A 1212 New Jersey General Assembly · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Modifies matching grant criteria for New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust accounts.

This bill modifies New Jersey's NJBEST educational savings program to expand eligibility for matching grants. Taxpayers with gross income of $75,000 or less who open an NJBEST account will now qualify for a dollar-for-dollar match on **all initial deposits** (not just the first deposit), up to a total $750 grant. The change clarifies that all initial contributions to the account - within the $750 cap - will be matched, whereas current law only referenced "the initial deposit." It directly affects low-to-moderate-income New Jersey residents opening these accounts for education savings.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action May 4, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill → Introduced · 3 edits · Jan 13, 2026

MINOR

The bill modifies the NJBEST (New Jersey Better Educational Savings Trust) matching grant program so that eligible account holders receive a dollar-for-dollar match on all initial deposits up to a total of $750, rather than only on a single initial deposit. The remaining changes are procedural: the bill transitions from technical review status to introduced status for the 2026 session, and a statement section is added explaining the purpose of the amendment.

ELIGIBILITY

Changed the matching grant from covering only 'the initial deposit' (a single deposit) to covering 'all initial deposits to the account up to a total of $750,' allowing multiple initial deposits to be matched as long as the combined total does not exceed $750.

TECHNICAL

Added a STATEMENT section summarizing that the bill modifies the NJBEST matching grant program and explaining the difference between current law and the proposed change.

Updated bill status from 'Technical Review Of Prefiled Bill' to 'Introduced,' added 'PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION' header, and changed the committee line to 'Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.'

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

May 4, 2026

Committee

Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee

lower

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Higher Education Committee

lower

3 primary · 0 co-sponsors