Christie takes action on pending legislation

TRENTON, NJ — Things have been busy in Trenton recently. Gov. Chris Christie has taken action in many instances of pending legislation.

In the past two months, according to the governor’s office, Christie has signed many bills into law, including:

• S-169/A-4329 to allow certain emergency squad volunteers holding municipal elected office to vote on emergency squad concerns;
• S-452/A-838 to require a waiver of dealer obligation regarding necessary repairs impacting vehicle inspection to include a description of known defects;
• S-678/A-4967 to require local government units to certify compliance with certain federal hiring requirements when filing annual budgets;
• S-726/A-4460 to extend full protection of the Law Against Discrimination to persons having liability for service in the U.S. and to guarantee equal employment opportunity in state contracting to all veterans;
• S-996wGR/A-1378 to require reporting on the status of the lead-safe program in the N.J. Department of Community Affairs;
• S-1219/A-936, designated at “Peggy’s Law,” to require reporting of suspected abuse of institutionalized elderly to police and that facility employees receive notice of reporting requirement annually;
• S-1359/A-4096 to guarantee full and equal access to all housing to disabled persons who retain their retired service or guide dog as a pet, and who also obtain a new service or guide dog;
• S-1497/A-3225 to designate the “killed in action” flag as an official state flag and to mandate that it be displayed at certain public buildings;
• Senate Committee substitutes for S-1640, 1642, 1013/Assembly Floor and Assembly Committee substitutes for A-3152, 3154, 2426 to establish requirements concerning necessary care of dogs, domestic companion animals and service animals, and for tethering of dogs;
• S-1660/A-770 to provide for voluntary contributions by taxpayers on gross income tax returns for maintenance of certain state memorials honoring war veterans;
• S-1731/A-2368 to permit municipalities to establish a civil penalty for smoking in public places;
• S-1739/A-2167 to establish sexual assault training requirements for law enforcement officers;
• S-1750/A-2729 to establish special motorcycle license plates for veterans;
• S-1808/A-3342 to designate the striped bass as the state saltwater fish and to redesignate brook trout as the state freshwater fish;
• S-2153/A-3520 to require the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to study the impact of constructing rail stations at certain park and ride facilities;
• S-2369/A-4152 to limit application of the Department of Environmental Protection shellfish habitat rules for certain dredging activities;
• S-2457/A-3999 to enable the collection of voluntary contributions for the Jersey Fresh Program through gross income tax returns;
• S-2578/A-4239 to revise the New Jersey College Loans to Assist State Students Loan program to require applicants first to exhaust federal student loans, to require income verification and to limit total student loan amounts;
• S-2884/A-4484 to declare that deed restrictions or agreements that prevent the raising or constructing of a structure to certain flood elevation standards are unenforceable;
• S-2892/A-5042 to exempt certain real estate brokers, broker-salespersons and salespersons from continuing education requirement;
• S-3074/A-4586 to establish gubernatorial veto power over the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor’s meeting minutes and to expand gubernatorial oversight powers over the commission;
• S-3244/A-4854 to designate a portion of Interstate Highway Route 295 in West Deptford Township as the “State Trooper Sean E. Cullen Memorial Highway”;
• A-445/S-1661 to provide for voluntary contributions by taxpayers on gross income tax returns for the N.J. World War II Veterans’ Memorial Fund;
• A-1185/S-2771 to require the state comptroller to report findings of audit compliance reviews;
• A-1199/S-1326 to permit a victim or witness of any age to testify by closed circuit television under certain circumstances in prosecutions for domestic violence, sexual assault and certain other crimes;
• Assembly Committee Substitute for A-1690/Senate Committee substitutes for S-660, 2002 to allow fire district elections to be moved to November, to eliminate certain fire district budget referenda and to eliminate certain fire district capital purchase referenda;
• A-1953/S-2448 to allow installment payments for senior and disabled property taxpayers to repay overpayments of homestead credits and homestead property tax reimbursements;
• A-1955/Senate Committee Substitute for S-1795 to provide for the voluntary discharge of personal representatives overseeing the administration of estates by application to the Surrogate’s Court;
• A-2176/S-156 to criminalize possession and sale of alpha-pyrrolidinopentiophenone, or alpha-PVP, commonly known as “flakka” or “flocka”;
• A-3056/Senate Committee substitutes for S-2360, 3030 to require the NJDEP to establish voluntary guidelines for K-12 schools and institutions of higher education to reduce, recover and recycle food waste, and to extend “Food Bank Good Samaritan Act” immunity protections to public and nonpublic schools;
• A-3058/S-2366 to establish a Farm to School Coordinating Council;
• A-3381 to authorize municipal volunteer programs for free removal of snow from certain residential properties occupied by seniors or disabled persons;
• A-3386/S-2711 to provide protections for minors with developmental disabilities and individuals with developmental disabilities ages 18 to 21 receiving services from Division of Children’s System of Care;
• A-3437/S-1076 to designate “Garden State” as the state slogan;
• A-3896/S-2790 to address concerns regarding the sale of certain tires;
• A-3908/S-3021 to establish a Sept. 11, 2001, Memorial Registry;
• A-3911/S-2863 to provide that motor vehicle registration expires on registrant’s numerical calendar day of birth;
• A-4164/S-2588 to require the state auditor to report annually on unspent state account balances;
• A-4206/S-2676 to require candidates for election to school boards to file with their nominating petitions specific affirmation that they have not been convicted of crimes that would disqualify them from office;
• A-4230/S-3141 to require health insurance carriers, the State Health Benefits Program and the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program to inform covered persons about organ and tissue donation;
• Assembly Committee Substitute for A-4432/Senate Committee Substitute for S-2841 to provide increased tax credit amounts under the Grow New Jersey Assistance Program for certain businesses that have collaborative research relationships with colleges or universities;
• A-4542/S-2986 to designate a portion of State Highway Route 55 as the “State Trooper Frankie L. Williams Memorial Highway”;
• A-4580/S-2989 to appropriate $2,900,000 from the 2009 Farmland Preservation Fund for grants to certain nonprofit organizations for farmland preservation purposes;
• A-4581/S-2987 to appropriate $22,385,743 to the State Agriculture Development Committee for farmland preservation purposes;
• A-4582/S-2990 to appropriate $32.5 million from constitutionally dedicated corporation business tax revenues to the State Agriculture Development Committee for county planning incentive grants;
• A-4584/S-2988 to appropriate $7,500,000 from constitutionally dedicated corporation business tax revenues for planning incentive grants to municipalities for farmland preservation purposes;
• A-4630/S-1938 to repeal a law regulating charges assessed by a miller for grinding grain;
• A-4673/S-3095 to address concerns regarding the assessment of buildings or structures on real property located in certain counties following material depreciation thereof;
• A-4713/S-3235 to designate the building where the New Jersey Economic Development Authority is located in memory of Caren Franzini to commemorate her outstanding service to the state; and
• A-4895/S-3056 to eliminate unemployment insurance exemption for interns employed by hospitals.

Additionally, Christie conditionally vetoed S-2214/A-3847 to require institutions of higher education and proprietary degree-granting institutions to improve transparency of tuition and fees.

  Chris Christie