Legislator
Legislator > Craig Coughlin
State Assemblymember
Craig Coughlin
(D) - New Jersey
New Jersey Assembly District 19
In Office - Started: 01/12/2010
contact info
Woodbridge Office
569 Rahway Ave.
Woodbridge, NJ 07095
Woodbridge, NJ 07095
Phone: 732-855-7441
General Capitol Building Address
P.O. Box 068
State House, 145 W. State St.
Trenton, NJ 08625-0068
State House, 145 W. State St.
Trenton, NJ 08625-0068
Phone: 609-847-3905
| Bill | Bill Name | Summary | Progress |
|---|---|---|---|
| A3128 | Authorizes HMFA to use certain tax credits; directs HMFA to conduct tax credit auctions to provide financial assistance for certain housing purposes. | Authorizes HMFA to use certain tax credits; directs HMFA to conduct tax credit auctions to provide financial assistance for certain housing purposes. | Passed |
| A5712 | Establishes Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program; supports partnership between public institution of higher education and federal Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative and establishment of Center for Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; appropriates $3.5 million. | Establishes Air Traffic Controller Loan Redemption Program; supports partnership between public institution of higher education and federal Air Traffic-Collegiate Training Initiative and establishment of Center for Study of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena; appropriates $3.5 million. | Crossed Over |
| A5847 | Extends deadline for completion of school district's annual audit for 2024-2025 school year. | This bill extends the deadline for the completion of a school district's annual audit for the 2024-2025 school year. Under current law, the board of education of every school district is required to complete an annual audit of the school district's accounts and financial transaction completed no later than five months after the end of the school year. The school district's accountant is required to file a report of the annual audit with the board of education, and within five days thereafter, the Commissioner of Education. This bill extends each of these deadlines for the 2024-2025 school year. The provisions of P.L.2023, c.305 similarly extended the deadline for the completion of a school district's annual audit for the 2022-2023 and the 2023-2024 school years. | Passed |
| A4969 | Ensures boards of elections have discretion to make initial determination of validity of cast ballots; requires Secretary of State to establish uniform guidelines for assessing validity of ballots. | Ensures boards of elections have discretion to make initial determination of validity of cast ballots; requires Secretary of State to establish uniform guidelines for assessing validity of ballots. | Passed |
| A4380 | Establishes "Motor Vehicle Open Recall Notice and Fair Compensation Act"; revises motor vehicle franchise agreements. | Establishes "Motor Vehicle Open Recall Notice and Fair Compensation Act"; revises motor vehicle franchise agreements. | In Committee |
| S3309 | Establishes "Motor Vehicle Open Recall Notice and Fair Compensation Act"; revises motor vehicle franchise agreements. | Establishes "Motor Vehicle Open Recall Notice and Fair Compensation Act"; revises motor vehicle franchise agreements. | Passed |
| A5846 | Revises territorial rating plans used by insurers writing private passenger automobile insurance. | This bill revises the territorial rating plans used by insurers writing private passenger automobile insurance in this State. Specifically, the bill requires the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance to establish rating territories that are geographic areas of the State defined by contiguous zip code+4, that follow municipal boundaries as closely as possible. The bill provides that the maximum number of territories in any territorial map may not exceed 100 territories. Currently, regulations established by the Department of Banking and Insurance provide for rating territories that are geographic areas of the State defined by contiguous zip code, with the maximum number of territories in any territorial map not exceeding 50 territories. By allowing rating territories to be defined by zip code+4, and increasing the maximum number of territories in the territorial map, insurers will be able to take a more detailed, granular approach to the territorial assignment of risk for automobile insurance. | In Committee |
| A4913 | Establishes certain State funding preferences for municipalities that enhance opportunities to develop housing. | Establishes certain State funding preferences for municipalities that enhance opportunities to develop housing. | Crossed Over |
| AR193 | Affirms support for SNAP and program's progress in reducing hunger among vulnerable populations in New Jersey. | This resolution affirms support for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the program's progress in reducing hunger among vulnerable populations in New Jersey. The resolution condemns the United States House of Representatives for approving, and urges the United States Senate to reject, federal cuts to SNAP. On May 22, 2025, to achieve a minimum $1.5 trillion cut from the federal budget over a ten year period, the House of Representatives voted in favor of a budget bill that included a $300 billion cut in food aid funding, largely aimed at SNAP. In New Jersey, SNAP is a critical resource for residents, with nearly 850,000 individuals, or nine percent of the total population, relying on the program's benefits to feed their families. A significant number of the households that participate in SNAP include some of the State's most vulnerable members: the elderly, disabled, veterans, and children. The New Jersey General Assembly supports State and federal collaboration to identify programmatic efficiencies within SNAP; however, budgetary cost savings implemented at the expense of stripping income-limited children, seniors, and families of safety net food and nutrition services is unconscionable. The General Assembly condemns the House for adopting these drastic federal funding reductions, and urges the Senate to reject these, or any subsequent, proposals and to maintain SNAP as an accessible resource for those in need of food assistance. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A5067 | Requires appointment of alternate members of Peter J. Barnes III Wildlife Preservation Commission. | An Act concerning the Peter J. Barnes III Wildlife Preservation Commission and amending P.L.2009, c.132. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| AR185 | Urges Comcast and YES Network to renew their carriage agreement before its expiration in March 2025. | This resolution urges Comcast (Comcast) and the YES Network (YES) to renew their carriage agreement before its expiration on March 25, 2025. YES has been the exclusive New York Yankees regional sports network since 2002. YES also broadcasts coverage of Brooklyn Nets basketball games. YES is carried by Comcast and can be viewed by hundreds of thousands of Comcast customers in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. Fans have been hurt before when in 2016 Comcast and YES failed to reach an agreement depriving Yankees fans of the entire 2016 season of access to YES. Sports games are one of the few types of television broadcasts that viewers must watch live to enjoy the experience and are often the reason customers subscribe to cable providers and are willing to pay additional money to watch their favorite sports team or sports network. The New York Yankees are one of the oldest and most popular professional sports franchises in the country and serve as a cultural bond that stretches across all generations and all socio-economic groups. This resolution urges Comcast and YES to renew their carriage agreement, which, if not renewed, may prevent thousands of customers from enjoying broadcasts of New York Yankees games with Opening Day only days away. The resolution also urges Comcast to consider reimbursing on a pro rata basis its customers who are paying for YES programming for each day of any broadcast interruption and both parties are urged to engage in good-faith negotiations and reach carriage terms that do not increase rates to Comcast customers who are Yankees fans for access to the YES Network. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A5039 | Requires Division of Pensions and Benefits to provide report on available funds in local government part of SHBP prior to transferring funds from State part of SHBP; requires monthly reporting on certain assets in SHBP. | Requires Division of Pensions and Benefits to provide report on available funds in local government part of SHBP prior to transferring funds from State part of SHBP; requires monthly reporting on certain assets in SHBP. | Vetoed |
| AR178 | Condemns U.S. House of Representatives for passage of budget resolution cutting $1.5 trillion from federal budget and urges U.S. Senate to reject House resolution. | This Assembly Resolution condemns the United States House of Representatives for passage of a budget resolution, on February 25, 2025, cutting $1.5 trillion over ten years from the federal budget and respectfully urges the United States Senate to reject this House resolution. The budget resolution specifically targets $880 billion in cuts from the House Energy and Commerce Committee which regulates public healthcare programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, $330 billion from the Education and Workforce Committee which routinely legislates matters on education funding, and $230 billion from the Agriculture Committee whose purview includes the Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Given the size and scope of the desired cuts, as well as budget documents circulated by House leadership, policy experts believe that these cuts are aimed at or will ultimately fall on critical safety net programs such as Medicaid and SNAP. In New Jersey, approximately 1.8 million low- and moderate- income people rely on NJ FamilyCare, which encompasses the Medicaid Program and the Children's Health Insurance Program, to cover their healthcare needs. Funding reductions of this size would have severe consequences for these enrollees, as well as the provider community who deliver the critical healthcare services under the program. Approximately 830,000 low-income residents in New Jersey receive SNAP benefits, which provides them with the resources needed to feed their families. It is anticipated that federal funding cuts to SNAP under the House budget resolution would be realized by limiting benefits, restricting eligibility, or some combination of both of these actions; thereby, significantly reducing the number of residents who receive support from this program. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A4284 | Eliminates fee for special plates for firefighters and members of first aid or rescue squads. | Eliminates fee for special plates for firefighters and members of first aid or rescue squads. | Crossed Over |
| A4446 | Requires notification of pet presence in seasonal rental unit. | Requires notification of pet presence in seasonal rental unit. | Crossed Over |
| AJR89 | Condemns hate in all forms and especially all hate and bias crimes. | Condemns hate in all forms and especially all hate and bias crimes. | Crossed Over |
| AR152 | Expresses support for "Breakfast Bowl" held by Montclair State University and Rowan University and recognizes food insecurity efforts of these institutions. | This Assembly resolution expresses support for the annual "Breakfast Bowl" between Montclair State University and Rowan University, which aims to bring attention to the fight against food insecurity many residents in this State endure. The winner of the annual event, along with receiving a trophy, will have the privilege of determining whether New Jersey's famous breakfast meat is to be called "Pork Roll" or "Taylor Ham" until the teams meet for the next year's "Breakfast Bowl." Montclair State University and Rowan University both operate food pantries that seek, in part, to provide fresh produce as part of their efforts to combat food insecurity. With successful football programs that enjoy strong alumni connections and widespread stakeholder support, the "Breakfast Bowl" provides a unique opportunity for the Montclair and Rowan communities, corporate sponsors, State residents, and elected officials to come together in the fight against food insecurity across New Jersey. This resolution also recognizes the significant contributions Montclair State University and Rowan University have made in higher education through academics, community development, and athletics. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A4706 | Revises statutes implementing certain property tax relief programs pursuant to recommendations promulgated by Stay NJ Task Force. | An Act concerning the Stay NJ property tax benefit program and amending and supplementing various parts of the statutory law. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| S3838 | Permits Director of Division of Pensions and Benefits to initiate temporary transfer of funds in certain circumstances. | An Act concerning the State Health Benefits Program and amending and supplementing P.L.1961, c.49. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| AR165 | Urges President and Congress of United States to enact federal legislation providing proportional property tax relief for honorably discharged veterans having a service-connected permanent disability. | This resolution urges the President and Congress of the United States to enact federal legislation to provide proportional property tax relief for honorably discharged veterans having a service-connected permanent disability. The United States of America and the State of New Jersey are forever grateful to the men and women who serve in the Armed Forces of the United States and who sacrifice their lives to protect the freedoms enjoyed by all citizens of this nation. However, in the course of their selfless sacrifice for this nation, many veterans unfortunately experience permanent disabilities that can limit their ability to support themselves and their families. In recognition of the sacrifice and service of these veterans, it is the responsibility of the federal government to ensure that veterans with service-connected disabilities receive the benefits necessary to enjoy a stable quality of life, without the fear of suffering catastrophic financial hardship. While the State of New Jersey currently provides crucial tax relief to these veterans in the form of a total property tax exemption for veterans with 100 percent service-connected disabilities, this assistance is unfortunately unavailable to veterans who live with similar disabilities in other states. To ensure that all veterans throughout the country receive property tax relief commensurate with the severity of their disabilities, there is an urgent need for the federal government to enact legislation to provide proportional property tax relief for honorably discharged veterans having a service-connected permanent disability. The provision of proportional property tax relief would entitle veterans with a service-connected disability to an annual property tax benefit based on a designated percentage of the property taxes paid by the veteran, as determined by the veteran's disability rating assigned by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. However, to ensure that these benefits target the veterans most in need of assistance, this proportional property tax relief should be limited to those veterans with annual income up to $200,000, and the federal benefits should only be provided for the principal residences of eligible veterans. In providing this proportional property tax relief, the federal government would honor its duty and obligation to support the selfless men and women who sacrificed their well-being for the betterment of this great nation. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A4999 | Permits Director of Division of Pensions and Benefits to initiate temporary transfer of funds in certain circumstances. | Permits Director of Division of Pensions and Benefits to initiate temporary transfer of funds in certain circumstances. | In Committee |
| AR167 | Establishes "Assembly Select Committee on Ballot Design." | This Assembly Resolution establishes the "Assembly Select Committee on Ballot Design." The committee will consist of 12 members of the General Assembly. Six members will be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly and six members will be appointed by the Minority Leader of the General Assembly. The committee will organize within 30 days after the effective date of this resolution. The committee will have two co-chairpersons and two co-vice chairpersons. The Speaker of the General Assembly will appoint a co-chairperson and a co-vice chairperson, and the Minority Leader of the General Assembly will appoint a co-chairperson and a co-vice chairperson, all from among the committee's membership. The committee will review and consider any studies, court decisions, best practices, and any other relevant research, information, guidance, and expertise regarding the design of primary election and general election ballots which may be utilized in the conduct of elections in New Jersey. The committee will expire upon the conclusion of the committee's work. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A4900 | Requires Department of Treasury and DHS to annually identify State funds available for NJ FamilyCare, evaluate program, and create prioritized list of initiatives to improve quality of care under program. | This bill directs the Director of the Office of Management and Budget in the Department of the Treasury and the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services in the Department of Human Services to annually prepare and submit a report to the Governor and to the Legislature that: 1) identifies all unencumbered or unallocated State funds that are available to be appropriated in the current fiscal year to the Division of Medical Assistance and Health Services for the purposes of NJ FamilyCare; and 2) evaluates the quality of care for beneficiaries across NJ FamilyCare and compiles a prioritized list of the 12 most urgent policy changes and legislative actions, along with the associated State funds necessary to implement those initiatives, that are required to address any quality of care deficiency identified in the evaluation. The NJ FamilyCare provides health insurance to certain low-income residents of the State via the Medicaid program and the Children's Health Insurance Program. | In Committee |
| ACR115 | Urges United States Congress to pass "Universal School Meals Program Act of 2023." | This concurrent resolution urges the United States Congress to pass the "Universal School Meals Program Act of 2023." This federal legislation would provide free breakfast, lunch, dinner, and a snack to all school children regardless of their socioeconomic background. This legislation also eliminates school food debt and reimburses schools for all delinquent school meal debt. | Crossed Over |
| A4534 | Revises definition of qualified assistance fund expenses under UEZ program to include costs of transportation infrastructure projects and related debt service. | An Act concerning urban enterprise zones and amending P.L.1983, c.303. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A4533 | Revises certain sections of law concerning financing mechanisms for school facilities projects of regular operating districts. | An Act concerning the financing of school facilities projects and amending P.L.2023, c.311. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A4681 | Requires State-chartered financial institutions to increase minimum reserve balances by five times amount of previous year's losses relating to fraud and theft. | This bill requires State-chartered financial institutions to maintain, in addition to any amount of reserve or minimum capital already required of the institution by law or regulation, a reserve balance in an amount of at least five times the total value of the thefts, cyber thefts, fraud, and robberies reported to the institution in the previous year plus any related damages. In addition, the bill requires financial institutions to conduct an audit of the losses sustained by the institution over the previous year and to report the findings of the audit to the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance. The purpose of the audit and report is to verify that each financial institution has enough reserve balance to return customers' lost or stolen money while the institution investigates and recovers the lost or stolen money. | In Committee |
| A4673 | Revises New Jersey Aspire Program to clarify that certain incentive awards may not be prorated. | This bill amends the "New Jersey Aspire Program Act" to clarify that all redevelopment projects approved under the New Jersey Aspire Program (Aspire Program) would not have tax credits prorated during any year of the project's eligibility period. Under current law, redevelopment projects that submitted a completed project application to the authority on or prior to the effective date of P.L.2023, c.98 are subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the Chief Executive Office of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (authority) on November 5, 2021. Additionally, certain project applications submitted within 121 days after the effective date of P.L.2023, c.98 are subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the authority on November 5, 2021. All other redevelopment projects are subject to the rules and regulations adopted by the authority on December 5, 2023, pursuant to P.L.2023, c.98 (C.34:1B-335.1 et al.). Notably, the regulations adopted by the authority on November 5, 2021 required the authority to prorate the tax credit for the first and last years of the eligibility period based on the number of full months the project was certified in the year the developer first certifies. However, the regulations adopted by the authority on December 5, 2023 do not include this proration requirement. The bill provides that any project application submitted to the authority on or prior to the effective date of P.L.2023, c.98 (C.34:1B-335.1 et al.), July 6, 2023, or any project application that was approved under the rules and regulations adopted by the authority on November 4, 2021, would not be subject to the proration of the project's tax credit incentive award during any year of the project's eligibility period. | In Committee |
| A1669 | Removes obstacles to teacher certification for certain teachers; repeals law establishing alternative certificate of eligibility. | An Act concerning teacher certification, supplementing chapter 26 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes, and repealing P.L.2023, c.180. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A1679 | Requires health insurers, SHBP, and SEHBP to cover mammograms for women over 35 and women under 35 under certain circumstances. | This bill requires health insurers (health, hospital and medical service corporations, commercial individual and group health insurers, health maintenance organizations, health benefits plans issued pursuant to the New Jersey Individual Health Coverage and Small Employer Health Benefits Programs, and the State Health Benefits Program) to provide coverage for mammograms for women age 35 or older, rather than age 40 and older as is required under current law. In addition, the bill also adds a new requirement for health benefits plans issued pursuant to the School Employees' Health Benefits Program to provide mammogram coverage under the same circumstances. | In Committee |
| A3143 | Removing requirement of service during specified dates or in specified locations, thereby broadening eligibility for certain veterans' benefits. | This bill broadens the eligibility for certain veterans' benefits by eliminating the requirement that a veteran serve during specific wars or other periods of emergency, and, in certain instances, that a veteran serve in a war zone. Instead of service during specific dates or in specific locations, the bill requires a veteran to serve for at least 90 days, exclusive of certain types of initial training, in order to be eligible for any of the veterans' benefits identified in the bill. The bill also requires a veteran of a Reserve Component of the United States Armed Forces, including the National Guard, to serve the entire period to which called to federal active service, exclusive of training, in order to be eligible for the veterans' benefits. A veteran who is discharged as the result of a service-connected disability will be eligible even if the veteran has not completed the 90 day service period or the period to which called to federal active service. The benefits that an eligible veteran could apply for are (1) a civil service hiring preference under Title 11A of the New Jersey Statutes; (2) a veteran's retirement allowance under the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund (TPAF) or the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS); and (3) the purchase of additional military service credit in the Police and Firemen's Retirement System (PFRS), TPAF and PERS. In addition, the surviving spouse of a veteran or of a member of the Armed Forces of the United States or a Reserve Component thereof killed while in active service is eligible in certain instances for a civil service preference. The bill also provides that an active service member of the United States Armed Forces or a member of a Reserve Component thereof, including the National Guard, who has not been discharged from service is eligible for the civil service hiring preference provided that the member otherwise qualifies as a veteran. Eligibility for civil service hiring preference is contingent upon voter approval of an authorizing amendment to the State Constitution. | In Committee |
| A4 | Reforms municipal responsibilities concerning provision of affordable housing; abolishes COAH; appropriates $16 million. | An Act concerning affordable housing, including administration and municipal obligations, amending, supplementing, and repealing various parts of the statutory law, and making an appropriation. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A3041 | Establishes sales and events privileges for certain alcoholic beverage manufacturers. | This bill allows craft alcoholic beverage manufacturers to hold certain events. Under the bill, a craft alcoholic beverage manufacturer is defined as a limited brewery license, cidery and meadery license, and craft distillery license. Specifically, the bill allows these craft alcoholic beverage manufacturers to hold not more than 25 off-premises special events and an unlimited number of on-premises special events and private parties. In addition, these license holders would be entitled to hold not more than 25 social affair events hosted by the holder of a social affair permit. Under the bill, a craft alcoholic beverage manufacturer would be entitled to sell and serve customers tableside utilizing servers or wait staff employed by the license holder. The license holder also would be entitled to serve the licensee's products for on-premises consumption in outdoor spaces approved by the municipality. A license holder that serves alcoholic beverages in outdoor spaces would be entitled to utilize a permanent or portable tap system located in the approved outdoor space. Pourers and servers employed by a craft manufacturer's license holder are to be certified by an industry-recognized server training program. The bill also allows the holder of a craft manufacturer's license to offer for sale or make the gratuitous offering of de minimis food items including, but not limited to, packaged crackers, chips, nuts, and similar snacks to consumers. The license holder also would be entitled to sell non-alcoholic beverages. Under the bill, a license holder also may coordinate with a food vendor, including food trucks and restaurants, for the provision of food on the licensed premises and provide menus to consumers for the sale of food. The bill prohibits a craft manufacturer's license holder from owning the food vendor. In addition, a craft manufacturer's licensed premises that is adjoining a food vendor's premises would be required to have its own entrance and exit way to and from the licensed premises and would be prohibited from having a doorway that allows direct access and egress to the food vendor's premises. Under the bill, the holder of a craft manufacturer's license would be entitled to offer discounts for promotional purposes, provide targeted discounts, and establish membership programs that offer discounts. A craft manufacturer licensee also would be entitled to show or display any televised program on televisions or other screening devices of any number or size on the licensed premises. The license holder would not be required to provide notice to or obtain a permit from the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control prior to showing or displaying any televised event. The bill also removes from current law the tour requirement for limited brewery and craft distillery license holders. Under current law, these licensees are authorized to sell their products at retail to consumers on the licensed premises for on-site consumption, but only in connection with a tour of the brewery or distillery. Under the bill, consumers would not be required to take a tour of the brewery or distillery to purchase beverages for on-site consumption. Finally, the bill increases from 10,000 to 300,000 the number of barrels that the holder of a restricted brewery license may manufacture per year. Under current law, a restricted brewery license is only issued to a person who also holds a Class C consumption license, which is generally issued to bars and restaurants. The restricted brewery license allows the licensee to brew the beer, while the Class C license allows the licensee to sell that beer directly to restaurant patrons. This bill allows the holder of restricted brewery license to manufacture more beer per year. These license holders also would be entitled to directly sell and distribute to retailers 50 percent of the beer that is produced on premises in each year. | Dead |
| A1803 | Directs State Board of Education to authorize issuance of new endorsements in certain fields. | This bill directs the State Board of Education to authorize the issuance of new endorsements in the areas of special education, elementary and middle school education, and bilingual and bicultural education. The bill directs the State Board of Education to authorize the issuance of a Students with Disabilities Preschool through Grade 12 endorsement to the instructional certificate. The endorsement authorizes the holder to teach students with disabilities, with the exception of students who are blind or visually impaired or deaf or hard of hearing, in all public schools and in all grade levels. Under the bill, the holder of a Students with Disabilities Preschool through Grade 12 endorsement may provide consultative services and supportive resource programs to students with disabilities in general education programs. The bill further provides that the holder of a current students with disabilities endorsement issued administratively prior to the bill's effective date may be granted the new endorsement upon application to the board. Under current law, special education teachers may teach students classified with disabilities in only the grade levels specified on their other endorsements. The bill directs the State Board of Education to authorize the issuance of a Kindergarten through Grade 8 endorsement to the instructional certificate. The endorsement will permit the holder to teach: · students in all public schools in grades kindergarten through six; and · the specialty subjects on the face of the certificate to students in grades seven and eight in all public schools. Under current law, numerous endorsements limit the holder to teaching either only to students in elementary level grades or only to students in middle school grades. Finally, the bill authorizes the State Board of Education to issue a Bilingual and Bicultural Preschool through Grade 12 endorsement to the instructional certificate. The endorsement will authorize the holder to teach bilingual and bicultural education in all public schools and in all grade levels. Under the bill, a candidate for the endorsement is required to demonstrate oral and writing competence in English and the target language; complete an approved bilingual and bicultural education program; and meet any other requirements established by the board. Under current law, candidates for the Bilingual and Bicultural endorsement are required to have an additional endorsement for subject or grade level to be taught. | In Committee |
| A2362 | Establishes New Jersey Student Teacher Scholarship Program. | This bill establishes the New Jersey Student Teacher Scholarship Program in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority to reduce financial barriers to teacher certification. Under the bill, the program is to provide scholarships to students completing required clinical practice through a certificate of eligibility with advanced standing educator preparation program at an institution of higher education in the State. A student is eligible to receive a scholarship of up to $7,200 for each semester of full-time clinical practice completed in a school in the State. To be eligible for a scholarship, an applicant is required to: be a resident of the State; be enrolled full-time in an approved program of study; and complete any steps required by the approved program of study to be eligible to apply for clinical practice. The bill requires the authority to establish an application process for the program. The authority, in coordination with the Department of Education, may establish additional eligibility requirements and minimum qualifications for the program. Additionally, the authority, in coordination with the department, is to annually collect data on the program. Finally, the bill details reasons for which a student's scholarship may be terminated. The bill also stipulates that the scholarship is to be terminated if the student is dismissed from the institution of education preparation program for academic or disciplinary reasons or withdraws due to illness. Under the bill, the student would not be required to repay the scholarship in either situation. | In Committee |
| A3451 | Revises law concerning family leave to extend protection by reducing, over time, employee threshold from 30 employees to five employees in definition of employer. | This bill extends to employees of employers with less than 30 employees the right to be reinstated to employment after taking paid or unpaid family leave, thus ensuring that all workers who pay for family temporary disability leave insurance (FLI) will be able to able to return to work after taking FLI benefits. The extension is phased in, with the threshold reduced to 20 employees upon the effective date of the bill, 10 employees one year later, and the threshold is reduced to five employees two years after the effective date. Once the phase-in is complete, the bill extends to employees of employers with five or more employees, the provision under current law that provides that a covered employee who takes FLI benefits to care for a family member may not be retaliated against by their employer refusing to reinstate them after the leave. Currently, an employer who employs less than 30 workers, and is thus exempt from the reinstatement requirements of the Family Leave Act (FLA), is also exempt from the reinstatement requirements of that provision. By reducing this exemption, the bill extends that provision's reinstatement rights to recipients of FLI benefits even if their employers have less than 30 employees, in the same way that provision currently provides that reinstatement protection for temporary disability insurance recipients no matter how few employees the employer has. Once fully phased in, the bill also amends the FLA to make employers of five or more employees subject to that law's requirement to reinstate leave takers, thereby extending that right of reinstatement to employees of employers with five or more employees, whether or not the employees receive FLI benefits. The bill provides that an employee who is eligible for both earned sick leave, and either temporary disability benefits or family temporary disability leave benefits will have the option of using either the earned sick leave or whichever is applicable of temporary disability benefits or family temporary disability leave benefits, and may select the order in which the different kinds of leave are taken, but may not receive more than one kind of paid leave simultaneously during any period of time. | Crossed Over |
| A3368 | Permits State employees not covered by collective negotiations agreements to enroll in certain negotiated health care plans. | Under current law, the State Health Benefits Program provides to State employees covered by collective negotiations agreements the health care and prescription drug plans required by the terms of those collective negotiations. Those agreements may also specify the annual contributions that the State employees must make toward the cost of the plans if they enroll for coverage in those plans. This bill permits State employees who are not covered by collective negotiations agreements to enroll in certain plans and to make the same contributions negotiated by the Communication Workers of America. | In Committee |
| A3105 | Allows consumption of food on limited brewery premises. | This bill specifies that the holder of a limited brewery license may allow the consumption of food by consumers on the licensed premises of the brewery. However, the licensee may not bring on the licensed premises, for consumption by consumers, food sold or prepared by a restaurant in which that licensee has a direct ownership interest. "Direct ownership interest" means the ownership or control of more than 5% of the profits, assets, or stock of a business. Under current law, the holder of a limited brewery license is entitled to brew up to 300,000 barrels of 31 fluid gallons capacity per year of malt alcoholic beverages to sell and distribute to wholesalers and retailers. These licensees are authorized to sell their product at retail to consumers on the licensed premises for on-site consumption, but only in connection with a tour of the brewery. The licensee is prohibited under current law from selling food and operating a restaurant on the licensed premises. Under this bill, consumers would be allowed to consume food on the licensed premises of a limited brewery. The bill would allow patrons of limited breweries to purchase food from a vendor not owned by the licensee, or from a restaurant or other type of food vendor off the licensed premises, to be consumed on the licensed premises of the brewery. | In Committee |
| A2412 | Allows gross income tax deduction for amounts paid for removal of lead, asbestos, sodium, chloride, and other contaminants from taxpayer's property. | This bill would allow taxpayers, regardless of income, to deduct up to a combined $45,000 from gross income in a year for the following expenses: (1) lead-based paint hazard abatement in the taxpayer's residential property if performed by a certified lead abatement contractor; (2) asbestos hazard abatement in the taxpayer's residential property if performed by a licensed asbestos abatement contractor; (3) replacement of a water service line containing hazardous amounts of lead if the line is owned by the taxpayer, the line is on the real property of the taxpayer's residential property, and the line's replacement is necessary for abatement of the hazard in the taxpayer's residential property; (4) replacement of plumbing containing hazardous amounts of lead in the taxpayer's residential property; (5) remediation of lead and other contaminants in the soil of a taxpayer's residential property; (6) replacement of leaded windows on the taxpayer's residential property; (7) the cost of installing a water treatment by a licensed contractor or plumber if the private well water servicing the taxpayer's property is contaminated with excess sodium or chloride levels; (8) the cost of replacing any pipes connected to the water treatment system if the private well water servicing the taxpayer's property is contaminated with excess sodium or chloride levels; and (9) the cost of certain upgrades to a property's septic system of leach field if the private well water servicing the taxpayer's property is contaminated with excess sodium or chloride levels. As used in the bill, "residential property" means a taxpayer's primary residence, owner-occupied home, or rental unit. The Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury would be required to set the standards by which taxpayers are to demonstrate that they qualify for the deduction. To be eligible for the deduction for costs related to lead-based paint hazard abatement or asbestos hazard abatement, the taxpayer would be required to submit an affidavit from the municipality in which the residential property is located to the director acknowledging that the work was done and the amount paid by the taxpayer to the licensed contractor. During the first taxable year following the bill's enactment, a taxpayer would be allowed to deduct any covered expenses incurred between January 1, 2018 and that year. The provisions of the bill would expire on December 31, 2025. | In Committee |
| A2926 | Expands crime of bias intimidation; establishes additional penalties for crimes of bias intimidation and harassment; establishes bias intimidation motivation damages. | This bill expands the State's bias intimidation law and removes an unconstitutional provision; establishes additional penalties for the crimes of bias intimidation and false public alarm; and provides for the award of bias intimidation motivation damages.Bias Intimidation Under current law, N.J.S.2C:16-1, a person is guilty of the crime of bias intimidation if the person commits, attempts to commit, conspires with another to commit, or threatens the immediate commission of certain enumerated criminal offenses with any of the following states of mind: (1) with a purpose to intimidate an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity; (2) knowing that the conduct constituting the offense would cause an individual or group of individuals to be intimidated because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity; or (3) under circumstances that caused any victim of the underlying offense to be intimidated and the victim, considering the manner in which the offense was committed, reasonably believed either that (a) the offense was committed with a purpose to intimidate the victim or any person or entity in whose welfare the victim is interested because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity, or (b) the victim or the victim's property was selected to be the target of the offense because of the victim's race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity. These enumerated predicate offenses include criminal homicide, assault, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, stalking, disarming a law enforcement officer, kidnapping and related offenses, sexual offenses, robbery, carjacking, arson and other property destruction, burglary, trespass, harassment, prohibited weapons and devices, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose. This bill adds to these enumerated offenses computer criminal activity, initiating a false alarm, and cyber-harassment. In State v. Pomianek, 221 N.J. 66 (2015), the New Jersey Supreme Court held that paragraph (3) of subsection a. of N.J.S.2C:16-1 (above) is unconstitutionally vague and violates due process because, rather than focusing on the defendant's state of mind, the law focuses on the victim's perception of the defendant's state of mind. The bill removes this unconstitutional provision from N.J.S.2C:16-1. Under the bill, it is not a defense to a prosecution for bias intimidation that a defendant acted with a purpose, in addition to a purpose to intimidate an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity. The bill also provides that a defendant may be convicted of bias intimidation against a person who is associated with an individual or group because of the individual's or group's race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity, regardless of whether the victim is the same race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity as the individual or group. The bill imposes additional penalties for a conviction of bias intimidation, for each offense, in the amount of: $2,000 for a crime of the first degree; $1,000 for a crime of the second degree; $750 for a crime of the third degree; $500 for a crime of the fourth degree; and $250 for a disorderly persons or petty disorderly persons offense. These penalties are to be deposited into the Bias Crime Prevention Fund, established under the bill. The monies deposited are to be used for investigating and prosecuting bias intimidation crimes; supporting community response to bias crime incidents; funding training and educational programs on bias crimes and diversity, as well as other programs designed to enhance public awareness of bias crimes and diversity.False Public Alarm Under current law, a person convicted of initiating a false public alarm is liable to a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or the actual costs resulting from law enforcement and emergency services in response to the false alarm, whichever is higher. The bill provides for the award of a civil penalty of not less than $2,000 or treble the actual costs incurred, whichever is higher. The bill further provides that a person convicted of initiating a false alarm also is liable to a person suffering personal injury, and to the owner of property damaged as a result of law enforcement and emergency services response to the false alarm. Bias Intimidation Motivation Compensatory Damages Enhancement The bill also provides for an award of bias intimidation motivation compensatory damages enhancement. The bill defines "bias intimidation motivation" to mean with a purpose to intimidate an individual or group of individuals because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, national origin, or ethnicity, or knowing that the conduct constituting the offense would cause an individual or group of individuals to be intimidated because of race, color, religion, gender, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, or ethnicity. The bill provides that, in addition to any other recovery authorized under current law, treble the amount of compensatory damages is to be awarded to a plaintiff if the plaintiff proves, by a preponderance of evidence, that the harm suffered was the result of the defendant's acts or omissions, and the acts or omissions were actuated by bias intimidation motivation. | In Committee |
| A1587 | Limits certain payments for unused sick leave earned after effective date by public officers or employees; limits vacation leave carry-forward and requires suspension and forfeiture of certain supplemental compensation. | This bill prohibits the payment by a public employer of supplemental compensation for unused sick leave that is earned after the bill's effective date by a current or future State, local government, or board of education officer or employee whether or not the officer or employee has a majority representative for collective negotiations purposes. Supplemental compensation for any time earned prior to that date will be payable as under current law. Under the bill, for an officer or employee who has a majority representative, if the supplemental compensation based upon accumulated unused sick leave earned prior to the effective date is $7,500 or more at the time of retirement, accumulated unused sick leave earned after the effective date will have no monetary value. If the supplemental compensation based upon accumulated unused sick leave earned prior to the effective date is less than $7,500 at the time of retirement, upon the retirement of an officer or employee who is eligible to receive after retirement health care benefits coverage that is fully or partly paid by the employer or a public entity, the employer will determine the dollar value of the number of days of unused sick leave earned after the effective date of the bill or after the expiration of a collective negotiations agreement with a relevant provision applicable to that officer or employee in effect on that date, without interest, which cannot exceed $7,500 in the aggregate taking into account the value of the sick leave earned prior to the effective date. For local government and education officers and employees who have a majority representative, the dollar value will be calculated using the number of such days that may be used for the calculation and the per diem or other rate, if any, that have been agreed upon through collective negotiations between the employer and the majority representative of the relevant officer or employee, if the agreement contains provisions regarding these items. For State employees who have a majority representative, the value will be calculated in accordance with current law. In addition to any other contributions by the employer, the employer will make contributions in equal monthly payments for a period of five years, not to exceed $7,500 in the aggregate, from appropriations which will be applied toward the contributions for health care benefits coverage required of such retired officer or employee, whether as a percentage of premium, percentage of the retirement allowance, or a specific amount, to the extent necessary to pay such contributions. The remaining amount, if any, necessary to pay such contributions will be contributed by such retired officer or employee. This would also apply to the survivor of a deceased retired officer or employee if the survivor has been provided with health care benefits coverage, by law or contract, that is fully or partly paid by the employer or a public entity. Upon the retirement of an officer or employee who has a majority representative, who is not eligible to receive, or for whom the employer or a public entity does not provide, health care benefits coverage after retirement that is fully or partly paid by the employer or a public entity, the provisions of the above paragraph will not apply and a Health Reimbursement Arrangement, or a substantially similar account, by the employer will be established and governed in accordance with the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service and the Internal Revenue Code. The purpose of the arrangement will be for the employer to reimburse the retiree or eligible person for qualified medical expenses incurred by the retiree up to the dollar value of the accumulated unused sick leave, if any, as computed in accordance with a collective negotiations agreement in the aggregate, but only up to one fifth of that amount annually for five years. The arrangement will reimburse the retiree or eligible person for copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, and services as set forth in the plan document and permitted by the Internal Revenue Service and Code. The plan document will provide for the carry forward of the total amount of the unused reimbursement from year to year for five years. Unused reimbursement will not be payable as cash to the retiree or the retiree's estate or beneficiaries. The arrangement will be available to the survivor of the retiree, in accordance with the Internal Revenue Service or Code, if permitted by law or a collective negotiations agreement. If the officer or employee is a veteran of the Armed Forces of United States and has been issue a certificate of such veteran status by the Adjutant General of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, the veteran will receive from the employer supplemental compensation in an amount, if any, as computed in accordance with a collective negotiations agreement and as limited as described above and will not be eligible for an individual Health Reimbursement Arrangement. For an officer or employee who does not have a majority representative for collective negotiations purposes, supplemental compensation will not be permitted upon retirement in any amount for any accumulated unused sick leave time earned after the bill's effective date. Supplemental compensation for any time earned prior to that date will be payable as under current law. All officers and employees in service on the effective date of the bill who have a contractual right to receive, if eligible, supplemental compensation for accumulated unused sick leave will continue to have that contractual right. In addition, this bill limits the carry-forward of unused vacation leave to one successive year only for current State, local government, or board of education officers and employees whether they have a majority representative for collective negotiations purposes or do not have such a representative. Also, for current and future State, local government, or board of education officers and employees whether or not they have a majority representative for collective negotiations, a payment for accumulated unused sick leave or vacation leave will be suspended if such officer or employee is indicted for certain crimes that involve or touch the office or employment. The payment will be forfeited if such an officer or employee is convicted. The bill requires the Attorney General to develop guidelines or establish procedures to provide the appropriate governmental agency or public employer with notice of any indictment or conviction of a current or former officer or employee. Certain provisions of the bill would apply on the effective date or upon the expiration of a collective negotiations agreement or an individual contract of employment with a relevant provision in effect on the bill's effective date. The bill clarifies that its provisions with regard to accumulated unused sick leave earned after the effective date, the suspension or forfeiture of payments for unused sick leave or vacation leave, and the carry forward of vacation leave will apply to all officers and employees of independent State authorities and of public institutions of higher education in this State. The bill will take effect the first day of the second month after enactment. | In Committee |
| A2753 | Requires DEP to submit annual financial report on status of certain fund balances. | This bill requires the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to compile and submit to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before March 1 of each year, an annual report detailing the appropriated and unappropriated balances of special funding accounts under the department's jurisdiction. Such accounts, often referred to as "off-budget," "below the line" or "special revenue" accounts, would include those supported by bond acts, dedicated revenues, taxes or fees, special purpose or one-time appropriations, federal or non-State contributions, and other similar funding sources not generally available for scrutiny by the Legislature or the public. The bill also requires the DEP to submit an initial interim report, based upon the most recent data available, within 30 days after the date of enactment of the bill into law. | In Committee |
| A1317 | Requires election by certain public employees of certain health care benefit plans; prohibits payments by public employers for waiver of such plans. | Under this bill, if an employee of the State, a local government, or a local board of education, or agency or authority thereof, and the employee's spouse are both public employees and eligible for health care benefits coverage provided by each public employer, the employee with the highest annual compensation will be required to select coverage with the employer and the employee's spouse will not be eligible for health care benefits coverage provided by the public employer of the spouse This bill also prohibits public employers from making payments in any form or manner to an employee who waives coverage under the public employer's health care benefits plan or program to which the employee is entitled by virtue of employment with the public employer. The decision of a public employer to allow its employees to waive coverage will not be subject to the collective bargaining process. | In Committee |
| A3111 | Requires use of design-bid-build or design-build delivery system for certain local government construction projects. | This bill would require the use of either a design-bid-build or design-build delivery system for construction projects undertaken by a county improvement authority pursuant to the "county improvement authorities law," P.L.1960, c.183 (C.40:37A-44 et seq.) and for public redevelopment projects undertaken by a municipality or redevelopment entity pursuant to the "Local Redevelopment and Housing Law," P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et seq.). If a design-bid-build delivery system is selected, then the provisions of the "Local Public Contracts Law," P.L.1971, c.198 (C.40A:11-1 et seq.), would apply. If a design-build delivery system is selected, then the provisions of the "Design Build Construction Services Procurement Act," P.L.2021, c.71 (C.52:35B-1 et seq.) would apply. | In Committee |
| A3127 | Amends Fiscal Year 2024 annual appropriations act to extend ANCHOR Property Tax Relief Program eligibility to homestead owners and tenants who made payments in lieu of taxes. | This bill amends the Fiscal Year 2024 annual appropriations act to extend ANCHOR Property Tax Relief Program (ANCHOR Program) eligibility to residences on which a homestead owner or tenant made one or more payments in lieu of taxes to the municipality in which the residence is located. Currently, the Fiscal Year 2024 annual appropriations act does not expressly grant eligibility for the property tax benefit under the ANCHOR program to homestead owners and tenants who made payments in lieu of taxes. However, as implemented by the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, tenants who lived in rental units that operate under a payment in lieu of tax agreement with their municipality are eligible for the property tax benefit under the ANCHOR program in Fiscal Year 2024. This bill would amend the Fiscal Year 2024 annual appropriations act to provide that both homestead owners and renters who made payments in lieu of taxes are eligible for the ANCHOR benefit. The bill requires eligible homestead owners and residents to submit an application to the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury no later than March 1, 2024 in order to be eligible for the 2020 property tax benefit under the ANCHOR Program. | In Committee |
| A3103 | Permits municipalities to hold certain inactive liquor licenses reserved for smart growth developments for an additional five years. | P.L.2007, c.351 (C.33:1-24.1 et seq.) established a procedure for the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control to issue special licenses to sell alcoholic beverages to corporations or other legal entities developing smart growth development projects. The legislation also permitted a municipality which is located an urban enterprise zone or designated as a Planning Area 1 (Metropolitan) in the "State Planning Act" to acquire and sell any existing plenary retail consumption licenses within the municipality that are inactive only for use in a development project within a smart growth area. In addition, municipalities were permitted to maintain the licenses so acquired in an inactive status for up to five years. Plenary retail consumption licenses are the liquor licenses issued to bar and restaurants. Under this bill, a municipality that acquired, pursuant to the provisions of P.L.2007, c.351, an inactive plenary retail consumption license that remains inactive on the bill's effective date may maintain that license in an inactive status for up to five additional years. Moreover, if the license is still inactive five years after the bill's effective date, the municipality may continue to maintain that license in an inactive status subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control. | In Committee |
| A3110 | Authorizes local units to refinance general obligation bonds irrespective of present value savings for period of one year. | This bill would amend the "Local Bond Law," N.J.S.40A:2-1 et seq., to authorize local units of government, for a period of one year commencing on the effective date of the bill, to refinance general obligation bonds irrespective of any present value savings that may be required pursuant to regulations promulgated by the Local Finance Board. N.J.A.C.5:30-2.5 currently requires that one of the conditions for the issuance of refunding bonds by counties or municipalities is that the present value savings of issuing the refunding bonds would be at least three percent. This requirement was apparently intended to prevent counties and municipalities from continually expending public money on professional fees related to issuing refunding bonds and to allow counties and municipalities to achieve savings on interest costs. However, as interest rates are currently very low, if a county or municipality is able to save taxpayers money by issuing refunding bonds to eliminate debt having higher interest rates, it should be able to do so, regardless of that condition in the regulation. | In Committee |
| A3276 | Eliminates driver's license suspension for failure to pay parking tickets; requires registration suspension for more than five parking tickets. | This bill eliminates suspension of a person's driver's license as a penalty for failure to make required court appearances for outstanding parking tickets or failure to pay those tickets. But the bill does require suspension of a person's motor vehicle registration for failure to make more than five required court appearances related to outstanding parking tickets or for failure to pay more than five of those tickets. | In Committee |
| A2814 | Makes supplemental appropriation of $1.5 million to Election Law Enforcement Commission in DLPS for enforcement and staffing activities. | This bill provides a supplemental appropriation of $1,500,000 from the General Fund to the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) in the Department of Law and Public Safety for staffing and enforcement activities. ELEC is responsible for administering State laws regarding campaign finance. | In Committee |
| A3118 | Establishes fringe benefit rate for State public higher education institutions; requires employer pay for health care benefits for certain part-time faculty. | This bill requires that, beginning with the State fiscal year 2023, the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury will establish a separate fringe benefit rate for State public higher education institutions. The separate fringe benefit rate will reflect the actual cost of employee retirement programs at those colleges and universities, and will be applied to all federal, dedicated, and non-State funded programs. The payments to the State in accordance with the new rate established by the director by the payments that would be required using the rate calculated in accordance with the process used prior to the effective date of the act by more than $47 million of the difference between the total amount as calculated using the new rate and as calculated using the rate in accordance with the process used prior to the effective date of this bill. Under current law, the fringe rate used is not specific to employees at the State's public colleges and universities, but to State employees in general. This can cause inequities as many State employees are enrolled in the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS), while many of the employees employed by State public colleges and universities as enrolled in the Alternative Benefit Plan (ABP). The bill also amends current law to change the eligibility of a part-time faculty member, including part-time lecturers, faculty holding fractional appointments, and adjunct faculty members, employed by a public institution of higher education in the State to enroll in two plans offered by the State Health Benefits Program. Under the bill a part-time faculty member would be considered a full-time faculty member if they satisfy the following conditions: (a) during the immediately prior fiscal year, July 1 through June 30, the part-time faculty member taught courses totaling at least 24 credits at one or more public institutions of higher education during the summer session, fall semester, winter session, or spring semester; and (b) the part-time faculty member is appointed to teach courses totaling at least 12 credits between July 1 and December 31 of the current fiscal year. The bill provides an opportunity to meet the conditions at separate times and subsequently enroll in SHBP. For example, under the bill if a part-time faculty member taught courses totaling at least 24 credits between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022, and on August 15, 2022 the faculty member receives notice of appointments to teach 12 credits between September 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022, then the part-time faculty member will be deemed eligible to enroll in the SHBP effective September 1, 2022 and health care benefits will continue through September 30, 2023. If during the 2023 fiscal year (July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023), the part-faculty member again satisfies the condition of teaching 24 credits, the part-time faculty member's health care benefits will continue through September 30, 2024, provided the faculty member also satisfies the condition of being appointed to teach 12 credits between July 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. Under current law, adjunct faculty members are eligible for enrollment in the SHBP if the employer is participating in the SHBP and the adjunct is enrolled in the pension system, but the employer is not responsible for any cost associated unless a binding collective negotiations agreement requires the employer to assume some or all of the SHBP cost. The bill also specifies that the State Health Benefits Commission will promulgate rules to bill public institutions of higher education employing part-time faculty who satisfy the eligibility requirements for enrollment in the SHBP. Billing will be proportional based on the number of credits a part-time faculty member taught in the prior fiscal year at a public institution of higher education. In addition, the commission will promulgate rules to designate the public institution of higher education that will have responsibility for enrolling the part-time faculty member in the SHBP. 12/21/2023 | In Committee |
| A3123 | Requires public and nonpublic schools with lunch programs to provide free lunch to increasing numbers of income-eligible students and, after five-year phase-in, to provide free lunch to all students, regardless of income or federal eligibility. | This bill, would require school districts and nonpublic schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to provide free lunch to gradually increasing numbers of income-eligible students over a five-year phase-in period and, at the end of that five-year phase-in period, to provide free lunch to all students enrolled in the district or at the nonpublic school, regardless of each student's household income or federal eligibility for free or reduced price school meals. The bill would additionally clarify that both school districts and nonpublic schools that offer school breakfasts under the federal School Breakfast Program will be required, pursuant to existing law at section 12 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-14a), to provide such breakfasts, free of charge, to students who are federally eligible for free or reduced price school meals, as well as to students who are federally ineligible for free or reduced price school meals, but who have an annual household income amounting to not less than 186 percent, and not more than 199 percent, of the federal poverty level. However, the bill would not expand the categories of students who are eligible for free breakfast under that existing law. Under existing federal law, a student is federally eligible to receive free or reduced price school lunch under the National School Lunch Program, or free or reduced price school breakfast under the federal School Breakfast Program, only if the student is determined to be categorically eligible for such benefits (i.e., is determined to be a homeless child, a migrant child, a runaway child, a foster child, or a Head Start Child, or is a participant in certain public benefits programs) or can demonstrate that the student lives in a low-income household (i.e., a household with an annual income that is not more than 185 percent of the federal poverty level). Through the recent enactment of the "Working Class Families' Anti-Hunger Act," P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2 et al.), the State of New Jersey has also provided for the expanded provision of free school lunches and breakfasts to students in the State who reside in certain middle-income families (i.e., those families having an annual household income of up to 199 percent of the federal poverty level). This bill would further expand the existing State law on this issue by providing for the continued, but gradual, expansion of subsidized school lunch eligibility (but not subsidized school breakfast eligibility) to students in higher income brackets, over the course of a five-year phase-in period, until all students are eligible for free school lunch, regardless of the students' income and federal eligibility therefor. Specifically, under the bill's provisions, school lunches are to be made available, free of charge, to enrolled students who are federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, in accordance with the following schedule: (1) during the 2023-2024 school year, and consistent with the provisions of the "Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act," to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income that is not less than 186 percent, and not more than 199 percent, of the federal poverty level (FPL); (2) during the 2024-2025 school year, to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income that is not less than 186 percent, and not more than 249 percent, of the FPL; (3) during the 2025-2026 school year, to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income that is not less than 186 percent, and not more than 299 percent, of the FPL; (4) during the 2026-2027 school year, to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income that is not less than 186 percent, and not more than 349 percent, of the FPL; (5) during the 2027-2028 school year, to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, but who has an annual household income that is not less than 186 percent, and not more than 399 percent, of the FPL; and (6) during the 2028-2029 school year, and during each school year thereafter, to each enrolled student who is federally ineligible for free or reduced price meals, regardless of the student's annual household income. All students who become newly eligible for free school lunch, under the bill's provisions, would also be eligible to continue receiving such free lunches through a summer meals program. Eligible public school students would additionally be able to continue receiving free lunches through an emergency meals distribution program that is activated during a period of school closure resulting from COVID-19. The bill would require the State to provide funding to each participating school district and nonpublic school, as may be necessary to reimburse the costs associated with the provision of free lunches thereby to expanding groups of State-eligible students who are federally ineligible for such meals under the National School Lunch Program. It would further require the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, to establish a standardized means by which to review the State reimbursement amounts being allocated under the bill in order to determine whether, and the extent to which, participating school districts and nonpublic schools have received adequate reimbursement, from the State, sufficient to account for each participating school's actual costs of meal delivery, including, but not limited to, food, labor, and other related costs. The bill would require each report that is annually submitted, to the Governor and Legislature, on the State's school lunch and breakfast programs to identify, as appropriate, for each participating school district and nonpublic school in the State: (1) the number and percentage of students receiving subsidized school meals who have been determined to be, respectively, federally eligible for free school lunch or breakfast, federally eligible for reduced price school lunch or breakfast, income-eligible for free school lunch or breakfast on the basis of State-level income eligibility requirements, or statutorily eligible for free school lunch, as provided by the bill, without regard to income; and (2) the number and percentage of such students who reside in low-income families with household incomes up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level, middle-income families with household incomes between 186 and 399 percent of the federal poverty level, and upper-income families with household incomes at or above 400 percent of the federal poverty level. In addition to expanding eligibility for subsidized school lunches, the bill would also require school districts and nonpublic schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program to take steps to minimize or offset program costs, to the extent that such costs can be minimized or offset without compromising the nonpublic school's or district's ability to comply with minimum nutritional standards and other program requirements. To facilitate such legally compliant cost minimization activities, the bill would require the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, to: (1) monitor, inspect, and oversee school meals programs operating in the State to ensure that school meals served thereunder continue to satisfy minimum nutritional standards; (2) develop and publicize best practices, protocols, and model plans to help participating school districts and nonpublic schools effectively minimize and offset program costs without compromising the nutritional value of meals being served; and (3) work cooperatively with each participating school district and nonpublic school to review the program costs being expended thereby, identify various means and methods by which those program costs can be reduced, curtailed, or eliminated without sacrificing nutritional value or legal compliance, provide relevant financial recommendations, and undertake or recommend other appropriate actions to prevent the State's school meals programs from becoming overly bloated with unnecessary expenses and from otherwise becoming financially burdensome. | In Committee |
| A2773 | Revises certain laws concerning domestic violence and firearms. | This bill enhances protections currently afforded victims of domestic violence by requiring attackers to surrender their firearms while domestic violence restraining orders are in effect or when they are convicted of a domestic violence crime or offense. The bill also requires firearms purchaser identification cards and permits to purchase handguns to be revoked if the holder of the card or permit is convicted of a domestic violence crime or offense. The bill further requires cross-referencing of records to assist in determining whether the alleged attacker owns a firearm and in removing those firearms. Seizure of Weapon at Scene of Domestic Violence The bill requires the prosecutor, prior to returning a firearm seized at the scene of a domestic violence incident, to inform the victim of the availability of restraining orders and the ability to seek revocation of the accused person's card or permit. Domestic Violence Offenders The bill revises the law regarding defendants convicted of domestic violence crimes and offenses by:? Requiring the sentencing court to inform defendants convicted of a domestic violence crime or offense that they are prohibited from possessing a firearm.? Requiring the court to order the defendant to arrange for the immediate surrender of firearms, firearms purchaser identification cards, and permits to purchase a handgun to a law enforcement officer. The bill allows the defendant five days from when the order of conviction is entered to arrange to sell a surrendered firearm to a licensed firearms dealer; the dealer has 10 days from the date of the order to take possession of the firearm from the law enforcement agency to which it was surrendered. ? Deeming any identification card and permit that has been issued to the defendant to be immediately revoked and requiring the court to establish a process for notifying the appropriate authorities of the revocation. ? Requiring a law enforcement officer to whom weapons are surrendered to provide the defendant with a receipt naming the defendant, the surrender date, and description of a surrendered item; and requiring the defendant to provide a copy of the receipt to the prosecutor within 48 hours.? Requiring defendants to attest under penalty that they surrendered or do not possess a firearm. ? Permitting the court to order a search for and removal of firearms if there is probable cause that the defendant has failed to surrender firearms and requiring the court to state with specificity the reasons for and the scope of the search and seizure. Domestic Violence Restraining Orders The bill revises the laws governing temporary and final restraining orders issued pursuant to the provisions of the "Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991" by: ? Specifying that the plaintiff may provide information concerning firearms to which the defendant has access, including the location of these firearms, if known, on a form to be prescribed by the Administrative Director of the Courts and clarifying the confidential nature of this information. ? Requiring the law enforcement officer to properly store surrendered or removed firearms and authorizing the officer to charge the defendant a fee for storage during a temporary restraining order.? Specifying that if an order is dismissed, any firearms, cards and permits are to be returned to defendants who are not otherwise disqualified in accordance with the provisions of the "Prevention of Domestic Violence Act of 1991."? Requiring the court issuing a final restraining order to order the defendant to arrange for the immediate surrender of firearms, cards, and permits to a law enforcement officer. The bill allows the defendant five days from when the order is entered to arrange to sell a surrendered firearm to a licensed firearms dealer; the dealer has 10 days from the date of the order to take possession of the firearm from the law enforcement agency to which it was surrendered. ? Deeming the defendant's cards and permits to be immediately suspended and requiring the court to establish a process for notifying the appropriate authorities of this suspension. ? Requiring a law enforcement officer to whom weapons are surrendered to provide the defendant with a receipt naming the defendant, the surrender date, and description of a surrendered item; and requiring the defendant to provide a copy of the receipt to the prosecutor within 48 hours.? Requiring the defendant to attest under penalty that he surrendered or does not possess a firearm.? Permitting the court to order a search for and removal of firearms if there is probable cause that the defendant has failed to surrender firearms and requiring the court to state with specificity the reasons for and the scope of the search and seizure. ? Requiring the court to order the appropriate law enforcement agency to make a reasonable search of records of firearm ownership before issuing a temporary or final restraining order. Firearms Licensing Current law governing firearms licensing requirements is revised by: ? Requiring law enforcement to search the State's central registry of domestic violence reports as part of the investigation of the applicant for a firearm purchaser identification card or permit to purchase a handgun. ? Requiring records relating to issuance of cards and permits, as well as firearms purchase records, to be made available to prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to enforce the State's domestic violence laws. Current law requires these records to be sent to certain law enforcement agencies, but does not specify how these records may be used. ? Requiring a law enforcement officer or prosecutor in possession of any firearms, cards, or permits surrendered or removed in whole or in part because of domestic violence to prepare an inventory of these items, cross-reference the inventory with records of firearm ownership, and if there are discrepancies, take appropriate action to ensure the defendant does not have access to a firearm. | In Committee |
| A3109 | Creates white collar crime registry. | This bill creates the New Jersey White Collar Crime Offender Registry and requires the Department of Law and Public Safety to develop and maintain a registry website. The information to be provided on the registry includes: (1) all names and aliases by which the offender is or has been known, excluding any Internet identifiers; (2) a physical description, including the offender's date of birth, height, weight, and eye and hair color; (3) a recent photograph of the offender; (4) the "white collar" crimes listed in section 5 of the bill, of which the offender has been convicted; and (5) when available, the crimes for which the offender has been convicted; a description of the offender's targets; and any other relevant identifying information of the offender. A person convicted of the following offenses is required to be registered under the bill: insurance fraud; mortgage fraud; securities fraud; misapplication of entrusted property by fiduciary; money laundering; theft by deception; and any other financial or monetary crime, fraudulent act, or theft included in the department's rules and regulations adopted as a result of this bill. Offenders who were convicted of the specified offenses between December 31, 2005 and the date of this bill's enactment will not be placed on the registry if they have complied with all court orders, paid all restitution claims, and have not been convicted of any other offenses for which registration is required. The duration for which offenders will be placed on the registry would be 10 years for a first offense, an additional 10 years for a second offense, and for life if convicted of a third offense. The bill also provides for a process and conditions under which a person may apply to have his or her name and information removed from the registry. | In Committee |
| AR1 | Organizes General Assembly for Two Hundred and Twenty-First Legislature and amends Assembly Rule 10:1. | This Assembly Resolution organizes the General Assembly for the Two Hundred and Twenty-First Legislature and amends Assembly Rule 10:1. | Signed/Enacted/Adopted |
| A3115 | Establishes training curriculum for auxiliary police officers; awards auxiliary police officers additional service credits on civil service exam for years of service. | This bill requires the Police Training Commission (PTC) to establish basic training requirements and approve and authorize schools to provide training to auxiliary police officers. In addition, the bill awards auxiliary police officers additional service credits of three to 10 points on their passing examination score. Auxiliary police officers are volunteers who are trained to assist law enforcement officers and perform certain functions, such as crowd and traffic control or uniformed foot patrol. Under the bill, auxiliary police officers are required to receive training to successfully complete basic training requirements established by the PTC. An auxiliary police officer would be entitled to continue to serve in that capacity provided he or she satisfies the requirements within six months after the bill takes effect. The bill requires civil service counties and municipalities to award an additional three to 10 rating points to qualified auxiliary police officers who had served in the county or municipality at least two years prior to their appointment. | In Committee |
| A3112 | Amends certain requirements concerning insurance holding companies. | This bill makes certain changes to the law concerning insurance holding companies. This bill adds a distinct presumption of control when a person solicits proxies for the purpose of electing directors representing 10 percent or more of the board members and adds a definition of "own" or "owned" to include all voting securities underlying convertible securities, options, securities futures contracts, and aggregating shares "owned" by persons acting in concert. The bill adds to the law additional circumstances under which a person is required to file information with the Department of Banking and Insurance and obtain approval and requires additional information to be included in the filing. The bill clarifies that the purpose of these provisions is to enable the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance to review any acquisition of control of a domestic insurer or of any other person controlling a domestic insurer in order to determine whether or not the acquisition of control would be adverse to the public interest or protection of the existing and future policyholders of the company or is being sought by persons who would utilize such control adversely to the public interest or protection of policyholders, and to enable the commissioner to make the findings required pursuant to the law. | In Committee |
| A3108 | Modifies procedures for student enrollment in charter school to require use of lottery selection process; requires charter school admission policy to seek enrollment of student demographics of charter school district of residence. | This bill modifies the selection process for student enrollment in a charter school. Under the bill, students will be selected for enrollment through a lottery. The name of each student who is enrolled in the charter school district of residence will be placed in the lottery. If the parent or guardian of a student who is selected through the lottery decides not to enroll the student, the charter school will fill that enrollment space with a student from the school's waiting list. Under current law, a random selection process for charter school enrollment is used only if there are more applicants than there are openings in the charter school. In addition, the bill requires that a charter school's admission policy seek the enrollment of the student demographics of the charter school district of residence, including race, ethnicity, eligibility for the federal free lunch program and reduced price lunch program, limited English proficient students, special education services students in respective special education classifications, and other appropriate academic factors. The bill requires a charter school to file with the Commissioner of Education and its district of residence a report on the school's student enrollment demographics by October 15 of each year. The report is to be posted on the websites of the Department of Education, the charter school, and the charter school district of residence. Lastly, the bill requires a charter school to maintain a waiting list for admission and to annually submit the number and demographics of students on the waiting list to the commissioner. The Department of Education and the charter school will post the number on their websites. | In Committee |
| A3126 | Requires certain nonpublic schools to provide meals to all students under "Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act"; authorizes limited expansion of income eligibility to qualify public and nonpublic school students for free lunch. | This bill would require school districts and nonpublic schools participating in the National School Lunch Program to provide free lunch, during the 2024-2025 school year, to students who are federally eligible for free or reduced price school lunch, as well as to students who are federally ineligible for free or reduced price school meals, but who have an annual household income of not more than 249 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). The bill would additionally amend existing law at section 12 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-14a) to clarify that both public and nonpublic schools offering school breakfasts to students in the State, pursuant to the federal School Breakfast Program, will be required to provide such breakfasts, free of charge, both to federally eligible students and to students who are federally ineligible for free or reduced price school meals, but who have an annual household income amounting to not less than 186 percent, and not more than 199 percent, of the FPL. Under existing federal law, a student is federally eligible to receive free or reduced price school lunch under the National School Lunch Program, or free or reduced price school breakfast under the federal School Breakfast Program, only if the student is determined to be categorically eligible for such benefits (i.e., is determined to be a homeless child, a migrant child, a runaway child, a foster child, or a Head Start Child, or is a participant in certain public benefits programs) or can demonstrate that the student lives in a low-income household (i.e., a household with an annual income that is not more than 185 percent of the federal poverty level). Through the recent enactment of the "Working Class Families' Anti-Hunger Act," P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2 et al.), the State of New Jersey has also provided for the expanded provision of free school lunches and breakfasts to students in the State who reside in certain middle-income families (i.e., those families having an annual household income of up to 199 percent of the FPL). This bill would further amend and supplement the Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act to expressly apply the provisions of that existing law to nonpublic schools that elect to participate in the National School Lunch Program, and to additionally expand the income eligibility standards applicable to students in the 2024-2025 school year. All students who become newly eligible for free school lunch, under the bill's expanded, but term-limited, income eligibility provisions, would be eligible to continue receiving such free lunches through a summer meals program, and, if enrolled at a public school, would also be able to continue receiving free lunches through an emergency meals distribution program that is activated during a period of public school closure resulting from COVID-19. Consistent with the reimbursement requirements established under the Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act, the bill would require the State to provide funding to each school district and nonpublic school that participates in the National School Lunch Program, as may be necessary to reimburse the costs associated with the provision of free lunches thereby, in school year 2024-2025, to students who are federally ineligible for such meals, but who satisfy the bill's expanded, State-level income eligibility requirements for that year. The bill would further require the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, to establish a standardized means by which to review the State reimbursement amounts being allocated under the bill, and under the existing Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act, in order to determine whether, and the extent to which, participating school districts and nonpublic schools are receiving adequate reimbursement, from the State, sufficient to account for each participating school's actual costs of meal delivery, including, but not limited to, food, labor, and other related costs. The bill would require each report that is annually submitted, to the Governor and Legislature, on the State's school lunch and breakfast programs to identify, as appropriate, for each participating school district and nonpublic school in the State: (1) the total number and percentage of students receiving subsidized school meals who have been determined to be, respectively, federally eligible for free school lunch or breakfast, federally eligible for reduced price school lunch or breakfast, income-eligible for free school lunch or breakfast on the basis of State-level income eligibility requirements, or neither categorically eligible nor income-eligible for free or reduced price lunch or breakfast; and (2) the number and percentage of such students who reside, respectively, in low-income families and in middle-income families. In addition to providing for the term-limited expansion of income eligibility requirements necessary for students to qualify for subsidized school lunches, the bill would also require school districts and nonpublic schools participating in the National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program to take steps to minimize or offset program costs, to the extent that such costs can be minimized or offset without compromising the ability of the district or nonpublic school to comply with minimum nutritional standards and other program requirements. To facilitate such legally compliant cost minimization activities, the bill would require the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, to: (1) monitor, inspect, and oversee school meals programs operating in the State to ensure that school meals served thereunder continue to satisfy minimum nutritional standards; (2) develop and publicize best practices, protocols, and model plans to help participating school districts and nonpublic schools effectively minimize and offset program costs without compromising the nutritional value of meals being served; and (3) work cooperatively with each participating school district and nonpublic school to review the program costs being expended thereby, identify various means and methods by which those program costs can be reduced, curtailed, or eliminated without sacrificing nutritional value or legal compliance, provide relevant financial recommendations, and undertake or recommend other appropriate actions to prevent the State's school meals programs from becoming overly bloated with unnecessary expenses and from otherwise becoming financially burdensome. Finally, the bill would require the Office of the Food Security Advocate to establish a Working Group on School Food Security to identify and develop best practices, policies, and plans, and to take other appropriate action, to promote and facilitate the effective functioning of the State's school meals programs and the expanded provision, thereunder, of free school meals to students in the State. Within one year after its formation, and on a regular basis thereafter as deemed by the food security advocate to be appropriate, the Working Group on School Food Security would be tasked with: (1) conducting a study on school food security issues, in accordance with the bill's provisions, and recommending further State-level action to facilitate the provision of free school meals to enhanced numbers or categories of students in the State; and (2) develop and publish a plan to facilitate and promote the adoption, by the United States Congress and President, of federal legislation authorizing the nationwide provision of free school meals to all students in the country, and providing federal reimbursement for all such meals served by schools and school districts in the states. | Dead |
| A3117 | Establishes Capital Project Development Loan Program to support certain large-scale redevelopment projects; appropriates $300 million. | This bill establishes the "Capital Project Development Loan Program" (loan program) within the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) to provide low-interest loans to support the completion of transformative capital projects. The bill appropriates $300 million from the General Fund to support the loan program. To qualify for the loan program, an applicant would be required to: (1) be a public institution of higher education, a State-owned hospital, a public agency, or a non-profit organization; (2) undertake a transformative capital project, which is defined to include large-scale redevelopment projects that support research and development, health care infrastructure, green infrastructure, or transformational real estate and infrastructure; and (3) meet any other eligibility requirements that the EDA deems appropriate. However, if the applicant is a non-public entity, the applicant would also be required to demonstrate that the project would be operated under a public-private partnership agreement, as approved by the EDA. Under the loan program, the EDA may approve applications on a rolling basis, subject to the availability of funds. When reviewing applications, the bill permits the EDA to prioritize applications based on any considerations that the EDA deems appropriate, including the intent of the project, the economic feasibility of the project, and the degree to which the project advances Statewide and regional planning goals. Upon approval of an application, the EDA would provide low-interest loans to each selected applicant. Under the bill, each loan may mature no later than 30 years after the date of issuance. The bill also provides that if a borrower fails to repay all or part of a program loan, the EDA may disqualify the borrower from future program loans. The bill also requires the EDA to establish and maintain a non-lapsing revolving fund, which would be known as the "Capital Project Development Loan Fund." The revolving fund would serve as the repository of all monies used to support the loan program. Specifically, the $300 million that is appropriated from General Fund under the bill would be deposited into the revolving loan fund. | In Committee |
| A1095 | Provides one-third of motor vehicle fine moneys generated through State Police issued tickets go to municipality where violation occurred. | This bill revises the way motor vehicle fines collected for tickets issued by the State Police are distributed. Under current law, all funds collected from motor vehicle fines, penalties, and forfeitures that are generated through tickets written by the State Police are paid to the State Treasurer and available for general State purposes. This bill revises that distribution to provide two-thirds of the funds would be paid to the State and the remaining one-third would be paid to the municipality in which the violation occurred. The bill authorizes the recipient municipalities to use the funds to defray the cost of operating their municipal courts. | In Committee |
| A3129 | Removes requirement that certain government officers disclose the address of their home or secondary residence, or that of their immediate family on financial disclosure statements. | This bill removes a requirement that local government officers disclose the specific address of their home or principal residence on financial disclosure statements. Instead, the officers are to provide a brief description of the principal or secondary residence of the officer or a member of the officer's immediate family, including only a description of the property and the county and municipality in which the property is located. | In Committee |
| A3120 | Establishes NJ Non-Profit Loan Guarantee Pilot Program within EDA. | This bill requires the New Jersey Economic Development Authority ("EDA") to establish and maintain the New Jersey Non-Profit Loan Guarantee Pilot Program ("program") and the New Jersey Non-Profit Loan Guarantee Fund ("fund"). Under the bill, the authority is required, within six months of the effective date of the bill, to provide financial assistance in the form of loan guarantees to non-profit organizations to support the construction of new physical spaces that are capable of generating income sufficient to repay the loans. Application Criteria The bill requires the EDA to establish an application process. A non-profit organization that seeks a loan guarantee agreement under the program is required to submit an application to the EDA in a form and manner prescribed by the EDA. In addition to any other information that the EDA may deem appropriate, the application is required to request the non-profit organization to submit proof that the non-profit organization has: 1) been determined by the federal Internal Revenue Service to be a tax-exempt organization pursuant to federal law; 2) been in existence for 10 years prior to the effective date of the bill; and 3) received financial assistance from the State, including grants, loans, or any other form of assistance prior to the effective date of the bill. The EDA may only approve the application if the EDA determines: 1) that the loan for which the application for a loan guarantee has been submitted is expected to result in the creation of 10 or more full-time jobs upon completion of construction of a new physical space financed under the provisions of the bill; 2) based on the projections by the non-profit organization, including the data and assumptions forming the basis thereof, of the profitability and financial stability over the term of the loan guarantee, that the loan for which the application for a loan guarantee has been submitted will support the construction of new physical space that is capable of generating income sufficient to repay the loan through box office sales, private donations, sponsorships, or other sources of revenue; and 3) that the non-profit organization has a record of financial stability, good reputation, and credit worthiness. Loan Guarantee Agreements Under the bill, the EDA would enter into an agreement with a participating bank and a non-profit organization qualified pursuant to the bill to use the moneys from the fund to guarantee a direct loan or revolving line of credit provided by the participating bank to finance the construction of a new physical space by the qualified non-profit organization. Each loan guarantee agreement that the EDA enters into with a participating bank and non-profit organization will not exceed $15 million per qualified applicant or a period of more than 20 years. The agreements are also required to provide for any other terms or conditions that the EDA and the participating banks determine as being necessary or desirable to effectuate the purpose of the program. The EDA is also required to establish sufficient reserves and liquid reserves to provide a sufficient and actuarially sound basis for its pledges contained in any loan guarantee agreement entered into pursuant to the bill. Loan Fund The bill requires the fund to be credited with: 1) an amount from the Economic Recovery Fund that the EDA determines is necessary to effectively implement the program, within the limits of funding available from the Economic Recovery Fund; 2) any moneys received by the EDA from the repayment of the moneys in the guarantee fund used to provide loan guarantees pursuant to the bill and interest thereon; and 3) any other moneys of the EDA, including but not limited to, any moneys available from other business assistance programs administered by the EDA that are authorized and determined by the EDA to be deposited in the fund. Report Requirements Finally, within 24 months following the effective date of the bill, and on or before February 15 of each year thereafter in which a loan guarantee agreement entered into under the bill is in effect, the EDA is required to prepare a report on the program. The report may be issued separately, or in combination with any reports required by any law concerning financial assistance to non-profit organizations in New Jersey. The report is required to include, but need not be limited to, a description of the demand for the program from qualified non-profits and participating banks, the efforts made by the EDA to promote the program, the total amount of loan guarantees approved by the EDA under the program, and an assessment of the effectiveness of the program in meeting the goals of the bill. The EDA is required to submit its report to the Governor and the Legislature, including any recommendations for legislation to improve the effectiveness of the program. | In Committee |
| A3114 | Includes e-mail addresses in list of confidential items to be redacted from public records under OPRA. | This bill revises the definitions section of what is commonly known as the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), P.L.1963, c.73 (C.47:1A-1 et seq.) as amended and supplemented by P.L.2001, c.404 (C.47:1A-5 et seq.), to include e-mail addresses on the list of confidential items that must be redacted from any public record disclosed under the provisions of the act. | In Committee |
| A3107 | Excludes donations up to $15,000 when determining income eligibility for applicants to the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund program. | This bill requires that when determining a parent's or legal guardian's eligibility for the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund program established pursuant to P.L.1987, c.370 (C.26:2-148), the Catastrophic Illness in Children Relief Fund Commission exclude from the parent's or legal guardian's income up to $15,000 in donations made to the parent or legal guardian by members of their community to assist with family living expenses. As used in the bill, "family living expenses" means expenses for travel, lodging, meals, and other reasonable and necessary costs associated with the care of a child with a catastrophic illness. Current law does not allow for the exclusion of any type of income when determining eligibility for the Catastrophic Illness in Children in Relief Fund program. It is common for a community to rally around the family of a child with a catastrophic illness, and to undertake fundraising efforts to assist the family with living expenses, such as travel, lodging, meals, and other costs associated with the care of a child with a catastrophic illness. Therefore, it is the sponsor's intent to guarantee that the amount a parent or legal guardian receives from the Catastrophic Illness in Children in Relief Fund program for the payment or reimbursement of medical expenses for a child with a catastrophic illness will not be negatively impacted by such donations. | In Committee |
| A2629 | Prohibits awarding of economic development subsidy to business if payment of principal and interest on previously awarded loan or loan guarantee is greater than 24 months overdue. | This bill would prohibit a State public body from awarding an economic development subsidy to a business that previously received an economic development subsidy that was a loan or loan guarantee if the payment of principal and interest on the loan or loan guarantee is more than 24 months overdue. Current law prohibits a State public body from awarding an economic development subsidy to a business that previously received an economic development subsidy that was a loan or loan guarantee if the business is in default on the loan or loan guarantee. For the purposes of this bill, and current law: "State public body" means the State of New Jersey or any agency, authority, board, commission, or instrumentality of the State, but does not mean a political subdivision of the State or an agency, authority, board, commission, or instrumentality of a political subdivision of the State; and "Economic development subsidy" means the provision of an amount of funds to a recipient business by or from a State public body with a value of greater than $25,000 for the purpose of stimulating economic development in New Jersey, including, but not limited to, a loan or loan guarantee. | In Committee |
| A1584 | Allows termination of motor vehicle lease in event of death; prohibits imposition of fee for early termination. | This bill allows a motor vehicle lease to be terminated upon the death of the lessee and the return of the vehicle to the dealer or lessor. The bill prohibits a dealer or lessor from imposing or assessing any fee for the early termination of a vehicle lease in the event of a lessee's death. However, the dealer or lessor would be permitted to assess a reasonable fee for a vehicle returned with excess wear, use, or mileage, if specified in the lease agreement. The bill also prohibits a lease from requiring, in the event of a lessee's death, that the decedent's surviving spouse, family member, guardian, or estate administrator or executor: 1) purchase the leased vehicle; 2) buy out the remainder of the lease; or 3) continue to lease the vehicle under the original terms of the lease. A surviving spouse, family member, guardian, or estate administrator or executor would need to provide a death certificate, or other satisfactory proof of the lessee's death, to the dealer or lessor within 60 days after the death of the decedent. The bill provides that it is not to be construed as applying to a surviving co-lessee who executed the motor vehicle lease agreement with the lessee. Further, the bill requires that dealers and lessors provide information about early termination in the event of death in the lease contract or financing agreement. A dealer or lessor in violation of this requirement would be subject to a $500 penalty. | In Committee |
| A3113 | "Garden State Manufacturing Jobs Act." | This bill permits the establishment of a new type of corporation termed as a Garden State Corporation. Garden State Corporations would be corporations that are principally engaged in manufacturing, principally utilizing facilities located in New Jersey, and which provide employees with a greater role in the corporate decision-making process. Garden State Corporations would qualify for credits against the corporation business tax. The bill allows a corporation to be formed as a Garden State Corporation, an existing corporation to convert to become a Garden State Corporation, and a Garden State Corporation to terminate its status as a Garden State Corporation. The certificate of incorporation or by-laws of a Garden State Corporation must provide that half of the members of the board of directors of the corporation are elected by the employees of the corporation who work in New Jersey facilities. The employee-elected members of the board would have access to all corporation documents and records and equal authority with other members of the board regarding all matters affecting the business and affairs of the corporation, including:· The selection and removal of officers of the corporation;· The amendment or repealing of the by-laws or the certificate of incorporation of the corporation;· Any decision regarding the location of corporation facilities;· Any decision to seek to obtain or terminate the status of the corporation as a benefit corporation under the provisions of P.L.2011, c.30 (C.14A:18-1 et seq.); and· Any decision that may result in the termination of the status of the corporation as a Garden State Corporation. To qualify as a Garden State Corporation, a corporation's governing documents must include procedures regarding the election of the employee-elected board members which require that only employees of the Garden State Corporation who work in facilities in New Jersey are eligible to seek election and serve as employee-elected members of the board of directors. The bill requires that each employee of the corporation who works in facilities in New Jersey, without respect the position or rank of the employee or the amount of any ownership interest that the employee may have in the corporation, have the right to vote in the selection of the employee-elected members of the board of directors, with the vote of the employee vote having equal weight with the vote of any other employee, and the right to seek election as an employee-elected member of the board of directors and serve on the board if elected. The bill provides that a Garden State Corporation would qualify for credits against the corporation business tax. These credits vary as to years of operation and whether the Garden State Corporation is also a "benefit corporation" under P.L.2011, c.30 (C.14A:18-1 et seq.). If a corporation is a Garden State Corporation but not a "benefit corporation," the bill allows the corporation credits against its liability for the corporation business tax of: 35% during the first five tax years in which it is continuously a Garden State Corporation; 25% during the sixth and seventh tax years, and 15% during the eight and ninth tax years. If a corporation is both a Garden State Corporation and a "benefit corporation," the bill allows the corporation credits against its liability for the corporation business tax of: 60% during the first five tax years in which it is continuously both a Garden State Corporation and a benefit corporation; 45% during the sixth and seventh tax years, and 30% during the eight and ninth tax years. The number of tax years in which the lower tax credit for being only a Garden State Corporation applies would be reduced by the number of years in which the higher tax credit for being both a Garden State Corporation and a "benefit corporation" applies, thus limiting to nine the total number of tax years to which the credits may apply. | In Committee |
| A616 | Transfers jurisdiction over school meals programs from Department of Agriculture to DOE. | This bill would transfer authority over all school meals programs in the State from the Department of Agriculture (DOA) to the Department of Education (DOE). A "school meals program" is defined to mean and include: the National School Lunch Program; the federal School Breakfast Program, including a school breakfast after the bell program; the Summer Food Service Program or Seamless Summer Option; the Child and Adult Care Food Program; any emergency meals distribution program; and any other similar State or federal nutrition assistance program that is designed to ensure that children enrolled in school, or that children or adults attending a day care center or other, similar temporary care facility, have regular and affordable access to nutritious meals. The transfer of authority under the bill would not affect any civil or criminal actions or proceedings that have been brought by or against the DOA in association with its administration and enforcement of a school meals program, and which are pending as of the bill's effective date. Nor would the transfer affect any order or recommendation that has been made by, or any other matters or administrative proceedings that are pending before, the DOA as of the bill's effective date. The existing orders, rules, and regulations of the DOA that have been issued in relation to the State's school meals programs would also remain in effect until they are either repealed or superseded by rules, regulations, and orders adopted by the DOE pursuant to the bill, whichever occurs first. Although the DOA currently has authority to administer and enforce all school meals programs operating in the State, this authority is superfluous to, and takes the department's attention away from, its main purposes and functions, which are to promote and protect the State's agriculture and agribusiness industries and lands, and to conserve soil and water resources for agricultural purposes. The primary purpose and function of the DOE, by contrast, is to support schools, students, educators, and school districts in order to ensure that students are capable of achieving academic excellence. Because access to nutritional meals is a proven means by which students enhance their capacity for academic success, and because the DOE's mission already requires it to focus on programs geared toward schools and students, the DOE is better positioned, and is the more appropriate department, to administer the school meals programs and to provide assistance to schools, students, parents, and guardians, in association with the operation of those programs. | In Committee |
| A1505 | Increases penalty for "bombing" online meeting or teleconference under certain circumstances. | This bill would amend the current law concerning computer theft to specifically address the "bombing" of online video conferences or teleconferences. Under current law, a person is guilty of computer criminal activity if, among other provisions, the person purposely or knowingly and without authorization, or in excess of authorization, accesses and recklessly alters, damages or destroys any data, data base, computer, computer storage medium, computer program, computer software, computer equipment, computer system or computer network. This bill amends the statute to include unauthorized access to, and disruption of, an online video conference or teleconference. Currently, it is a crime of the fourth degree to violate this provision of law, except that it is a crime of the third degree if the value of the damage exceeds $5,000. Under the bill, it would also be a crime of the third degree if the violation consists of accessing an online video conference or teleconference without authorization and posting or displaying obscene material in violation of N.J.S.2C:34-3 that is viewed by a minor under the age of 18. A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months or a fine up to $10,000, or both; a crime of the third degree is punishable by a term of three to five years or a fine up to $15,000, or both. | In Committee |
| A3101 | Allows certain State agencies to sell Internet advertisements on agencies' websites as pilot program. | This bill authorizes certain State agencies to establish a three-year pilot program to sell Internet advertisements for display on their websites. Any agency, except for the New Jersey Lottery, with a ".com," ".org," or ".net" top-level domain in the domain name of their website would be permitted to establish a pilot program under the bill, as amended. The bill expresses the intention that accepting advertisements would not create a public forum, and that the website remain a non-public forum. The bill expressly prohibits advertisements for tobacco or alcohol products, for political advocacy, or that reduce the competitiveness or are otherwise antithetical to the mission of the agency. The bill also permits the head of an agency to disallow advertisements for products or services, or by sponsors, that the head deems inappropriate. The website must include a disclaimer stating that the advertisements do not imply endorsement by the State. "Internet advertisement" is defined to mean specific advertising methods on the Internet, including display or banner advertisements, sponsorships, and business listings where goods or services may be purchased online. The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to establish rules providing for the application and approval of an agency to establish a pilot program, and requires the department to approve at least one agency that applies, if any. The bill provides that each agency must develop policy, style, and content guidelines for website advertisements that ensure that the subject matter of the advertisement directly relates to the agency's business mission and purpose, and must submit those guidelines to the department for approval. Revenue generated will be deposited into the State General Fund by agencies for which expenditures are authorized through the annual appropriations act. For agencies not provided for through the annual appropriations act, the agency will remit to the State Treasurer such revenue generated from the sale of Internet advertisements as remains after deductions by the entity for the incremental cost of offering Internet advertisements and of an additional 10 percent of such revenue for the purpose of innovation in operations, programs or services. The bill requires each agency, not later than three months after the conclusion of the pilot program, to submit a detailed report to the Governor and the Legislature evaluating the effectiveness of the program, including a summary of expenditures and revenues under the program, together with recommendations concerning whether to continue the program. The purpose of the bill is to provide new sources of revenue for the State, particularly for State agencies that maintain high-traffic web pages. | In Committee |
| A3125 | Requires prescription drug services covered under Medicaid program to be provided via fee-for-service delivery system. | This bill requires prescription drug services covered under the Medicaid program to be provided via fee-for-service delivery system. Currently, the majority of prescription drug services are provided through managed care delivery system. Specifically, the bill requires that the reimbursement for covered outpatient brand name and generic drugs, as well as covered outpatient specialty drugs dispensed by a mail order pharmacy, is calculated based on the lower of: (1) the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) Retail Price Survey, in accordance with section 1927(f) of the federal Social Security Act or the Wholesale Acquisition Cost in the absence of a NADAC price, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; (2) the federal upper limit, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; (3) the State Maximum Allowable Cost, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; (4) the State submitted ingredient cost, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; or (5) the provider's usual and customary charge, including any discount price which may be in effect on the date the drug is dispensed to the Medicaid beneficiary. Furthermore, the bill requires that the reimbursement for covered outpatient drugs dispensed by a covered entity as defined in section 340B(a)(4) of the federal Public Health Service Act is be calculated based on the lower of: (1) the Actual Acquisition Cost, which shall not exceed the federal 340B program ceiling price, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; (2) the federal upper limit, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; (3) the State Maximum Allowable Cost, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; (4) the State submitted ingredient cost, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92; or (5) the provider's usual and customary charge, including any discount price which may be in effect on the date the drug is dispensed to the Medicaid beneficiary. And finally, the bill requires that the reimbursement for covered clotting factors dispensed by a specialty pharmacy or a Hemophilia Treatment Center is based on the NADAC Retail Price Survey, in accordance with section 1927(f) of the federal Social Security Act or the Wholesale Acquisition Cost in the absence of a NADAC price, plus the State professional dispensing fee, as defined at 42 CFR 447.502, of $10.92. Under the bill, clotting factors are required to be billed through a Point of Sale System as of January 1, 2020. The transition is expected to generate significant State prescription drug savings, to increase access and savings to prescription drugs for Medicaid patients, and to create a fairer system for pharmacy providers, as demonstrated by other states implementing similar policies. For example, in March 2019, the West Virginia Bureau for Medical Services released a report showing savings of $54.4 million to the state Medicaid program due to the carve out of the prescription drug benefit from Medicaid managed care. The report also notes that in addition to the savings, the program resulted in $122 million paid to West Virginia pharmacies in the form of fixed dispensing fees, money that had formerly gone to out-of-state pharmacy benefit managers. Moreover, on April 1, 2023 New York shifted the Medicaid prescription drug benefit from managed care to a fee-for-service Medicaid Pharmacy Program. According to the New York Executive, this program is anticipated to generate a net state savings of $40.0 million in the first year of implementation, and $180.0 million in subsequent years. | In Committee |
| A1098 | Exempts disabled veterans from certain fees at State parks and forests. | This bill would provide free admission to State parks and forests to disabled veterans residing in New Jersey who have been honorably discharged or released under honorable circumstances from active service in any branch of the Armed Forces of the United States and who have been declared by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, or its successor, to have a service-connected disability of any degree. This bill would also exempt such disabled veterans from any fees for accessing State park beaches by motor vehicle in order to fish there, including fees for mobile sportfishing vehicle permits. State law currently only provides free admission to State parks and forests to New Jersey residents who are 62 or more years of age, totally disabled, or active members of the New Jersey National Guard who have completed Initial Active Duty Training, and current law does not specifically exempt disabled veterans from fees for motor vehicle access to State park beaches to fish. This bill would extend free State park and forest admission, as well as free motor vehicle access to State park beaches to fish, to all veterans who have incurred a service-connected disability, regardless of the degree of disability. | In Committee |
| A3124 | Establishes Office of Community Schools; appropriates $10 million. | This bill establishes the Office of Community Schools in the Department of Education. The purpose of the office is to address student needs through community-based educational, developmental, family, health, and other comprehensive services. Under the bill, the Commissioner of Education is to establish the office, which is to consist of individuals qualified by training and experience related to community-based learning. The duties of the office include, but are not limited to: (1) providing training and support for public schools interested in adopting community school strategies; (2) increasing the knowledge and skills of school staff and community partners to aid in the implementation, management, and sustainability of community schools; (3) providing grants to public schools for the purposes of adopting community school strategies; (4) providing a list of school districts, renaissance schools, and charter schools that have established community schools, to be published on the department's Internet website; (5) increasing Statewide capacity to support effective community school strategies; and (6) identifying and evaluating community schools' needs in order to provide tailored technical assistance and professional development opportunities The bill also requires the office to submit an annual report to the Governor and to the Legislature that includes a summary of the services provided. The bill appropriates $10 million to the department to establish the office. | In Committee |
| A2617 | "Transparency in Government Act"; provides for establishment of State public finance website. | This bill, the "Transparency in Government Act," establishes a State public finance website to provide State residents with a convenient, user-friendly source of information to track State revenues and expenditures and to gauge the State's overall level of bonded indebtedness. Under the bill, the State Treasurer, in consultation with the Chief Technology Officer of the Office of Information Technology, is required to design, develop, and maintain a single, searchable website that is accessible to the general public without charge, and that includes information on: -- annual State expenditures; -- annual State revenues; -- annual State bonded indebtedness, and -- any other data and information specified by the State Treasurer after consulting with and seeking the advice of the Chief Technology Officer and the Public Finance Transparency Committee established by the bill. The bill provides that the website must include data and information concerning State expenditures, revenues, and bonded indebtedness for fiscal year 2000 and each year thereafter. The bill permits data and information posted on the website to be periodically updated, but prohibits the removal of data and information posted to the site. The bill requires data and information available in the central accounting and State payroll systems to be made available on the website as soon as practicable, but not later than 45 days after the last day of the preceding fiscal year. The bill stipulates that it does not require the disclosure of information deemed, private, personal, or confidential by State or federal law. The bill establishes the Public Finance Transparency Committee within the Department of the Treasury. The bill provides for the committee to be comprised of 13 members, including: (1) the State Treasurer, (1) the Chief Technology Officer, (1) the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, (2) two members who are commissioners, directors, or officers of a State agency, (4) four members of the general public, and (4) four members of the Legislature. The bill directs the committee to: -- serve in an advisory capacity to the State Treasurer on matters related to the development and expansion of the website and opportunities to make the website more accessible to the public; -- advise the State Treasurer and Chief Technology Officer on the incorporation of additional data and information into the website, after the site is implemented; -- seek the advice and receive feedback from the public, professional associations, State agencies, academic groups and institutions, and other individuals with knowledge of and interest in areas of public information access, gateways services, add-on services, and electronic information for the general improvement of the website; and -- issue an annual report to the Governor and the Legislature regarding the website. The bill takes effect immediately upon enactment, but provides for section 3 of the bill (concerning the design and development of the website) to not apply until the first business day of the seventh month beginning after the date of enactment. | In Committee |
| A1690 | Establishes "NJpass Program" to provide discounted fares to eligible organizations; establishes "GO NJ Transit Card Program" to develop transit cards that can be used to purchase any NJT service. | This bill requires the New Jersey Transit Corporation (corporation) to establish the "NJpass Program" and the "GO NJ Transit Card Program." The purpose of the NJpass Program is to support workforce development and increase access to public transportation in the State by providing discounted rates to approved classes of certain eligible organizations when purchasing a ticket or pass for a New Jersey Transit Corporation service (corporation service). Under the program, the corporation would be required to contract with eligible organizations that have been approved by the corporation to participate in the NJpass Program to provide discounted rates to approved classes of the eligible organizations. The corporation would be required to establish eligibility criteria and develop an application process for eligible organizations to apply to participate in the NJpass Program. Upon approval of an application, the corporation and the eligible organization will have the opportunity to negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract to be entered into, including, but not limited to, the amount of the discounted fares to be offered and the types of corporation services to be accessed under the NJpass Program. Following any negotiations necessary between the corporation and the eligible organization, the corporation will enter into a contract with the eligible organization to provide discounted group rates to the approved class of the eligible organization. The terms and conditions of the contract are required to include, at a minimum: (1) the discounted rates to be offered to the approved class of the eligible organization; (2) specific information as to what the approved class of the eligible organization will be; (3) information concerning any limitations on times of use or types of corporation services available to the approved class; and (4) the amount of compensation or reimbursement required from the eligible organization, if any, to cover the administrative costs of the corporation. A contract under the NJpass Program will be valid upon the approval of the corporation for a term of not more than two years, except that the first contract with an eligible organization cannot exceed 12 months. The bill also requires the corporation to establish the "GO NJ Transit Card Program." The purpose of the GO NJ Transit Card Program is to develop GO NJ Transit Cards (transit cards) and a system in which the transit cards can be purchased and utilized to purchase a ticket or pass for any corporation service in the State. Under the program, transit cards would be available for purchase. Individuals who purchase a transit card would be able to load money onto the transit card and utilize the transit card to purchase a ticket or pass for any corporation service within the State. Money loaded onto a transit card never expires. In establishing the transit cards under the GO NJ Transit Card Program, the corporation is required to: (1) develop and implement a fare capping system to ensure individuals who utilize a transit card are paying the lowest authorized fare for any period of travel, without having to pay the full cost upfront; and (2) provide discounted fares, in an amount to be determined by the corporation, to transit card users, which are to be in addition to any other discounted fares already provided by the corporation, including, but not limited to, the discounted fares provided to any senior citizen or person with a disability who receives reduced fares for transportation provided by the corporation, or provided under contract with the corporation. The bill requires the corporation to publish information concerning the NJpass Program and the GO NJ Transit Card Program on its Internet website and update the information as necessary. The bill also requires the corporation to submit reports to the Governor and the Legislature on the effectiveness of each of the programs established by the bill. In establishing and implementing the programs, the corporation is required to consider the efforts other states have taken to implement similar programs. | In Committee |
| A2515 | Upgrades domestic violence-related assault under certain circumstances. | This bill provides for a enhanced gradation scheme fir certain assaults against a person, in the course of committing an act of domestic violence, or in the course of committing contempt of a domestic violence restraining order. This gradation scheme will take into account the infliction of serious bodily injury or bodily injury in the course of violating a domestic violence restraining order. The penalties range from a crime of the fourth degree to a crime of the first degree, depending on the circumstances: · It would be a crime of the first degree if a person commits an aggravated assault by attempting to cause serious bodily injury to another or causing such injury purposely or knowingly or under extreme indifference to the value of human life recklessly causing such injury. (Subparagraph (a) of paragraph (13) of subsection b.)· It would be a crime of the second degree if a person commits an aggravated assault by attempting to cause or purposely or knowingly causing bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon. (Subparagraph (b) of paragraph (13) of subsection b.)· It would be a crime of the third degree (but the presumption of non-imprisonment would not apply) if a person recklessly causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon or if the person knowingly, under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life, points a firearm at or in the direction of another, whether or not the actor believes it to be loaded. (Subparagraph (c) of paragraph (13) of subsection b.)· It would be a crime of the fourth degree (but the presumption of non-imprisonment would not apply) if the person commits a simple assault. A person is guilty of simple assault if he attempts to cause or purposely or knowingly causes bodily injury to another, or negligently causes bodily injury to another with a deadly weapon, or attempts by physical menace to put another in fear of imminent serious bodily injury. (Subparagraph (d) of paragraph (13) of subsection b.) A crime of the first degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of 10-20 years, a fine of up to $200,000, or both. A crime of the second degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of five to 10 years, a fine up to $150,000, or both. A crime of the third degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to five years, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. A crime of the fourth degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. | In Committee |
| A3106 | Allows State-owned, municipally-managed Blue Acres lands to be used for freshwater wetlands mitigation projects. | This bill would allow, as an option for required freshwater wetlands mitigation associated with a development project, the creation of freshwater wetlands or the enhancement or restoration of degraded freshwater wetlands offsite on State-owned, municipally-managed Blue Acres land, provided that the State and the municipality in which the land is located have both granted permission for the land to be used for that purpose. The "Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act" currently provides, with respect to freshwater wetlands mitigation requirements, that if the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) determines that the creation, enhancement, or restoration of freshwater wetlands on a development site is not feasible, the DEP, in consultation with the United States Environmental Protection Agency, may consider the option of permitting the developer to: (1) create freshwater wetlands or enhance or restore degraded freshwater wetlands offsite on private property with the restriction on these freshwater wetlands of any future development; (2) protect wetlands transition areas or upland areas offsite, on private property, that are deemed by the DEP to be valuable for the protection of a freshwater wetlands ecosystem, with the restriction on these areas of any future development; or (3) make an appropriate contribution to the Wetlands Mitigation Bank. This bill would add a fourth mitigation option, i.e., the creation of freshwater wetlands or the enhancement or restoration of degraded freshwater wetlands offsite on State-owned, municipally-managed Blue Acres land, provided that the State and the municipality in which the land is located have both granted permission for the land to be used for that purpose. The bill defines "Blue Acres land" to mean a parcel of real property acquired and owned by the State under a federal or State program for the acquisition of real property, for recreation and conservation purposes, that has been damaged by, or may be prone to incurring damage caused by, storms or storm-related flooding, or that may buffer or protect other lands from such damage, and which parcel is managed for recreation and conservation purposes by the municipality in which the land is located under an agreement made between the State and the municipality. | In Committee |
| A3104 | Provides corporation business tax credit for certain investment in manufacturing equipment and manufacturing facility renovation, modernization, and expansion, or hiring and training of new employees for manufacturing purposes. | This bill allows a taxpayer to apply for a corporation business tax credit equal to either:· 10% of the costs of new manufacturing equipment installed at a new or existing manufacturing facility located in a Smart Growth Area within this State, or· 10% of the costs of improvements or additions that result in the renovation, modernization, or expansion of a manufacturing facility located in a Smart Growth Area, or· with respect to the employment of any new full-time employee hired and retained for at least 365 days following the effective date of the bill, the greater of 10% of the costs of training, salary, and benefits, including employer paid medical and pension contributions, or the deduction to which the employer would be entitled under existing law. The bill provides that expenditures in Smart Growth Areas for manufacturing equipment and manufacturing facility renovation, modernization, and expansion for which a credit is allowed under this bill will not be expenditures for which a credit will be allowed under the New Jobs Investment Tax Credit, the Manufacturing and Employment Investment Tax Credit, the Research and Development Credit, or the Effluent Treatment and Conveyance Equipment Credit. The bill defines "manufacturing equipment" as machinery, apparatus, or equipment used in the production of tangible personal property that is eligible for the sales tax exemption for manufacturing equipment. That is machinery, apparatus, or equipment for use or consumption directly and primarily in the production of tangible personal property by manufacturing, processing, assembling, or refining, whose use is not incidental to those activities, and which has a useful life of more than one year. The bill defines a "manufacturing facility" as a business location, including but not limited to a factory, mill, or plant, at which more than 50% of the business personal property that is housed in the facility is manufacturing equipment. "Qualified manufacturing related job training" that would be eligible for a credit under the bill includes instruction through a county vocational school or county college within the State, instruction through any institution of post-secondary education located in the State that is accredited for this purpose by the Director of the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury, and on-the-job training at sites within the State that are owned and operated by the trainee's employer. The bill also requires the Director of the Division of Taxation to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature, on or before January 1, 2017, that includes a description of any increased departmental workload associated with administering the credit and an analysis of the effectiveness of the credit as an incentive for encouraging the employment of new manufacturing employees. | In Committee |
| A3119 | Revises various provisions of law governing construction of school facilities projects and operations of New Jersey Schools Development Authority; establishes "Charter School and Renaissance School Project Facilities Loan Program" in EDA. | This bill provides various changes to the laws governing the construction of school facilities projects and the operations of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA). Model School Designs The bill requires the SDA, in consultation with the Commissioner of Education, to establish a model school design program that would establish uniform standards for the exterior and interior design of school facilities projects. The bill defines the components of the model school design program. The bill requires all projects in SDA districts to conform to the standards of the model school design program. Non-SDA Projects The bill also provides several changes to the laws governing the construction of school facilities projects in non-SDA school districts. The bill allows a school district to raise bonds for a school facilities project without the approval of the voters of the district if the school district enters into a contract with one or more municipalities, wherein the municipality provides the district with not less than 60 percent of the payments in lieu of taxes received from one or more designated properties, and the district pledges those monies to the repayment of the bonds. However, after entering into the contract, the school district would also be required to submit an application to the commissioner before issuing the bonds without voter approval. Additionally, the bill permits the board of education of a district other than an SDA district to enter into an agreement with a county improvement authority to construct a school facilities project and to issue bonds to finance certain portions of the project. The bill also permits a board of education of a school district to draw against its capital reserve account in order to finance a portion of a project for which a school district and private entity enter into a public-private partnership agreement pursuant to current law. The bill also requires the commissioner, in consultation with the SDA, to promulgate regulations concerning the incorporation of construction contract provisions that encourage the completion of construction projects on schedule. SDA Finances and Operations The bill provides that bonds issued by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) for the State share of school facilities projects, the proceeds of which are transferred to the SDA, will not support the costs of either agency related to the issuance of the bonds. Bonds issued after the effective date of the committee substitute will not support the administrative, non-project insurance, operating and other expenses of the EDA to issue the bonds. Under the committee substitute, the costs related to the undertaking of the planning, design, and construction of school facilities projects will also not be supported by bonds issued after the substitute's effective date. These administrative costs would instead be annually supported by State appropriations. The bill also requires the SDA to establish three funds in which the net proceeds of the bonds issued for school facilities projects, and any State appropriations for school facilities projects, would be deposited. The three funds are as follows: (1) the SDA District Project Fund; (2) the Regular Operating District Construction and Maintenance Grants Fund; and (3) the SDA District Emergent Project Fund. The bill stipulates that no less than 70 percent of any appropriations providing direct funding for school facilities projects would be appropriated for SDA district school facilities projects and SDA district emergent needs. The remaining funds would be disbursed to the Regular Operating District Construction and Maintenance Grant Fund. School Facilities Projects of Charter Schools and Renaissance School Projects in SDA Districts and the Charter School and Renaissance School Project Facilities Loan Program. The bill establishes the "Charter School and Renaissance School Project Facilities Loan Program," which would provide eligible borrowers with a loan, including but not limited to subordinate loans, to undertake or facilitate school facilities projects for non-profit charter schools and non-profit renaissance school projects located in an SDA district. | Dead |
| A3116 | Requires certain public schools that receive State aid to begin regular instruction for high school students no earlier than 8:30 A.M. | This bill provides that, in order to receive any State aid pursuant to the "School Funding Reform Act of 2008" or any other law, a school district, charter school, renaissance school project, county vocational school district, or county special services school district that includes grades 9 through 12 will be required to begin regular instruction for high school students no earlier than 8:30 AM. | In Committee |
| A436 | Establishes offense of criminal mischief committed on historical sites. | This bill amends the State's criminal mischief statute, N.J.S.2C:17-3, to include the crime of knowingly damaging, interfering, or tampering with a historic place or site. Under the bill, it is a crime of the third degree to knowingly damage, interfere, or tamper with a historic place or site. A crime of the third degree is punishable by a term of imprisonment of three to five years, a fine of $15,000, or both. The bill defines a "historic place or site" as a place, building, monument, or structure approved for inclusion in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places pursuant to P.L.1970, c.268 (C.13:1B-15.128 et seq.), the National Register of Historic Places, or any applicable rule or regulation; has been identified in a county or municipal master plan as a place, building, monument, or structure of historic interest; or has been officially recognized as having historic value or significance in accordance with criteria established by the State Agriculture Development Committee. | In Committee |
| A2762 | "Food Desert Elimination Act"; provides incentives to supermarkets and grocery stores that locate in "food deserts." | This bill, the "Food Desert Elimination Act," establishes the Food Desert Elimination Program (program) and requires the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (authority) to administer the program. The bill further requires the authority, in consultation with the Department of Agriculture, to initially designate no more than 75 physical boundaries of food desert communities in the State. The program provides tax credits to certain supermarkets and grocery stores that newly open in food desert communities. Under the program, a taxpayer that opens the first supermarket or grocery store in each designated food desert community after the bill's effective date will be allowed a credit against certain taxes due, in an amount equal to the total amount the taxpayer is assessed in property taxes by the municipality in which the supermarket or grocery store is located, during the first full tax year for the property where the supermarket or grocery store is open for business to the public, and for the three subsequent tax years after opening. Under the program, the authority will also be required to direct the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control in the Department of Law and Public Safety to issue a special retail distribution permit to the first supermarket or grocery store that is established in each food desert community after the bill's effective date. The permit holder would be entitled to sell alcoholic beverages in original containers for consumption off the premises of the supermarket or grocery store. The permit would be restricted to the premises of the supermarket or grocery store for which the permit was issued, and will not be transferrable for use in connection with another premises. The bill provides that the special retail distribution permit is to be used in a manner consistent with a plenary retail distribution license issued pursuant to current law, and is to be subject to any other fees and regulations promulgated by the director. Under current law, a municipality may only issue one plenary retail distribution license for every 7,500 persons residing in that municipality. This limitation on the number of plenary retail distribution licenses would not apply to the issuance of a special retail distribution permit under the program. In addition, current law prohibits a person from holding an interest in more than two retail licenses unless that person held more than two retail licenses prior to August 3, 1962. This limitation also would not apply to the issuance of a special retail distribution permit. The special retail distribution permit's initial issuance fee is based upon the average sales price of plenary retail distribution licenses during the five years preceding the bill's enactment in the municipality in which the supermarket or grocery store is located. If less than three licenses have been sold in the municipality within the previous five years, the municipality is required to obtain an appraisal, at the applicant's expense, to determine the appropriate fair market value of the permit. The initial issuance fee is to be reduced by the fair market value of the limitation on the permit's transferability. The bill takes effect on the first day of the seventh month after enactment, but the authority and the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control are permitted to take administrative action in advance of the effective date, as necessary to effectuate the bill. | In Committee |
| A642 | Permits application for PERS accidental disability benefit for injury sustained after January 2003 while employed at State psychiatric institution or correctional facility immediately prior to PERS membership. | This bill allows a member of the Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) to apply for accidental disability benefits based upon an injury sustained while employed temporarily at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, any other State psychiatric institution or any State correctional facility, which injury continues to be disabling after the person becomes a PERS member. Temporary public employees are not eligible for PERS membership until the employment becomes permanent or the passage of one year, whichever occurs first. Currently, persons employed temporarily at any State psychiatric institution or any State correctional facility who are injured while ineligible for PERS membership are eligible for workers compensation benefits only. They are not eligible for PERS accidental disability benefits even after attaining PERS member status because the injury occurred when not a PERS member. The bill provides that, for purposes of application for a PERS accidental disability benefit, a traumatic event (1) occurring during and as a result of the performance of a State employee's regular or assigned duties as, but not limited to, a doctor, nurse, healthcare worker, social worker, or correction officer caring for or guarding individuals who are permanently or temporarily incarcerated for any reason at Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, any other State psychiatric institution or any State correctional facility and (2) occurring when the employee is employed temporarily and not yet eligible for membership in the retirement system will be deemed as occurring during membership, if the employee becomes a member of the retirement system without interruption in that employment. The bill's provisions would apply retroactively to January 1, 2003. In addition, the bill also adds to the duties of the Civil Service Commission a personnel orientation program that informs new employees of State psychiatric institutions and State correctional facilities of the risk of injury occurring during and as a result of the performance of their regular or assigned duties. | In Committee |
| A3102 | Authorizes development and operation of computer system which would allow electronic access to outstanding arrest warrant information. | This bill authorizes the Administrative Office of the Courts to develop and operate an automated system containing outstanding arrest warrant information that is accessible to the public through the official judiciary website. Under the bill, the automated system is required to allow a person to input certain identifying information in order to make an inquiry as to whether the person has an outstanding arrest warrant. If the inquiry reveals that the person has an outstanding arrest warrant, the system is required to provide additional information regarding the pending charge, the law enforcement authority with jurisdiction over the outstanding arrest warrant, and any fines, court appearances, or other information concerning the person's ability to effectuate the recall of the outstanding warrant. In many instances, a person may be unaware of the issuance of an arrest warrant until the person actually is placed under arrest by a law enforcement officer. The purpose of this bill is to allow a person who may be unsure if an arrest warrant has been issued to be notified online, and to take any action necessary to have the warrant recalled. | In Committee |
| A3121 | Requires Commissioner of Education to establish matching grant program for certain school districts and schools using federal funds to increase instructional time and accelerate learning. | This bill requires the Commissioner of Education to establish a matching grant program to support school districts that use a portion of their eligible funds to increase student instructional time and accelerate student learning. Eligible funds as defined in the bill are moneys under a school district, charter school, or renaissance school project's local educational agency subgrant from the American Rescue Plan (ARP) Act ESSER Fund, excluding any amount required by the provisions of the ARP Act to be spent on evidence-based learning loss interventions. A district or school would be eligible to apply for funds under the grant program only if the percentage of students in the district or school who are not meeting or partially meeting grade-level expectation increased compared to the 2018-2019 school year. The aggregate amount of funds provided to school districts, charter schools, or renaissance school projects under the bill would not exceed $200 million. Under the bill, the program would be funded from the monies received by the State under the federal ARP Act. A school district, charter school, or renaissance school project seeking funds under the program is required to submit an application to the commissioner that is to include certain information enumerated in the bill. If the commissioner approves the application, the school district will receive a matching grant equal to 50 percent of the amount of the district's local educational agency federal allotment under the ARP Act that is dedicated to the intervention or program to increase student instructional time and accelerate student learning which has been specified in its application. | In Committee |
| A3100 | Provides for transfer and sale of inactive liquor licenses for use in qualifying smart growth municipalities. | Under the provisions of this bill, an inactive plenary retail consumption license may be purchased by: (1) a corporation or other legal entity operating or intending to operate a restaurant or bar in a qualifying smart growth municipality; or (2) the owner of a real estate development project in a qualifying smart growth municipality, provided that the inactive license would be transferred to a restaurant or bar in the real estate development project. The bill repeals sections 1 and 2 of P.L.2007, c.351 (C.33:1-24.1 and 33:1-24.2) which permit the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) to issue special permits for the service of alcoholic beverages in smart growth development projects. The bill first requires the Director of the ABC to determine whether an inactive license may be transferred to a qualifying smart growth municipality. The director is required to approve the transfer if the municipality is unable to issue a sufficient number of new plenary retail consumption licenses to satisfy the anticipated demand for such licenses in a real estate development project because of the statutory limitation on the number of plenary retail consumption licenses (currently one for every 3,000 members of the population). After a contract for the sale of a license has been signed, the seller is required to obtain resolutions adopted by the issuing authorities of the sending municipality and the qualifying smart growth municipality. The resolution adopted by the sending municipality must consent to the transfer of the license to the qualifying smart growth municipality. The resolution adopted by the issuing authority of the qualifying smart growth municipality must state that the municipality wishes to acquire the license and that it will be administered in the same manner as other plenary retail consumption licenses and in accordance with all applicable municipal ordinances. The bill requires the purchaser to pay to the sending municipality prior to the transfer of the license a fee equal to twenty times the annual renewal fee for a plenary retail consumption license in the sending municipality. The fee is to be distributed in the following manner: (1) twenty-five percent is to be paid to the sending municipality; (2) twenty-five percent is to be paid to the director; and (3) fifty percent is to be divided equally among and paid to the holders of plenary retail consumption licensees in the qualifying smart growth municipality. The bill requires the purchaser to pay the qualifying smart growth municipality the fee or fees required for the transfer of a plenary retail consumption license as well as the annual renewal fee, prorated to the next June 30, the annual date of renewal for all retail licenses. A license purchased pursuant to the provisions of the bill may only be transferred to a premises located within the same real estate development project. A license may be transferred to a corporation or other legal entity that operates a bar or restaurant in the same real estate development project or to the owner of the real estate development project. The bill requires the Director of the ABC to assign a distinctive designation for the license number, after the initial transfer of the license, in order to identify the license as being restricted and subject to the provisions of this bill. The bill prohibits the director from issuing a special concessionaire permit for any location or premises which is eligible to obtain a license to serve alcoholic beverages under this bill. Finally, the bill amends section 3 of P.L.2007, c.351 (C.33:1-24.3) which provides that a municipality containing an urban enterprise zone or a Planning Area 1 (Metropolitan) may acquire by purchase any existing plenary retail consumption licenses within the municipality that are inactive and retain them for up to five years. Under this bill, the municipality must acquire the license by purchase and the license must be inactive for more than three years. The bill also clarifies that the municipality may retain the inactive licenses notwithstanding that the Director of ABC has not issued a special ruling and the license holder has not paid the annual license renewal fees. The bill further amends current law to provide that a municipality may have a public sale of an inactive plenary retail consumption license for use only at a licensed premises in a real estate development project within a qualifying smart growth municipality as defined in the bill. | In Committee |
| A3122 | Revises law establishing Office of Food Security Advocate, and establishes certain conditions for use of monies appropriated to emergency food organizations. | This bill would amend and supplement P.L.2021, c.483 (C.52:27J-1 et seq.), which established the Office of the Food Security Advocate. The bill would establish, in statute, certain conditions concerning the use of monies appropriated to emergency food organizations pursuant to an annual appropriations act. The bill defines "emergency food organization" as a food bank which receives funding for Food and Hunger Programs pursuant to an annual State appropriations act. P.L.2022, c.49, i.e., the annual appropriations act for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2023, provided that the amount appropriated for Food and Hunger Programs would be directly distributed as follows: 53 percent to the Community Food Bank of New Jersey; 15 percent to the Food Bank of South Jersey; 15 percent to Fulfill Monmouth & Ocean; 11 percent to the Mercer Street Friends Food Bank; three percent to Norwescap; and three percent to the Southern Regional Food Distribution Center. The bill would require 10 percent of each emergency food organization's funding allocation to be expended on New Jersey agricultural products, including expenditures related to agricultural capital investment and innovation, up to 30 percent to be expended for the administrative and staffing costs and the purchase of capital investments or infrastructure, including the purchase of necessary technology, vehicles, and storage, and no less than 60 percent to be expended in order to support local distribution agencies. Support for local distribution agencies would include the purchasing of food that fulfills local distribution agencies' stated needs, the awarding of cash funds to local distribution agencies, or the reimbursement of local distribution agencies based on costs incurred by each agency. Emergency food organizations will be permitted to apply to the Office of the Food Security Advocate for a waiver to utilize these funds to fill a demonstrated need for a program that supports local distribution agencies. The bill would require the Office of the Food Security Advocate, in consultation with emergency food organizations, to develop a process for eliciting and gathering data about local distribution agencies' food and capacity needs, and would require each emergency food organization to use that process and data to develop a data-informed plan for the equitable support of local food distribution agencies (i.e., food pantries, soup kitchens, and religious organizations that provide free food), which would be tailored to the service area and needs of the specific emergency food organization. In addition, the bill would require each emergency food organization, on a monthly basis, to prepare and submit a State funding expenditures report to the Office of the Food Security Advocate. Funding for emergency food organizations would be contingent, under the bill, on their successful implementation of a data-informed plan, as required by the bill, and their satisfaction of the fiscal and programmatic requirements and other contractual obligations detailed in their contracts. | Dead |
| A5966 | Requires Commissioner of Education to take certain action concerning preliminary State school aid notices and school district budgets and creates New Jersey Education Funding Portal; modifies certain provisions in school funding law. | Requires Commissioner of Education to take certain action concerning preliminary State school aid notices and school district budgets and creates New Jersey Education Funding Portal; modifies certain provisions in school funding law. | Introduced |
| Bill | Bill Name | Motion | Vote Date | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S2167 | Requires public and certain nonpublic schools to comply with breakfast and lunch standards adopted by USDA. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S317 | Revises "Athletic Training Licensure Act." | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S1403 | Requires employer or contractor engaged in work for public body to submit payroll records to DOLWD. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S1320 | Requires certain information be included in certain contracts with licensed public adjusters. | Assembly Floor: Concur Governor Recommendations | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A775 | "Fairness in Women's Sport Act." | Assembly Floor: Table Motion | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A2929 | Requires disclosure of lead drinking water hazards to tenants of residential units; prohibits landlords from obstructing replacement of lead service lines; concerns testing of certain property for lead drinking water hazards. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A2090 | Requires solid waste management district to develop strategy to reduce food waste; requires DEP to adopt certain rules and regulations regarding composting facilities. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3099 | Establishes option for students nearing completion of program in chiropractic medicine to participate in preceptorship provided by State-licensed chiropractor. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3361 | Establishes limit on rent increase for certain dwelling sites for modular or industrialized buildings or manufactured homes. | Assembly Floor: Suspend Rule 22:5b | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3361 | Establishes limit on rent increase for certain dwelling sites for modular or industrialized buildings or manufactured homes. | Assembly Floor: Concur Governor Recommendations | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3007 | Increases maximum age for pediatric long-term care facility residents to 26. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3128 | Authorizes HMFA to use certain tax credits; directs HMFA to conduct tax credit auctions to provide financial assistance for certain housing purposes. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3035 | Prohibits certain vehicles from parking in electric vehicle charging spaces under certain circumstances. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A1682 | Requires State Board of Education to adopt New Jersey Student Learning Standards pertaining to labor movement; requires school districts to provide instruction on labor movement. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A1675 | Extends membership in TPAF to 10 years after discontinuance of service and to 15 years for those who were laid off or had 10 or more years of continuous service upon voluntary termination. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A2998 | Permits court to order counseling for children in households with domestic violence in appropriate cases; establishes presumption of award of custody to domestic violence victim in appropriate cases. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A2390 | Requires municipalities in compliance with affordable housing obligations be provided priority consideration for certain State grants and assistance. | Assembly Floor: Table Motion | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A2390 | Requires municipalities in compliance with affordable housing obligations be provided priority consideration for certain State grants and assistance. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A551 | Permits certain consumers up to five business days to cancel home improvement contracts and up to three days to cancel certain consumer goods contracts. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S2335 | Requires school districts to provide instruction on history of Latinos and Hispanics as part of implementation of New Jersey Student Learning Standards. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3518 | Requires MVC to create digital driver's licenses and digital non-driver identification cards. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| AJR128 | Designates August of each year as "American Artist Appreciation Month" in New Jersey. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3742 | Requires Secretary of Agriculture to establish Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program to reimburse school districts for costs expended in sourcing and procuring local foods for students; appropriates $4,500,000. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S2783 | "Travel Insurance Act." | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S2788 | Appropriates $128.241 million from constitutionally dedicated CBT revenues to State Agriculture Development Committee for farmland preservation purposes. | Assembly Floor: Concur Governor Recommendations | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3802 | Differentiates certain legal services from traditional insurance products. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3974 | Prohibits use of deceptive marketing practices by substance use disorder treatment providers. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3979 | Requires certain providers of substance or alcohol use disorder treatment, services, or supports to be assessed for conflicts of interest prior to receiving State funds, licensure, or certification. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A3973 | Revises law concerning patient referrals to substance use disorder treatment facilities, recovery residences, and clinical laboratories. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S2961 | Establishes minimum qualifications for persons employed on public works contract. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4085 | Allows for natural organic reduction and controlled supervised decomposition of human remains. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3052 | Concerns grade options at public institutions of higher education for service member and dependents unable to complete course due to military obligation. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3041 | Prohibits cooperative from receiving public works contract when cooperative-approved vendor fails to pay prevailing wage; concerns cooperative purchasing agreements with other states; and permits contracting units to award certain indefinite contracts. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4182 | Concerns conditions of employment of certain cannabis workers. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3132 | Imposes certain requirements on secondhand dealers of cellular telephones and wireless communication devices. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4215 | Directs BPU to adopt rules and regulations concerning small modular nuclear reactors; authorizes EDA to incentivize construction and operation of such reactors. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4248 | Requires certain documentation as proof of voter identity to vote; updates procedures for challenging voters regarding proof of identity. | Assembly Floor: Table Motion | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4295 | Establishes New Jersey-India Commission. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4302 | Amends current child labor laws to protect minor working as vlogger in certain circumstances. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3189 | Makes various changes to "New Jersey Angel Investor Tax Credit Act" and Technology Business Tax Certificate Transfer Program; repeals "New Jersey Ignite Act." | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4429 | Expands prohibitions on employers concerning requirements for employees to attend or listen to communications related to political matters. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3309 | Establishes "Motor Vehicle Open Recall Notice and Fair Compensation Act"; revises motor vehicle franchise agreements. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4455 | Allows exemption from New Jersey gross income of certain capital gains from sale or exchange of qualified small business stock. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4479 | Requires social media platforms to cooperate with nonprofit organization initiatives to remove nonconsensual intimate images or videos. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4521 | Concerns provision of services to defendants on pretrial release. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4544 | Expands eligibility requirements of State's child care assistance program to include full-time graduate and post-graduate students. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3418 | Authorizes certain types of permanent structures, recently constructed or erected on preserved farmland, to be used, in certain cases, for purposes of holding special occasion events thereon. | Assembly Floor: Concur Governor Recommendations | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4577 | Requires State departments and Office of Technology to provide reports on proposed technology upgrades. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4636 | Requires that notice concerning gift card fraud be posted by retail mercantile establishments that sell gift cards to consumers. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4643 | Creates penalty for child endangerment via use of social media. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4651 | Establishes penalties for certain conduct related to public brawl and disorderly conduct. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4712 | Establishes Office of Veteran Advocate and ombudsman for DMVA; appropriates funds. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4714 | Broadens riot; enhances penalties for certain crimes committed during riot; creates new crimes of mob intimidation and cyber-intimidation by publication; establishes duty in municipality to permit law enforcement to respond appropriately. | Assembly Floor: Table Motion | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4765 | Requires driver education and testing on responsibilities when approaching and passing pedestrians and persons operating bicycles and personal conveyances; requires driver's manual to include information on sharing roadway with motorists for certain road users. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4818 | Reduces and clarifies requirements for municipal tourist development commission disbursements for advertising. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3618 | Directs DEP and DOT to establish "Wildlife Corridor Action Plan." | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3663 | Establishes reproductive health travel advisory. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3711 | Makes annual allocation of $500,000 from Clean Communities Program Fund for public outreach concerning single-use plastics reduction program permanent. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3776 | Establishes Chronic Absenteeism Task Force. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3773 | Concerns requirements to report separations from employment under employee leasing agreements. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4937 | Concerns satellite cannabis dispensaries, Cannabis Regulatory Commission membership, and post-employment restrictions on State employees. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4937 | Concerns satellite cannabis dispensaries, Cannabis Regulatory Commission membership, and post-employment restrictions on State employees. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A4971 | Requires EDA to provide grants to certain small businesses affected by State infrastructure and construction projects. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5000 | Requires Medicaid coverage for fertility preservation services in cases of iatrogenic infertility caused by medically necessary treatments. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5004 | Creates separate crime for items depicting sexual exploitation or abuse of children; concerns computer generated or manipulated sexually explicit images. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5049 | Removes certain limitations on receipt of retirement or death benefits under PFRS under certain circumstances. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5077 | Extends statutory pause on collection of student growth objective data. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3910 | Makes various changes to provision of preschool aid and facilities requirements; establishes Universal Preschool Implementation Steering Committee; requires full-day kindergarten in all school districts. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3933 | Establishes School Supervisor Mentorship Pilot Program; appropriates $500,000. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3944 | Provides that certain non-profit corporation alcoholic beverage theater licensees include disregarded entities of such corporations; allows certain community theaters to sell alcoholic beverages. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5146 | Removes exception to civil service working test period for political subdivision employees. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3982 | Requires certain information be provided to parent at least two business days prior to annual Individualized Education Program (IEP) team meeting; establishes IEP Improvement Working Group in DOE. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S3992 | Modifies capital reserve funding requirements for certain planned real estate developments. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5213 | Establishes "New Economy Opportunity Skills System Pilot Program" to strengthen alignment and collaboration between local workforce development boards, community colleges, and county vocational school districts; makes appropriation. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5199 | Requires resident and fellow physicians employed by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, who are eligible for coverage in SHBP, to be eligible to enroll and receive health insurance on first day of employment. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5195 | Requires producer of certain firefighting equipment containing perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances to provide written notice to purchaser; prohibits sale, manufacture, and distribution of certain firefighting equipment containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5267 | Requires BPU to procure and incentivize transmission-scale energy storage. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5267 | Requires BPU to procure and incentivize transmission-scale energy storage. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5260 | Prohibits sale, manufacture, and distribution of certain apparel containing intentionally added perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S4122 | Revises apportionment of State lottery contributions. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5277 | Establishes public awareness campaign and call center for certain property tax relief programs; requires submission of annual report by Stay NJ Task Force. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5278 | Establishes "New Jersey Menopause Coverage Act"; requires health insurance coverage of medically necessary perimenopause and menopause treatments. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5309 | Permits up to three credits of continuing medical education on menopause to be used by advanced practice nurses and physicians for license renewal. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| SJR154 | Directs BPU to investigate PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.'s Reliability Pricing Model; directs State to promote affordable energy practices and to urge PJM Interconnection, L.L.C. to implement certain reforms. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5362 | Prohibits casino licensees from using non-wagering casino games to solicit future gaming. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5378 | Modifies provisions of Cultural Arts Incentives Program, New Jersey Aspire Program, and Grow New Jersey Program; eliminates Community-Anchored Development Program. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5383 | Requires unrestricted Medicaid coverage for ovulation enhancing drugs and medical services related to administering such drugs for certain beneficiaries experiencing infertility. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5381 | Provides medical documentation requirement for certain members of PERS, PFRS, and SPRS to receive accidental disability retirement allowance for participation in 9/11 World Trade Center rescue, recovery, or cleanup operations; removes filing deadline. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5420 | Permits 30-calendar day extension to cure period for certain businesses to address and resolve certain violations. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5421 | Requires development of online tax training for small and micro-businesses. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5422 | Allows businesses to receive information via email concerning new regulations and economic incentives that affect business. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S4263 | Revises certain provisions concerning, and establishes certain education and data reporting requirements related to, involuntary commitment. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| AR180 | Urges DEP, Pinelands Commission, and Highlands Water Protection and Planning Council to engage in alternative forest management practices during periods of drought when prescribed burning is unsafe. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5447 | Prohibits sweepstakes model of wagering; establishes new penalties for unlawful gambling operations and practices; directs Division of Consumer Affairs and Division of Gaming Enforcement to enforce penalties. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5462 | Requires electric public utilities to develop and apply special rules for certain data centers to protect non-data center customers from increased costs. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5463 | Requires electric public utilities to submit annual report on voting to BPU. | Assembly Floor: Concur in Senate Amendments | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| S4293 | Requires owner or operator of data center to submit water and energy usage report to BPU. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5517 | Directs BPU to study feasibility of developing advanced reactors Statewide. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5533 | Establishes requirements for receipt and purchase of scrap metals containing lithium-ion or propulsion batteries. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| A5563 | Establishes "Summer Termination Program" for certain utility customers. | Assembly Floor: Third Reading - Final Passage | 06/30/2025 | Yea |
| State | District | Chamber | Party | Status | Start Date | End Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NJ | District 19 | House | Democrat | In Office | 01/12/2010 |