A 5343 New Jersey General Assembly · 2024-2025 Regular Session

Authorizes public bodies to continue using newspapers for required public notices and legal advertisements until certain specified date regardless of format; requires submission of certain subscription data.*

This bill extends the period during which New Jersey public bodies (like municipalities and school districts) can legally use newspapers for required public notices and legal advertisements. It allows them to continue using qualifying newspapers in either print or electronic format until December 31, 2025 - expanding the prior extension that ended March 1, 2025. The law specifies that fees for electronic notices cannot exceed established rates, and no fee or registration is required for viewing digital notices online. This directly affects public bodies that publish meeting notices, bid solicitations, or ordinances in newspapers. The change provides flexibility for local governments to maintain existing notice practices while transitioning to digital formats.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Feb 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Feb 13, 2025 Last action Feb 27, 2025

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What changed between versions

Introduced Version → Reprint AAP 2/20/25 1R · 3 edits

MINOR

The Assembly Appropriations Committee shortened the newspaper eligibility extension from December 31, 2025 to June 30, 2025, and added a new requirement for newspapers and online news publications providing public notice services to submit detailed subscription, sales, and financial data to the Governor and Legislative Services Commission. The data submission is tied to the effective date of a separate pending bill, suggesting the committee wants information before deciding on longer-term policy.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed on timing (extension shortened by 6 months) but broadened on information-gathering (new mandatory data submission obligation imposed on newspapers and online news publications).

TIMELINE

The deadline for public bodies to use qualifying newspapers for required notices was shortened from December 31, 2025 to June 30, 2025, halving the extension period.

REQUIREMENT

A new section requires newspapers and online news publications providing public notice services to submit data within 30 days of a related bill's effective date, including: paid digital subscriptions by public body, unpaid subscriptions, daily retail sales, amounts billed from 2020-2024, average subscription prices, daily page views for the notices webpage since January 1, 2024, and any other information requested by the Legislative Services Commission.

ENFORCEMENT

The data must be submitted to the Office of Public Information in the Office of Legislative Services for distribution to the full Legislative Services Commission membership, creating a formal reporting channel.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 20, 2025

Lower · Passed

Reported out of Assembly Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading

lower

Feb 20, 2025

Committee

Transferred to Assembly Appropriations Committee

lower

Feb 13, 2025

Introduced

Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee

lower

2 primary · 0 co-sponsors