As usual, the days leading up to June 30 – the deadline for the state to enact its annual budget – have been marked by a flurry of legislative activity as lawmakers make final pushes on priority bills before their summer recess.
The budget bill itself, S-2024, was initially scheduled for a vote in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on June 27. That evening, however, Sen. Paul Sarlo, chairman of the committee, announced that the vote would be postponed a day. “There is a framework and deal in place,” Sarlo said of the budget bill. The Legislature is being “very deliberate on some of the changes to make sure that they’re properly reconciled. And (the Office of Legislative Services) wants to ensure that there is a full document ready, not just scoresheets, which are changes in appropriations and revenues and language, but the full budget document available to the members here,” he added. Both the Senate and Assembly Budget Committees are scheduled to meet at 3 p.m. on June 28.
As of late in the night on June 27, the Legislature had not yet published the text of the budget bill or any summary documents (e.g. scoresheets or language provisions).
Over the last week, the Legislature has taken action on the following PreK-12 education bills.
Legend:
*Scheduled for an Assembly floor vote on June 30
^Scheduled, as of June 27, for its final legislative vote; expected to be on the Governor’s desk pending legislative approval.
- ^*S-2857/A-4167: Establishes “Sustainable New Jersey Fund” in the Department of Community Affairs to support certain sustainability initiatives; appropriates $1 million.
- ^*S-3950/A-5575: Establishes exemption from state school aid reductions for certain school districts.
- *S-3044/A-4716: Makes supplemental appropriation of $15 million to the Department of Environmental Protection for the implementation of Electric School Bus Program.
- *S-1221/A-1349: Establishes program in the New Jersey Department of Education to reimburse school districts for providing menstrual products in certain public schools and requires the state to pay costs.
- *S-2416/A-3334: Requires Medicaid reimbursement for covered behavioral health services provided by local educational agency to students who are eligible Medicaid beneficiaries.
- S-3440/A-5060: Expands the scope of school district employee sick leave.
- *A-3945: Establishes “Male Teachers of Color Mentorship Pilot Program;” appropriates $50,000.
- *A-4033: Extends the deadline for completion of a school district’s annual audit.
- A-2831: Requires the Department of Children and Families and the NJDOE to establish policies and procedures relating to child abuse and neglect and child abuse prevention during certain public health emergencies.
- A-4011: Directs the commissioner of education to establish a three-year pilot program to increase reading levels of certain students; appropriates $1 million.
- *A-5412: Establishes nonpublic school transportation program to provide funding to consortiums of nonpublic schools that will assume responsibility for mandated nonpublic school busing.
- S-3956/A-5573: Requires schools with lunch programs to provide free lunch to gradually increasing numbers of income-eligible students and, after a five-year phase-in period, to provide free lunch to all students, regardless of income or federal eligibility.
- *A-5576/S-4029: Establishes the Office of Community Schools; appropriates $10 million.
- S-2057: Requires certain documentation of needs of students with disabilities during school security drills and emergency situations and in school security plans; requires staff training on needs of students with disabilities in emergency planning.
- S-3734/A-5329: Extends the useful service life of certain school buses to 20 years.
- A-1168/S-2771: Establishes a five-year community schools pilot program.
- S-3941/A-5590: Waives certain certification and credentialing fees for teachers for one year.
- S-4027: Requires the commissioner of education to establish a matching grant program for certain school districts and schools using federal funds to increase instructional time and accelerate learning.
To view the full text of any of the bills summarized above, please visit the New Jersey Legislature’s website.