Bill Text: NJ AR51 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Adopts articles of impeachment concerning Robert Asaro-Angelo, Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 9-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-09 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Labor Committee [AR51 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-AR51-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2024 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman CHRISTOPHER P. DEPHILLIPS
District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)
Assemblyman JOHN DIMAIO
District 23 (Hunterdon, Somerset and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Torrissi, Bergen, Peterson, Clifton, Barranco, Scharfenberger, McClellan and Simonsen
SYNOPSIS
Adopts articles of impeachment concerning Robert Asaro-Angelo, Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.
An Assembly Resolution adopting articles of impeachment in the matter of Robert Asaro-Angelo and providing for the presentation of articles to the Senate.
Whereas, Robert Asaro-Angelo has demonstrated his inability to perform his duties as the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, particularly in his response to New Jersey's unemployment crisis and his failure to open the offices of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development for in-person services; and
Whereas, The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic has caused unprecedented levels of unemployment in New Jersey; and
Whereas, Two years after the pandemic caused closings of businesses and State offices, which in turn caused a massive spike in unemployment, the unemployment rate in the State has yet to fall to pre-pandemic levels, and many unemployment claims remain backlogged and unpaid; and
Whereas, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo has failed to release timely jobs reports each month or provide regular communication while the State's labor participation rate, unemployment rate, and job-recovery rate have lagged behind the rest of the nation; and
Whereas, The department's systemic failure to address the State's broken unemployment system has created problems for the more than two million out-of-work residents that have filed unemployment claims at a time they needed the benefits they deserved; and
Whereas, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo's abdication of his duties and refusal to expeditiously process and pay claims has resulted in the legislative district offices operating as de facto unemployment offices, a role for which they were never intended or equipped; and
Whereas, Rather than provide assistance to claimants and legislators working to resolve claims or treat people with respect and responsiveness, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo adopted a policy to limit legislators from making requests for unemployment assistance; and
Whereas, While unemployed workers have typically been able to rely on in-person employment assistance from one of the many One-Stop Career Centers throughout the State, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo shuttered the centers in response to the pandemic, and has kept them closed for nearly two years; and
Whereas, By denying in-person access to the career centers, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo has denied unemployed individuals the services they need to receive benefits and regain employment; and
Whereas, The failure to reopen these centers or to otherwise clear the backlog of unemployment claims and the failure to address continuing unemployment has resulted in irreparable economic harm to the unemployed, their families, and to the State of New Jersey; and
Whereas, The public and the State's economic vitality depend upon the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development's ability to fulfill his mission and statutory duties, and the State cannot afford for the commissioner to be unable to assist its residents; and
Whereas, The residents of New Jersey have been forced to wait too long and endure countless hardships due to Commissioner Asaro-Angelo's failure to provide support in a timely manner; and
Whereas, The actions and inactions of Commissioner Asaro-Angelo have failed to meet the government's basic obligation to protect the residents from any further suffering, and have in fact contributed to their hardship during the pandemic; and
Whereas, The failure to utilize federal aid dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act to replenish the State's battered unemployment trust fund and mitigate payroll-tax increases has left New Jersey businesses unsupported and faced with higher costs; and
Whereas, The actions and inactions of Commissioner Asaro-Angelo, particularly as they relate to New Jersey's unemployment crisis and his failure to open the One-Stop Career Centers to the public for in-person services, are incompatible with the responsibilities and duties owed to the public by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The General Assembly, incorporating and adopting the above recitations as if stated fully herein, determines that Commissioner Asaro-Angelo has engaged in a pattern and practice of disregarding the responsibilities and duties owed to the public by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, and hereby adopts the following articles of impeachment:
I. Through his actions and inactions as the Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development (DOLWD), Robert Asaro-Angelo is responsible for the department's failure to address the ongoing unemployment crisis in New Jersey.
II. As the chief official for the DOLWD, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo failed to take reasonable measures to reopen DOLWD offices to provide in-person services throughout the State.
III. As the chief official for the DOLWD, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo failed to take reasonable measures to expeditiously process and pay unemployment claims and address unemployment.
IV. As the chief official for the DOLWD, Commissioner Asaro-Angelo has violated the public trust and failed to perform the duties of his office.
2. In accordance with New Jersey Constitution, Article VII, Section III, paragraph 2, by a majority vote of all the members, the General Assembly hereby impeaches Robert Asaro-Angelo.
3. The Speaker of the General Assembly shall appoint a committee, of sufficient number, to act as managers for the purpose of presenting these articles of impeachment to the Senate forthwith.
4. This resolution shall take effect upon its adoption by this House.
STATEMENT
This Assembly Resolution adopts articles of impeachment in the matter of Robert Asaro-Angelo, Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and provides for the presentation of articles to the Senate, and impeaches Robert Asaro-Angelo.
In light of his record of failing to address the ongoing unemployment crisis in New Jersey, failure to take reasonable measures to expeditiously process and pay unemployment claims and address unemployment, including the failure to open the One-Stop Career Centers to the public for in-person services, violation of the public trust, and his overall failure to perform the duties of his office, it is altogether fitting and proper and within the public interest for the General Assembly to adopt articles of impeachment against Robert Asaro-Angelo, and present the articles to the New Jersey Senate in accordance with New Jersey Constitution, Article VII, Section III, paragraph 2.
