In the state Assembly, eight committees met today, advancing nearly 40 pieces of legislation.
The Assembly environment committee talked about the Department of Environmental Protection's counter-offer to proposed legislation that would revamp the state's site remediation program to allow private companies to oversee pollution cleanups. Just talked, didn't vote.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee juggled a diverse lineup -- letting EDA bankroll construction of parking decks, putting cost-cutting limits on NJ STARS community college scholarships, again scrapping a deadline for voting machines to provide paper-trail receipts and putting $40 million of state funds into a mortgage stabilization effort. All were approved.
Full agendas for all the committees are after the jump, so you can know how your representatives kept busy in Trenton.
At 10 a.m.:
Assembly Environment & Solid Waste Committee
- ♦ A2962: Establishes licensed site professional program for site remediation and makes various changes to site remediation laws. (For discussion only; the committee will take testimony on the DEP proposal for a substitute bill.)
Assembly Health & Senior Services Committee
- ♦ A835: Provides bill of rights for persons receiving services under Congregate Housing Services Program. APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2030: Requires pharmacists to notify consumers when prescribed medications are substituted with generic drugs. APPROVED A SUBSTITUTE, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2170: Requires prescription drug labels to bear brand name of prescribed drug as well as name of any generic drug substituted for brand name drug. APPROVED A SUBSTITUTE, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2334/S221: Requires nursing homes and assisted living residences to provide informational sheet concerning Medicaid eligibility to certain residents. APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor. Dancer release.
- ♦ A3211: Makes reforms to "Health Care Quality Act;" requires audits of provider networks. APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3411/S1711: Prohibits penalizing pharmacist for dispensing fraudulent prescription approved by Medicaid, PAAD or Senior Gold. AMENDED AND APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor.
Assembly Telecommunications & Utilities Committee
- ♦ A3281: Amends P.L.1999, c.23 concerning renewable energy. AMENDED AND APPROVED.
- ♦ A3333: Directs the BPU to establish advanced metering infrastructure standards applicable to all electric power customers. APPROVED A SUBSTITUTE, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3339: Concerns on-site generation facilities. APPROVED A SUBSTITUTE, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3439: Provides sales and use tax exemption for natural gas and utility service purchased or used by certain co-generation facilities in production of electricity and steam or other forms of useful energy. COMBINED WITH A3339.
- ♦ A3520: "The Solar Energy Advancement and Fair Competition Act." APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
At 1 p.m.:
Assembly Regulated Professions Committee
- ♦ A118: Permits physicians to earn continuing medical education credits by providing free medical care to low-income, uninsured patients. APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2532: Allows lawsuits against home improvement contractors to be brought in county in which residential or non-commercial property is located. APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor.
At 2 p.m.:
Assembly Appropriations Committee
- ♦ A2589: Authorizes EDA to develop and finance parking structures in certain urban and suburban areas. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2640: Enacts "Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children." APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2642: Requires electronic submission of certain periodic reports to Governor and Legislature by State agency. APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2650: Establishes requirements concerning certain public contracts with private firms. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2707/S1420: Increases certain fees in Special Civil Part; increases certain fees paid to persons to serve process in Special Civil Part. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor. Because the bill was changed, it will have to return to the Senate, which approved it in June, for another vote.
- ♦ A3072: Establishes Dismal Swamp Preservation Commission; appropriates $95,000. APPROVED A SUBSTITUTION, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3373: Revises the NJ STARS and NJ STARS II Programs. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor. Diegnan/Lampitt release.
- ♦ A3458: Creates voter-verified paper record pilot program; removes requirement that voting machines produce voter-verified paper record by January 1, 2009. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3506/S1599: "Mortgage Stabilization and Relief Act;" appropriates $40 million from "Long Term Obligation and Capital Expenditure Fund." APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
Assembly Commerce & Economic Development Committee
- ♦ A830: Establishes innovation zone program to stimulate technology industry clusters around New Jersey's research universities, colleges or research hospitals. APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor. Chivukula/Greenstein/Lampitt release.
- ♦ A847: Provides for development of universal public procurement application for use by public entities at all levels of government; provides for collaboration to streamline procurement application process. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A1657: Allows certain self-employed business owners to deduct their own pension plan contributions from gross income under the gross income tax. APPROVED, heads to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3451: Concerns urban enterprise zones. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, heads to Assembly floor without recommendation.
- ♦ Also, the Committee will hear from the Office of Economic Growth on recent efforts in economic development and from representatives of the SMART (Strengthening the Mid-Atlantic Region for Tomorrow) initiative regarding regional efforts.
Assembly Housing & Local Government Committee
- ♦ A1059: Exempts certain State authorities and local government contracting units from bidding requirements when goods and services are procured below prices available under State contract. HELD.
- ♦ A1630: Requires DCA to adopt energy inspection code, and requires licensed home inspector to report energy analysis for each home inspected for buyer in contemplation of purchase. HELD.
- ♦ A2765: Authorizes certain municipalities to impose and securitize a motor vehicle rental tax funding certain redevelopment activities, and to impose parking and ticket surcharges at certain facilities to fund senior and youth health and recreation purposes.
- ♦ A2783/S1605: Permits board of trustees of school district pension fund in counties of the first class to invest 10% of funds in capital stocks or other securities issued by companies of foreign countries. APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2955: Permits bid for public works contract to be withdrawn due to error in certain circumstances; permits contracting unit to require financial statement from bidders. APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3095: Permits municipality containing a Health Enterprise Zone, or contiguous with three such municipalities, to grant property tax exemption to acute care hospitals. APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3146: Authorizes creation of non-lapsing Attorney ID Card Program trust fund by counties. APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3203: Establishes procedures to prevent and eradicate bedbug infestations in certain residential property. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3286: Grants workers' compensation coverage to volunteer firefighters going to or returning from their stations when called to a fire. APPROVED, sent to Assembly Appropriations Committee.
- ♦ A3308: Protects property taxpayers by requiring removal of certain property tax deduction and credit information from documents available for public inspection. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor. Burzichelli/Milam/Albano release.
Assembly Law & Public Safety Committee
- ♦ A837: Requires wheelchair securement devices and wheelchair occupant securement devices on certain vehicles and training in their use for certain employees. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2494: Permits hiring of special law enforcement officers to supplement county park police departments during summer. APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2848/S1779: Upgrades penalties for assaulting a nurse. APPROVED A SUBSTITUTE, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A2863: Requires criminal history background checks for paid firefighters employed by fire districts. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3336: Repeals statutory limitation on outside employment of assistant prosecutors. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ A3467: Makes various changes to Palisades Interstate Park Commission. HELD.
- ♦ A3470: Upgrades penalties for assaulting certain health care professionals and workers. COMBINED WITH A2848/S1779.
- ♦ A3481: Provides certain law enforcement officers and firefighters regain pay status when appeals of termination are not resolved within 180 days. APPROVED WITH AMENDMENTS, sent to Assembly floor.
- ♦ AJR52/SJR12: Designates October 2 of each year as "Firefighter Recognition Day." APPROVED, sent to Assembly floor.