Governor Signs Bills Affecting Schools

Governor Signs Bills Affecting Schools

After the 212th Legislature ended earlier this month, Gov. Jon S. Corzine signed into law a number of bills that affect public schools. Some of those measures included:

Highway Ramps A-856 is called “Terrell’s Law,” after 8-year-old Terrell James of Newark was struck by a car accessing an interstate ramp near the school in 1997. The measure requires state agencies recommend changes to potentially dangerous highway ramps within 1,000 feet of schools. The bill also says highway ramps may not be built within 1,000 feet of a school, and that a school may not be built within 1,000 feet of an exit ramp, unless there is no other feasible alternative.

Alternative Energy A-357 allows counties, municipalities and school districts to join with the state to provide alternative electrical energy systems. The bill defines alternative electrical energy as being produced from solar, photovoltaic, wind, geothermal or biomass technologies. NJSBA supported the bill.

Election Audits S-507 (substituted for A-2730), was signed into law on Jan. 14. The measure requires audits of election results, including school elections, in randomly selected elections. Currently, there is no system in place to provide paper records from the touch-screen voting machines used in a majority of state elections, and considered by some to be vulnerable to error. The legislation would require an audit team selected by the attorney general to conduct random hand counts of voter-verified paper records in at least 2 percent of the election districts.

Other measures that were not resolved during the 212th Legislature, such as a bill to provide six weeks of paid family leave up to $500 per week, will be re-introduced during the new two-year legislative session.