Asm. Reginald Atkins

Maddy summaryThis bill requires nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and similar long-term care centers in New Jersey to meet with each resident at least once yearly to verify if their existing "proxy directive" (a document naming a person to make decisions if they lose capacity) remains accurate and up-to-date. It directly affects residents of these facilities and the facilities themselves, without mandating that residents create or maintain a proxy directive. The key provision is the annual review meeting, defined by the bill's language, to ensure residents' chosen decision-makers reflect their current wishes. The bill takes immediate effect and does not change existing requirements for residents to have a proxy directive.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires each New Jersey state cabinet department to create a dedicated office focused on language and disability access. It directly affects state departments, employees, and people with disabilities who receive state services or work for the state. The office must develop an access plan aligned with federal disability law, implement communication support (like interpreters and translations), ensure physical accessibility, and submit annual public reports on progress. The office head must be fully dedicated to this role and qualified by experience. The law takes effect six months after enactment, giving departments time to prepare.

Maddy summaryBill A2440 requires New Jersey's Department of Community Affairs to add specific language to the annual Truth-in-Renting Guide about housing discrimination related to rental subsidies. It mandates that the guide explicitly state it is unlawful for landlords to refuse to rent to tenants using housing vouchers (like Section 8) or to advertise such refusal, as these qualify as a "source of lawful income" protected under New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination. The bill adds this detail to the existing guide, which currently covers general anti-discrimination protections but lacks this specific information about voucher discrimination. This change directly affects landlords, tenants, and the public by clarifying prohibited practices in rental transactions. The requirement applies to the guide's annual update, which is posted online in English and Spanish.

Maddy summaryACR 69 is a New Jersey resolution urging the U.S. President to expand access to free menstrual products in schools. It cites that lack of access causes absenteeism (affecting over half of high school students who menstruate) and health risks like infections, particularly for low-income students. The resolution does not create new law but seeks to encourage federal action under Title IX, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education. It specifically recommends ensuring menstrual products are available in all school restrooms to support educational equity.

Maddy summaryNew Jersey's A1683 requires the Department of Transportation (DOT) to create a program for building wildlife crossings - like tunnels, overpasses, or fenced pathways - on state roads. The DOT must prioritize projects on high-collision roads or those fragmenting habitats of threatened/endangered land animals, publishing this list within 12 months. Within 24 months, the DOT must begin constructing at least one priority project and continue until all listed projects are completed. The bill also mandates seeking federal grants (under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act) and including annual funding requests for the program in future budgets.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey public school districts to include age-appropriate bullying awareness and prevention education in all grades (preschool through 12) as part of their Comprehensive Health and Physical Education curriculum. It specifies that lessons must cover bullying definitions, types (including physical, verbal, social, and cyberbullying), the lasting harm of online harassment, how to seek help, and consequences for bullies. Schools must also address how bullying worsens when tied to intolerance of differences in race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or ability. The state education commissioner will provide sample lesson materials, and the law takes effect in the first full school year after enactment.

Maddy summaryACR 68 is a resolution urging the New Jersey Secretary of Higher Education and the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) Board to study current EOF program rules. It specifically targets regulations that treat high school graduates who earned associate degrees through dual enrollment programs as lower-priority students for funding - placing them in the lowest funding tier instead of the second tier reserved for first-time freshmen. This rule creates a disincentive for students to participate in dual enrollment and other college readiness programs (like P-TECH or Advanced Placement) that the state actively promotes. The resolution requests a study to modernize these rules and align them with current educational policy goals, with findings to be shared with legislative committees.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a separate fringe benefit rate for New Jersey's public higher education institutions (including Rutgers and NJIT) that reflects the actual cost of employee retirement programs. It requires public colleges and universities to pay for health care benefits for eligible part-time faculty members, including adjuncts and lecturers, who teach at least 24 credits in the prior fiscal year and 12 credits between July 1 and December 31 of the current year. Under the bill, these faculty members would be considered "full-time" for health benefits purposes, shifting the cost from the faculty to the employer. The State Health Benefits Commission will establish rules for billing institutions based on the number of credits taught by qualifying faculty members. The bill takes effect immediately.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey nursing homes to include their most recent federal cost report (submitted to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) in their annual financial report to the state Department of Health. Nursing homes must also file separate cost reports for central or home offices if those costs are reported on the nursing home's cost report. The Department of Health will then compile this data into an annual public report showing aggregated spending trends by region and county (without naming individual facilities) and publish it online for transparency.

Maddy summaryThis bill changes New Jersey's unemployment benefits rules for workers who leave one job to accept another, but the second job offer is rescinded through no fault of the employee. It allows these workers to receive unemployment benefits in this situation, which was previously uncertain under the law. The bill increases the allowable time period between leaving the first job and the start of the second job from seven days to ten days. This change codifies a 2019 court decision (McClain v. Bd. of Review) that established this right for workers facing rescinded job offers. The bill directly affects workers who experience job offer rescissions without their own fault.