Asm. Roy Freiman

Maddy summarySJR 100 designates every July as "Cleft and Craniofacial Awareness and Prevention Month" in New Jersey to raise public awareness about cleft lip and palate birth defects. The resolution requests the Governor to issue an annual proclamation encouraging community organizations, medical institutions, and advocacy groups to collaborate on educational programs and research about these conditions. This symbolic measure does not create new laws or funding but aims to foster understanding and support for individuals and families affected by cleft lip and palate.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey's State Board of Medical Examiners to allow physicians to count one optional continuing medical education (CME) credit toward their license renewal for training on menopause. The training covers menopause's physiological and psychological aspects, treatments, related health risks (like heart health and osteoporosis), and communication strategies. Physicians who complete this training would earn a credit that counts toward their required 100 CME hours for license renewal. The bill defines menopause as the natural process where a woman permanently stops having menstrual periods after 12 months without one. It does not mandate the training but offers it as an optional credit.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A3802) clarifies that certain legal service plans are not considered "legal insurance" under New Jersey law. It defines "legal insurance" as payment for specified legal services over time, while explicitly excluding common arrangements like retainer contracts, basic consultation plans, union-provided legal help, and services from legal aid offices. The law ensures these excluded services remain outside traditional insurance regulations, which require claims payments and risk assumption. This directly affects legal service providers, insurers, and consumers by preventing misclassification of routine legal assistance as insurance.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires municipal construction agencies to conduct building inspections within a 2.5-hour time window and provide 24-hour advance notice to property owners. If agencies fail to meet these requirements, owners can file complaints online with the Department of Community Affairs, which would investigate and potentially impose penalties. The bill aims to improve inspection timeliness for construction projects, directly affecting property owners, contractors, and local building departments. Agencies must establish processes to meet these requirements or face potential penalties for repeated failures in meeting inspection deadlines.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey to create an automated online platform (the "State Smart Solar Permitting Platform") to speed up approval of residential solar energy system installations. It directly affects homeowners, solar installers, and local governments by replacing slow manual permitting with instant digital reviews. The platform must automatically check code compliance, issue permits within minutes, allow 24/7 applications, and support electronic signatures - handling 75% of standard residential systems. Local agencies must adopt the platform or an equivalent alternative within 18 months, with penalties for non-compliance to fund low-income energy assistance.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows winery license holders who produce up to 250,000 gallons of wine annually to sell their wine to other wineries in New Jersey for sale on the buyer's premises, or to sell wine to wineries outside New Jersey in accordance with those states' laws. It establishes a new "supplemental wine production facility sublicense" that permits winery license holders to produce wine at a separate facility they own or lease, with wine sold to other wineries counting toward the buyer's production volume but not the seller's. The bill requires that at least 50% of a winery's annual wine sales must be produced on its own premises. Winery license holders with this sublicense pay a $750 fee and cannot sell wine directly to consumers at the supplemental facility. This change provides wineries with more flexibility in production and distribution while maintaining certain local production requirements.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A5959) requires the Governor's annual budget message to include a detailed report on revenues and expenditures from New Jersey's "societal benefits charge" - a fee embedded in electricity and gas bills. The report must show, for each of the five most recent and current fiscal years, how much money was collected and how it was allocated to specific programs: energy efficiency initiatives, the Universal Services Fund (which supports low-income energy assistance), and plug-in electric vehicle incentives. It mandates itemized spending data for each program category, including amounts committed and actually spent. This change aims to increase transparency about how utility bill fees fund public programs, directly affecting the Governor's reporting obligations and providing clearer public information.

Maddy summaryThis bill clarifies that certain licensed or regulated professionals in New Jersey can be treated as independent contractors if they have a written agreement stating this status. It directly affects licensed insurance producers, securities professionals (like broker-dealers and investment advisers), freight drivers operating from terminals, and others meeting specific unemployment law exemptions. The key provision states these professionals cannot be reclassified as employees under state law for any purpose (including wage/hour or unemployment rules) if they maintain such a written agreement. The bill applies retroactively to all existing agreements for enforcement, confirming that these professionals have historically been treated as independent contractors under state law.

Maddy summaryThis bill eliminates the statewide high school graduation proficiency test requirement in New Jersey. It removes the test from graduation standards, so students no longer need to pass it to receive a diploma, and school districts no longer need to administer it. The bill also amends school district report cards to remove test results and eliminates the requirement for out-of-school youth to pass the test for a State endorsed diploma. This directly affects all New Jersey high school students, school districts, and out-of-school youth seeking diplomas by changing graduation requirements from a standardized test to local standards developed by school boards.

Maddy summaryThis bill, the "Patient and Provider Protection Act," imposes new requirements on pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) in New Jersey. It requires PBMs to have a fiduciary duty to patient health outcomes, prohibits misleading marketing to steer patients to network pharmacies, and bans contracts with drug manufacturers that condition rebates on excluding generic drugs. PBMs must reimburse contracted pharmacies at cost or higher and independent pharmacies at no more than 5% less than contracted rates (but still at cost), and cannot block independent pharmacies from matching network prices. These changes directly affect PBMs, pharmacies (both contracted and independent), and patients covered by health plans using PBMs.