June 1, 2006 2006 Hurricane Season Begins Assemblyman Panter Applauded for Legislation to Create New Jersey Catastrophe Management Solution National Homeland Security and Emergency Response Leaders Praise Bill (Trenton, N.J.) – Assemblyman Mike Panter (D-Monmouth/Mercer), Vice Chair of the Assembly Financial Institutions Committee, was applauded today by ProtectingAmerica.org co-chairs James Lee Witt, former FEMA director, and Admiral James Loy, former deputy secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, for legislation aimed at preparing and protecting residents and consumers from the human and financial impact of a catastrophe. The bill, A-3236, was introduced on the first official day of the 2006 hurricane season. "Forecasters are predicting that the Northeast is long overdue for a major hurricane. Assemblyman Panter is taking action today to ensure the protection of New Jersey consumers tomorrow," Witt said. "The catastrophe management solution in this bill will help make homeowners insurance available and affordable for New Jersey consumers. Equally important, it will also help improve preparedness and establish comprehensive mitigation, education and prevention programs and augment first responder programs, all of which will help minimize damage, speed recovery and save lives," the former FEMA director added. "As the nation’s most developed and densely populated state, New Jersey has a particular need for better preparation and protection against catastrophe. Assemblyman Panter’s bill will help residents protect families throughout the state," Loy said. When the Great Atlantic Hurricane of 1944 struck New Jersey as a Category Two storm, approximately 300 homes in Long Beach Island were destroyed. Today’s densely built shoreline nearly guarantees extensive home damage should a similar storm make landfall along New Jersey’s coast. A Category Four hurricane, like the one that struck Cape May in 1821, would cut a path of devastation and destruction through the Garden State.
Panter’s bill, the New Jersey Consumer Catastrophe Preparedness and Protection Act, would not only create the New Jersey Catastrophe Fund, but would protect consumers against post-catastrophe price gouging, strengthen and enforce building codes, and spend catastrophe fund investment income for improved mitigation efforts to include first responders and better land-use planning. A portion of investment income would also be set aside for counties and municipalities for emergency planning and response. No tax dollars would be used to support the Fund, and premium contributions could not be used for any purposes other than to pay claims from a catastrophe that exceed a certain threshold. ProtectingAmerica.org is an organization of emergency management officials, first responders, disaster relief experts, insurers and others. At the core of ProtectingAmerica.org’s mission is the establishment of a comprehensive, integrated national catastrophe management solution that will better prepare and protect American families, communities, consumers and the American economy from catastrophe. Among its efforts to support this mission, ProtectingAmerica.org is working to increase public awareness and consumer education; advocate for better coordination with local, state and federal mitigation and recovery efforts, and strengthen emergency response and financial mechanisms to rebuild after a major catastrophe. ProtectingAmerica.org is the parent organization of individual state affiliates which include ProtectingNewYork.org and ProtectingCalifornia.org. ProtectingNewJersey.org is currently being established. James Lee Witt is the CEO and Chairman of James Lee Witt Associates, LLC a public safety and emergency management consulting firm based in Washington, D.C. Admiral Loy is senior counselor with The Cohen Group, a global strategic consulting firm. ### | 
