Asm. Dawn Fantasia

Maddy summaryThis bill (A5148) allows 12th-grade students in New Jersey public schools to have excused absences for military enlistment activities without penalty. It directly affects students planning to join the U.S. Armed Forces or National Guard, covering required activities like testing, medical evaluations, interviews, and fingerprinting. The absence is recorded as excused on attendance records, does not appear on transcripts or employment forms, and is excluded from perfect attendance calculations. Schools may require documentation to verify the student's eligibility under this provision. The bill takes effect immediately upon enactment.

Maddy summaryThis bill designates a specific bridge over Crosswicks Creek on Interstate Highway Route 295 North (between Bordentown and Hamilton townships) as the "Benjamin Moore and the 693rd Sapper Company Memorial Highway." It honors Army Specialist Benjamin Moore, who died in Afghanistan in 2011, and his unit, the 693rd Sapper Company, recognizing Moore's military service and community emergency response work in New Jersey. The bill explicitly prohibits using state or public funds for the memorial signs, requiring private donations or grants to cover all associated costs for producing, installing, and maintaining the signage.

Maddy summarySJR 71 designates the first full week of May each year as "Wounded Warrior Appreciation Week" in New Jersey to honor veterans who sustained physical or mental injuries while serving. The resolution requests the Governor issue a proclamation encouraging public awareness and support for wounded veterans adjusting to civilian life. It does not create new programs or funding but formally recognizes the challenges faced by veterans, including those with combat-related stress, depression, or traumatic brain injuries. This ceremonial designation applies statewide and became law in December 2024.

Maddy summarySJR 103 is a symbolic resolution declaring New Jersey a "Purple Heart State" to honor veterans and active-duty service members from New Jersey who have received the Purple Heart Medal. The Purple Heart Medal is awarded by the President to those wounded or killed in combat, and this resolution recognizes their sacrifices without creating new benefits or programs. It builds on New Jersey's existing connections to the national "Purple Heart Trail" (a network of roads and monuments honoring recipients), which includes locations in the state and stems from a 1992 convention held in Cherry Hill. The resolution takes effect immediately and serves as a formal state acknowledgment of these veterans' service.

Maddy summaryThis bill would expand eligibility for New Jersey veterans' benefits by removing specific time periods and locations that veterans must have served in to qualify for certain civil service and pension benefits. Instead of requiring service during particular wars or in specific conflict zones, the bill would allow veterans who have served in federal active duty in any branch of the U.S. Armed Forces or Reserve component to qualify. This change would impact civil service preferences, retirement benefits through the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund and Public Employees' Retirement System, and the ability to purchase military service credit for retirement. It would make it easier for veterans of more recent conflicts to access these benefits.

Maddy summaryThe "Small Modular Nuclear Energy Incentive Act" (A5103) establishes a program for New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities to incentivize construction of small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs) through a competitive bidding process. The bill directs the BPU to develop a program within one year of enactment, offering financial incentives per megawatt hour of electricity produced, with preference given to projects at former nuclear or fossil fuel plant sites and those that retrain former plant workers. Incentives would be funded from the "Global Warming Solutions Fund," which collects revenue from New Jersey's Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative participation. Selected SMR projects would be required to pay an annual administrative fee to cover program costs and could not sell environmental benefits associated with their energy production. The program must begin its first solicitation within two years of the bill's effective date.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires all New Jersey police departments (including municipal, county, and state agencies) and educational institutions with appointed police officers to adopt formal policies cooperating with federal immigration authorities. It mandates that these agencies comply with federal requests for information or assistance related to immigration enforcement. The bill also provides legal protections: the state must defend officers in civil lawsuits arising from cooperation (if no intentional misconduct occurred) and cover any settlements or judgments against them under the same conditions. It defines "law enforcement officer" as those with arrest powers under state law. The policy applies to all covered agencies without exception.

Maddy summaryNew Jersey's A5055, the "Students with Communication Disabilities' Bill of Rights," requires school districts to ensure students with communication disabilities (such as those with hearing, vision, or speech impairments) can fully participate in education using their preferred communication methods. Key provisions mandate schools to provide trained communication assistants familiar with each student's primary method (like sign language, AAC devices, or speech-generating tools), include communication plans in Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and 504 plans, and offer early screenings and ongoing assessments of communication needs. The law also ensures students have full access to all school activities - including extracurriculars, lunch, and announcements - using their preferred communication method. The bill clarifies it does not expand rights beyond existing federal protections under the ADA, IDEA, and Section 504.

Maddy summaryThis bill would allow restaurants and licensed alcoholic beverage retailers (including bars, wineries, breweries, and distilleries) to operate in designated outdoor spaces adjacent to their business premises, including on public sidewalks. It creates a "premises expansion permit" process requiring applications to either the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (for licensed businesses) or municipal zoning officers (for restaurants without alcohol licenses), with requirements for security plans and property descriptions. Municipalities may regulate hours of operation but must allow outdoor service outside specific hours (10pm-11am on Sundays-Wednesdays, and 12am-11am on Thurs-Sat), and cannot prohibit outdoor service for businesses already operating under legal or disciplinary restrictions. The bill specifies that State-owned rights-of-way require separate approval from the New Jersey Department of Transportation, with setback requirements for roads intersecting state highways.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires contractors and subcontractors working on public projects covered by New Jersey's prevailing wage law to hold a mandatory orientation meeting for each new employee on their first day of work. The meeting must explain the employee's wages and job classification under the prevailing wage law, and the employee must sign a form confirming they received the information. Contractors must retain these signed forms for at least five years and provide them to the Department of Labor upon request. The law aims to ensure new employees understand their wage rights from the start of their employment.