level required for proper infant development.

Over-the-counter drugs have unique formulations that consist of inactive and active ingredients geared to treat specific diseases. Medications consumed beyond the shelf life indicated by manufacturers, may have undergone chemical changes, may be less effective, and may pose potentially serious health consequences. The FDA mandates that all medication have expiration dates to help ensure the sale and usage of medication occurs within the drug’s shelf life.

Deputy Attorneys General Patricia Schiripo and Alina Wells, of the Division of Law, represented the State in this action. Investigator Oscar Mejia in the Office of Consumer Protection conducted the investigation.

Document Checklist for Form N-400, Application for Naturalization

All applicants must send the following 3 items with their N-400 application:
A photocopy of both sides of your Permanent Resident Card (formerly known as the Alien Registration Card or "Green Card"). If you have lost the card, submit a photocopy of the receipt for your Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card; and
Two identical color photographs, with your name and Alien Registration Number (A-Number) written lightly in pencil on the back of each photo. For details about the photo requirements, see the N-400 form instructions - or Part 5 of Form M-476, A Guide to Naturalization. If your religion requires you to wear a head covering, your facial features must still be exposed in the photo for purposes of identification; and
A check or money order for the application fee and the biometrics services fee for fingerprinting. (Applicants 75 years of age or older are exempted from fingerprinting and the biometrics services fee). Write your A-Number on the back of the check or money order. You may combine the fees into one check or money order. Make your check or money order payable to "U.S. Department of Homeland Security."
Send copies of the following documents, unless we ask for an original.
If an attorney or accredited representative is acting on your behalf, send:
A completed original Form G-28, Notice of Entry of Appearance as Attorney or Representative.
If your current legal name is different from the name on your Permanent Resident Card, send:
The document(s) that legally changed your name (marriage certificate, divorce decree, or court document).
If you are applying for naturalization on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen, send the following 4 items:
Evidence that your spouse has been a U.S. citizen for the last 3 years:
- Birth certificate (if your spouse never lost citizenship since birth); or
- Certificate of Naturalization; or
- Certificate of Citizenship; or
- The inside of the front cover and signature page of your spouse's current U.S. passport; or
- Form FS-240, Report of Birth Abroad of a Citizen of the United States of America; and
Your current marriage certificate; and
Proof of termination of all prior marriages of your spouse (divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificate(s)); and
Documents referring to you and your spouse:
- Tax returns, bank accounts, leases, mortgages, or birth certificates of children; or
- Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-certified copies of the income tax forms that you both filed for the past 3 years; or
- An IRS tax return transcript for the last 3 years.
If you were married before, send:
Proof that all earlier marriages ended (divorce decree(s), annulment(s), or death certificates(s)).
If you are currently in the U.S. military service and are seeking citizenship based on that service, send:
A completed original Form N-426, Request for Certification of Military or Naval Service.
If you have taken any trip outside the United States that lasted 6 months or more since becoming a Lawful Permanent Resident, send evidence that you (and your family) continued to live, work and/or keep ties to the United States, such as:
An IRS tax return “transcript” or an IRS-certified tax return listing tax information for the last 5 years (or for the last 3 years if you are applying on the basis of marriage to a U.S. citizen).
Rent or mortgage payments and pay stubs.
If you have a dependent spouse or child(ren) who do not live with you, send:
Any court or government order to provide financial support; and
Evidence of your financial support (including evidence that you have complied with any court or government order), such as:
- Cancelled checks;
- Money and receipts;
- A court or agency printout of child support payments;
- Evidence of wage garnishments;
- A letter from the parent or guardian who cares for your child(ren).
If you have ever been arrested or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason, and no charges were filed, send:
An original official statement by the arresting agency or applicant court confirming that no charges were filed.
If you have ever been arrested or detained by any law enforcement officer for any reason, and charges were filed, send:
An original or court-certified copy of the complete arrest record and disposition for each incident (dismissal order, conviction record or acquittal order).
If you have ever been convicted or placed in an alternative sentencing program or rehabilitative program (such as a drug treatment or community service program), send:
An original or court-certified copy of the sentencing record for each incident; and
Evidence that you completed your sentence:
- An original or certified copy of your probation or parole record; or
- Evidence that you completed an alternative sentencing program or rehabilitative program.
If you have ever had any arrest or conviction vacated, set aside, sealed, expunged or otherwise removed from your record, send:
An original or court-certified copy of the court order vacating, setting aside, sealing, expunging or otherwise removing the arrest or conviction, or an original statement from the court that no record exists of your arrest or conviction.
NOTE: If you have been arrested or convicted of a crime, you may send any countervailing evidence or evidence in your favor concerning the circumstances of your arrest and/or conviction that you would like U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services to consider.
If you have ever failed to file an income tax return since you became a Lawful Permanent Resident, send:
All correspondence with the IRS regarding your failure to file.
If you have any Federal, state or local taxes that are overdue, send:
A signed agreement from the IRS or state or local tax office showing that you have filed a tax return and arranged to pay the taxes you owe; and
Documentation from the IRS or state or local tax office showing the current status of your repayment program.
NOTE: You may obtain copies of tax documents and tax information by contacting your local IRS offices, using the Blue Pages of your telephone directory, or through its Web site at www.irs.gov.
If you are applying for a disability exception to the testing requirement, send:
An original Form N-648, Medical Certification for Disability Exceptions, completed less than 6 months ago by a licensed medical or osteopathic doctor or licensed clinical psychologist.
If you did not register with the Selective Service and you (1) are male, (2) are 26 years old or older, and (3) lived in the United States in a status other than as a lawful nonimmigrant between the ages of 18 and 26, send:
A "Status Information Letter" from the Selective Service (Call 1-847-688-6888) for more information.

Illinois House OKs Illegal Immigrant Driver’s License Bill

Illinois has moved a step closer to becoming the next state to allow illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses after House lawmakers approved a bill requiring one-year proof of state residency, form of identification and a photograph.

The House voted 65-46 in favor of the plan, which now goes to Gov. Pat Quinn. Quinn has said he will sign the measure.

The proposal was touted as a public-safety measure that will enable potential licensees to take written and driving tests in order to be licensed. Immigrants will also have to show proof of auto insurance when they submit their application. As many as 250,000 illegal immigrants in the state would be eligible to apply for the cards, the sponsors of the bill said in the House floor.

“This bill means safer roads for Illinois, this is going to save lives,” state Rep. Elizabeth Hernandez, a Cicero Democrat who sponsored the bill, said after the vote. “It’s the bottom line, this is a safety issue.”

The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the state’s largest immigrant advocacy group, said uninsured illegal immigrant drivers cause $64 million in damage claims each year, according to the coalition’s calculation based on federal and state figures. That’s an expense covered by ratepayers’ increased premiums. Advocates say better-trained and licensed drivers mean safer roads.

The Illinois legislation would make immigrants who drive to work and school eligible for three-year temporary licenses already issued to foreign-born visitors to the U.S. The licenses couldn’t be used to buy a firearm, register to vote or board a plane, and law enforcement officials wouldn’t be allowed to use them to target illegal immigrants for deportation.

“In our immigrant community, families have been interested to line back up in the secretary of state’s office, get themselves into drivers ed, get themselves drivers insurance and protect our roads,” Senate President John Cullerton said after the House approved the measure. “Our community has been dying for this. This is an important step for protecting families and protecting our roads.”

The bill has received bipartisan support since it was introduced late last year. The Senate approved the measure in December. Former Gov. Jim Edgar, a Republican, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, have spoken in favor of the proposal.

The secretary of state’s office estimated the costs of the program’s first year at $800,000. The senior legal advisor for the office, Nathan Maddox, said the amount would be covered primarily by delaying filling employee vacancies. The program would become self-sufficient thereafter with costs nearing $250,000 per year.

Each applicant would pay $30, the regular fee for a driver’s license. Immigrants would be allowed to apply for the card in different offices across the state, but only one location, likely in Springfield, will review the information submitted by the applicant. When applying, immigrants will be required to present a valid unexpired passport from their country of citizenship or a valid unexpired consular identification document.

Opposition to the measure in Illinois has been scarce, though some Republicans early on called it an immigration reform measure that should be left up to the federal government. Detractors on Tuesday also argued that the bill opens the door to identity fraud.

The bill requires applicants to get a picture taken that will be run through facial recognition software, but they will not be asked to submit fingerprints. Some legislators said the former software may not be as accurate as a print because facial expressions change overtime, fingerprints do not.

Washington and New Mexico currently allow illegal immigrants to obtain licenses. Utah allows permits and Connecticut officials said this week that some young illegal immigrants could apply if they qualify for a federal program. A number of other states are considering proposals.

“It’s historical for the immigrant community. It’s a long time waiting. I’ve been trying to pass this legislation for 14 years, and today we made history,” Rep. Edward Acevedo, a Chicago Democrat who also sponsored bill, said on the House floor.