The State House is quiet as the Legislature recesses for the summer. No Legislative Committees met this week. However, there are currently 159 bills on the Governor’s desk, awaiting his action. NJPSA is tracking 23 of them:
On the Governor’s Desk:
A-970 (Conaway/Lampitt) Establishes Mental Health Screening in Schools Grant Program in DOE; appropriates $1 million. On March 25, this bill was passed by the Senate (33-3). On May 20th, it was passed by the General Assembly (65-8-3). If Governor Murphy signs this bill, it will become law.
A-1625 (Lampitt/Jasey) Directs DOE to develop outreach program to encourage young women and minorities to pursue post-secondary degrees and careers in STEM. On June 3, 2021, this bill was passed by both the Senate (38-0) and the Assembly (70-0-0). If Governor Murphy signs this bill, it will become law.
A-2455 (Benson/Vainieri Huttle) Establishes pilot program in DOE to support FIRST Robotics Programs in school districts. On March 1, 2021, this bill was passed 3/1/2021 by the Assembly (70-0-0). On June 3rd, it was passed by the Senate (38-0). If Governor Murphy signs this bill, it will become law.
A-4433/S-2715 Creates grant program to encourage school districts to partner with institutions of higher education in training school-based mental health services providers. On Monday, June 21, 2021, this bill was passed by the Senate by a vote of (40-0) and the General Assembly by a vote of (72-0-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
A-4435 / S-2717 (Verrelli / Greenwald / Speight / Beach / Corrado) – Requires DCF to give priority to certain school districts with student mental health counseling centers in awarding grants under School Based Youth Services Program. On June 24, this bill was passed by the Senate (39-1). Having previously passed the General Assembly on March 1, 2021 by a vote of (68-0-2). If Governor Murphy signs it, it will become law.
A-5817/S-3852 (Tully / Swain / Benson / Lagana / Diegnan) – Revises violation and fines for approving or assigning unauthorized individuals as school bus drivers. On June 21st, this bill was passed by the Assembly (72-0-0). On June 30th, the Senate also unanimously approved the measure (38-0). If Governor Murphy signs the bill, it will become law.
A-4544/S-3150 Permits school nurse who is retired from TPAF to return to employment for up to two years without reenrollment in TPAF. On Monday, June 21, 2021, this bill was passed by the Senate by a vote of (40-0) and the General Assembly by a vote of (72-0-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
A-5818 /S-3849 (Tully / Swain / Benson / Lagana / Diegnan) – Provides for debarment of school bus contractors for certain violations; requires certain information in pupil transportation contract bid. On June 24th, the Assembly passed this bill (75-0-0). On June 30th, the Senate also unanimously approved this measure (38-0). If signed, it will become law.
A-5882/S-3943 (Vitale / Madden) – Establishes State supplement for federal summer food service program meals. On June 24th, 2021, this bill was both passed by the Assembly (72-3-0) and the Senate (40-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
A-5883/S-3944 (Ruiz / Turner) – Establishes State supplement for “breakfast after the bell” meals. On June 24th,this bill was both passed by the Assembly (71-4-0) and the Senate (40-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-84/S-2093 (Bateman / Singleton / Greenstein / Kean) – Requires institutions of higher education and public and nonpublic high schools and middle schools to adopt anti-hazing policies; expands activities encompassing criminal hazing and upgrades penalties for engaging in these activities. On June 30th, this bill was passed by the Senate. If Governor Murphy signs it, this bill will become law.
S-108 / A-169 (Gill / Turner / Caputo / Wirths) – Concerns speech rights of student journalists at public schools and public institutions of higher education. This bill has been passed by both houses. On March 5, 2020, it passed the Senate unanimously(40-0). This week, the bill cleared the General Assembly on June 24th by a vote of (74-0-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, it will become law.
S-225/A-679 (Diegnan/Turner) Provides that student-athlete who sustains concussion must return to regular school activities prior to return to competition; requires school districts to implement six-step return-to-competition process. On Monday, June 21st, this bill was unanimously passed by the General Assembly (72-0-0), and the Senate (38-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-550 (Codey/Pennacchio) Requires certain student identification cards to contain telephone number for suicide prevention hotline. The Assembly passed this bill on May 20, 2021 (76-0-0) and the Senate passed it on June 3rd (38-0). If Governor Murphy signs this bill, it will become law.
S-969 / A-2687 (Ruiz / Turner / Mazzeo / Lampitt / Moen) – Establishes loan redemption program for teachers in certain fields to redeem loan amounts received under New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students Loan Program through employment in certain low performing schools. This bill has passed both houses. On March 5th, the Senate passed it by a unanimous vote of (40-0). The Assembly passed it on June 24th (73-1-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, this bill will become law.
S-2160 / A-5701 (Sweeney / Oroho / Singer / Carter / Lampitt / Jasey) – Creates special education unit within the Office of Administrative Law; requires annual report. This bill has passed both houses. On June 3rd, it was passed unanimously by the Senate (38-0). The General Assembly unanimously passed the measure on June 24th by a vote of (75-0-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-2826/A-4594 Directs DOE to establish five-year pilot program for issuance of limited certificate of eligibility with advanced standing and limited certificate of eligibility for certain teacher candidates. On June 3rd, the Senate passed this bill. Then on June 21, 2021, this bill was passed the General Assembly by a vote of (65-5-1). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-2834/A-5312 Mandates training on culturally responsive teaching for all candidates for teaching certification. On June 21st, this bill was passed by the General Assembly by a vote of (58-11-3). Having previously passed the Senate on February 19th, this bill has now been passed by both houses. If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-3253 / A-2619 (Singleton / Ruiz / Murphy / Speight / Mukherji) – Establishes alternate route to expedite certification of teachers at early college high school programs. This bill has been passed by both houses. On June 3rd, it passed by the Senate (37-0). Then, on Thursday of this week, the Assembly also unanimously approved the measure (74-0-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-3488 (Sweeney / Gopal / O’Scanlon) – Modifies certain procedures pertaining to school district regionalization; establishes grant program for cost reimbursement of conducting regionalization feasibility studies; and provides financial incentives for regionalization. On June 30th the Senate passed this bill If the Governor signs this bill, it will become law.
S-3881 / A-5834 (Sarlo / Coughlin / Jasey) – Extends deadline for completion and filing of annual audit report of school district for 2020-2021 school year; establishes deadline for submission of Audit Summary for 2020-2021 school year. This measure passed both houses this week, with a vote in the Senate on June 21st (40-0) and a vote in the Assembly three days later on June 24th (74-0-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-3948/A-5896 Authorizes supplemental State aid to school districts receiving certain federal Impact Aid; makes appropriation. On June 21, 2021, this bill was unanimously passed by the full Senate (40-0). The same day, the bill was passed by the General Assembly (68-2-2). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
S-3995 (Sweeney/Singleton) Establishes School and Small Business Energy Efficiency Stimulus Program Fund in BPU. On June 24th, this bill was passed by both the Senate (37-2), and the Assembly (72-2-0). If Governor Murphy signs it, the bill will become law.
We will continue to monitor and track the Governor’s action on these bills and we will keep you updated. As always, if you have any questions about these bills, or any others, your NJPSA Government Relations team is always available! Please do not hesitate to contact Director Debra Bradley dbradley@njpsa.org or Assistant Director Jennie Lamon jlamon@njpsa.org at any time.