New Jersey Appleseed

Table of Contents ▪ Areas of Work & Accomplishments ▪ Methods ▪ Community Partners ▪ Pro Bono Supporters ▪ Awards and Honors

Areas of Work 1.Community & Environmental Health 2. Health Care Reform – Access, Care, Prevention 3. Democracy, Civic Engagement, Government & Corporate Accountability 4. Election Process Reform

Community & Environmental Health ● Enforcing Green Acre commitments regarding Open Space; ● Limiting Expansion of Exemption to Immunization Laws; ● Urging incorporation of environmental and health impact assessments in land use decisions; ● Holding government accountable for provision of clean, affordable and safe water; ● Forcing public utilities to consider environmental justice issues when locating and designing facilities, such as pipelines and electrical switching stations.; and ● Advocating for safe, and educationally appropriate school yards.

●Return of Newark’s water system to City Operations; ●Appellate Holding that Dept of Environmental Protection’s Green Acre Regulations Violate the Statute; Select Accomplishments Community & Environmental Health

Community And Environmental Health Accomplishments Cont. ●Redesign of Switching Station to be compatible with the Fairmount neighborhood; ●Publication of “Where do Our Children Play: A Right to School-yards”

Health – Access, Care, Prevention ● Monitoring sales, closings and status changes of non-profit hospitals; ● Expanding health insurance coverage for low-income residents and monitoring NJ’s expansion of Medicaid; ● The Sentinel Project – monitoring whether insurers are providing required essential health care under ACA; Projects

● Secured legislation governing the conversion of Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey, and then stopped 4 attempts of the entity to convert; ● Secured the enactment of New Jersey’s Charitable Healthcare Assets Protection Act, and have been the primary representative of the public in administrative and court hearings governing the conversion of nonprofit hospitals; ● Assisted in the Drafting of NJ’s Medicaid Accountable Care Organization model legislation (2012) (networks of doctors and hospitals, focused on and incentivized to keep low income patients healthy); Select Accomplishments Health Accomplishments

Health Care Accomplishments, Continued ●Published decision regarding the conversion of HIP health insurance and required disclosure thereof; ●Obtained a charitable trust settlement in two conversions of secular hospitals to Catholic institutions preserving certain reproductive services.

Government & Corporate Accountability ● Defending organizations and individuals subjected to SLAPP lawsuits (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation); ● Advocating for transparency and accountability in public institutions; ● Assisting owners in common interest communities in their efforts to hold their associations accountable; and ● Supporting communities seeking to enact “pay-to-play” ordinances, and more generally citizen groups initiating through petition various legislative reforms on the local level. Projects ““ A body of men holding themselves accountable to nobody ought not to be trusted by anybody.” -- Thomas Paine

● Successfully defended activist in SLAPP lawsuit and secured sanctions in a published decision against the developer and its attorney, while successfully defended attorney representing Jersey City and Fund for NJ in two separate SLAPP suits; ● NJ Supreme Court victory upholding citizens’ right of referendum under NJ Civil Rights Act first decision under the Act enforcing a statutory right. ● Drafted, with Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic, guidelines adopted by the Department of Community Affairs regarding Common Interest Community Homeowner’s Rights to Financial Disclosure and Fair and Transparent Elections; ● Participated in Commissioner of Health’s Task Force Regarding Improving Hospital Financial Disclosure. Select Accomplishments Government & Corporate Accountability

Election Process Reform ●Advocating for transparent, inclusive, and fair elections in New Jersey: -- currently working on proposed amendments to absentee ballot law to hinder voter buying schemes currently occurring in various municipalities; --currently litigating constitutional challenge to advanced registration requirement in favor of EDR (election day registration). Projects

● Designed groundbreaking legislation requiring mandatory random audits of election results; ● Secured published decision helping alternative political parties gain equal treatment; ● Assisted rightful winner in Roselle election in absentee ballot fraud case and protected Hoboken election from challenge based on bought absentee ballots; ● Won victories for NJ voters in the areas of registration and ballot integrity, including requirement that NJ’s provisional ballot serve as a registration form for future elections; ●Published Booklet on Implementing HAVA in NJ, and booklet on NJ’s Implementation of Statewide Voter Registration System. Accomplishments Election Process Reform

Methods Research Litigation Community Engagement and Representation Testimony (legislative, regulatory, certificate of need) Communications, op eds Negotiation

Select Community Partners Eastern Environmental Law Center ACLU-NJ AARP-NJ Fund for Better Waterfront NJ Policy Perspective New Jersey Citizen Action. Founding Member of the New Jersey Healthcare Coalition Board member of Greater Newark Healthcare Coalition, a regional planning entity with physicians and hospitals

Select Research & Academic Partners Center for Social Justice, Seton Hall University ●Seton Hall Law School Health Program ●Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic

Pro Bono Support ●Publication: Implementing New Jersey’s SVRS ● Limiting NJ’s Religious Exemption re Immunizations Latham & Watkins ● Third Circuit Brief in Medicaid Challenge Arent Fox ●Amicus Brief Challenging Exclusion of Immigrants Residing in NJ less than 5-years from Medicaid McCarter & English

Awards and Honors ● The Hoboken Quality of Life Commission’s annual public advocacy award has been renamed in Renee Steinhagen’s honor. (Photo Credit: Carmen Natale)