Asm. Luanne Peterpaul

Maddy summaryThis bill increases the monthly personal needs allowance (PNA) from $50 to $140 for low-income residents in nursing homes, state psychiatric hospitals, and state developmental centers. The allowance is intended for residents to spend on discretionary items like phone calls, meals out, clothing, or hobbies. The new amount includes an automatic annual increase tied to the Social Security cost-of-living adjustment starting the year after enactment. It also ensures SSI recipients in these facilities receive the same $140 monthly allowance as Medicaid recipients, with the state covering the difference if federal supplements remain unchanged.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates an Office of Emergency Responder Survivor Support and Navigation within New Jersey's Department of Treasury to assist beneficiaries (like spouses or children) of emergency responders who die in the line of duty. The office, led by a survivor support liaison and staffed by at least three additional beneficiaries of deceased responders, helps beneficiaries navigate applications for municipal, state, federal, and private survivor benefits. It provides summaries of eligible benefits, maintains contact during the application process, and offers ongoing assistance. The office is funded with $1 million annually from the General Fund and is designated as "Captain Augusto Acabou’s, Wayne Brooks’, and Plainfield Firefighter Marques Hudson’s act" in honor of three responders.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A4594) requires New Jersey's Department of Health (DOH) to evaluate technology use in long-term care settings and mandates specific technological upgrades for facilities and providers. It requires all long-term care facilities and home/community-based providers to implement certified electronic health record systems capable of sharing health information, with funding available through DOH grants. The bill also clarifies that telehealth reimbursement parity (equal payment for in-person and telehealth visits) now applies to services provided in long-term care settings, and mandates that facilities provide internet, TV, and phone services in every residential room within six months of the bill's effective date. Finally, the DOH must report to the Legislature within 18 months on technology recommendations for improving care quality and efficiency.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a specific criminal offense for financial exploitation of the elderly in New Jersey. It defines "elderly" as anyone 60 or older with age-related health conditions or mental impairments that affect their ability to make decisions about their property. The offense applies when someone in a "position of trust" (like family members, caregivers, or people with fiduciary obligations) uses fraud, false promises, extortion, or intimidation to obtain property from an elderly person. The bill upgrades penalties for this type of theft, making amounts between $200-$500 a third-degree crime (up from a fourth-degree crime) and amounts under $200 a fourth-degree crime (up from a disorderly persons offense).

Maddy summaryThis bill requires all health insurance plans, Medicaid, and state employee health benefits programs in New Jersey to cover reproductive health care services, including abortion, with no cost-sharing (no deductibles, copays, or coinsurance). It allows religious employers to request coverage exclusions based on religious beliefs, while requiring insurers to provide written notice of such exclusions to covered persons. The bill also prohibits medical malpractice insurers from taking adverse actions against providers who offer reproductive health services, even if the patient is from a state where such services are restricted. These provisions aim to remove financial barriers to reproductive health care access while protecting health care providers.

Maddy summaryNew Jersey Assembly Bill A4584 establishes a state program within the Department of Health to address staffing shortages in long-term care services (LTSS). The bill requires the Department to implement specific actions including reviewing Medicaid payment policies affecting worker pay, identifying federal pandemic funds for bonuses, creating standardized training, expanding certification options, developing career advancement paths for direct care workers, and launching recruitment campaigns. It directly affects LTSS workers (such as nursing aides and home health staff) and their employers across both nursing homes and community-based settings. The program mandates annual reports to the Governor and Legislature on progress toward increasing the LTSS workforce supply. The bill takes effect immediately upon enactment.

Maddy summaryThis bill would create a tax credit program allowing New Jersey taxpayers to receive a 75% credit against their state income tax for donations to approved scholarship organizations. It directly affects nonpublic school students who meet income criteria (household income ≤2.6x the federal reduced-price lunch threshold) attending schools complying with anti-discrimination and anti-bullying laws. The key mechanism requires scholarship organizations to spend 95% of donations on student aid, limit administrative costs to 5%, and adhere to strict eligibility rules. The program would have been capped at $37.5 million annually (adjusted for inflation), but the bill was withdrawn from consideration on June 13, 2024, and never became law.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires all New Jersey public colleges and universities to create a policy allowing students to withdraw for serious personal issues (like illness, injury, hospitalization, or mental health needs) and receive a refund. It mandates that institutions define "extenuating circumstances" to include these specific health-related situations and establish clear criteria for determining when a student's education is hindered. The policy must refund tuition and fees for the semester of withdrawal if the circumstances prevented learning, and also provide refunds for unused housing or meal plan charges. Refunds for students receiving financial aid or state aid will follow existing federal and state refund regulations.

Maddy summaryThis bill removes an exception that previously excluded sexual orientation and gender identity from affirmative action requirements for contractors working on New Jersey public works projects. It requires contractors to include these categories in their equal opportunity programs, ensuring efforts to promote fair hiring and workplace treatment cover these groups. The change applies to all state, county, municipal, and agency-funded construction and public works contracts. Contractors must now actively recruit, hire, and provide equal opportunities without discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity, aligning these protections with existing anti-discrimination rules.

Maddy summaryThis bill provides $500,000 in supplemental funding from the General Fund to New Jersey's Judiciary for the Statewide Pretrial Services Program during fiscal year 2024. It directly supports expanding the program's capacity by increasing staffing and improving resources like electronic monitoring equipment for defendants released before trial. The funding responds to recommendations from a 2023 criminal justice report and testimony from prosecutors and court officials about insufficient resources to oversee growing numbers of pretrial defendants. The bill does not create new policy but allocates existing funds to strengthen an existing program established under New Jersey's 2017 Criminal Justice Reform Act.