Asm. Shanique Speight

Maddy summarySJR 29 designates August each year as "Professional Engineers Month" in New Jersey and the first Wednesday in August as "Professional Engineering Day." The bill requests the Governor issue an annual proclamation encouraging public observance of these designations. It directly affects professional engineers in New Jersey, recognizing their contributions to public safety, infrastructure, and the state's economic growth. The resolution has no binding requirements beyond the annual proclamation request and took effect immediately upon approval.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires health insurance plans in New Jersey to cover home medical care for disabled or elderly individuals (defined as those 65+ or with total permanent disability). It defines home care as preventative, primary, specialty, or urgent medical care provided in a person's home when they can't visit a health facility, excluding custodial care. Insurance companies, health maintenance organizations, and other health benefit plans must provide coverage for these services to the same extent as other medical treatments. The coverage applies to all types of health insurance contracts and requires documentation by health care professionals in medical records. This policy ensures people who need home-based medical care due to disability or age have insurance coverage for those services.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey's Board of Nursing to create a Nursing Scribe Program in partnership with approved nursing schools. Nursing students would earn academic credit for completing a course that trains them to provide documentation assistance to licensed nurses, covering electronic records, medical terminology, HIPAA compliance, and medical billing basics. The program mandates practicum hours where students gain hands-on experience supporting nurses with patient documentation. This directly affects nursing students (through credit opportunities) and licensed nurses (by providing clerical support to reduce administrative workload). The bill defines "nurse scribe services" as documentation help provided within a nurse's licensed scope.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) to inspect reports of mold infestation in health care facilities. Within six months of the law taking effect, the DOH must establish procedures for inspecting mold reports and create guidelines for preventing or removing mold in these facilities. The bill defines mold to include common types like Stachybotrys Chartarum, often found in water-damaged building materials. It applies specifically to health care facilities regulated under existing health laws, ensuring the DOH addresses mold risks that could impact patient safety.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires health insurers in New Jersey to continue providing dependent health coverage for adult children with disabilities who are 26 years of age or older. It applies to various health coverage types including hospital service corporations, medical service corporations, health maintenance organizations, and group health plans. The coverage must continue if the adult child is incapable of self-sustaining employment due to an intellectual disability or physical handicap and is chiefly dependent on the subscriber for support and maintenance. This extends existing law that previously limited dependent coverage to age 26, adding a specific exception for certain disabled adults. The bill would take effect 90 days after enactment.

Maddy summaryThe Freedom to Read Act establishes requirements for library materials in New Jersey public school libraries and public libraries, requiring school boards and library governing bodies to adopt policies that ensure access to diverse and inclusive materials. The bill defines "diverse and inclusive material" as content reflecting protected classes under New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination, materials produced by authors regardless of their protected class status, and materials containing authors' views on contemporary issues, while excluding age-inappropriate content. It creates procedures for challenging library materials, including review committees and requiring that challenged materials remain available until a final decision is made. The bill also provides legal protections for school library media specialists and librarians, granting them immunity from liability for good-faith actions and a civil cause of action against those who harass them for complying with the law.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A4626) requires construction permit applicants in New Jersey to disclose the anticipated funding sources and amounts for their projects. It directly affects developers and contractors applying for construction permits by mandating this financial transparency in their initial applications. The bill also requires applicants to certify or update this funding information before receiving a certificate of occupancy. The Commissioner of Community Affairs must develop implementing rules within 180 days of the bill's enactment.

Maddy summary# Summary of the Bill This bill consolidates definitions used throughout Title 26 of the New Jersey Revised Statutes by moving them into a single definitions section (section 1 of P.L.1947, c.177, C.26:1A-1), while removing duplicate definitions that currently appear in individual sections of Title 26. The bill adds the following definitions to C.26:1A-1: - "adult" - "Alzheimer's disease and related disorders" - "birthing facility" - "contagious disease" - "covered person" - "hospital" - "infectious disease" - "local health agency" - "local registrar/registrar" - "long-term care facility" - "Medicaid" - "Medicare" - "person" - "state" - "State registrar" - "substance use disorder" - "vital records" - "vital statistics" The bill repeals R.S.26:1-1, which duplicates these definitions and is currently applicable to all of Title 26. Additionally, the bill makes various technical updates to the laws being amended, including: - Listing definitions alphabetically - Replacing gendered language - Updating citations to other laws and regulatory agencies - Improving punctuation, subdivisions, and syntax - Updating cross-citations outside Title 26 This bill is based on recommendations from the New Jersey Law Revision Commission's report titled "Final Report to Eliminate Duplicative Definitions Sections of the Health and Vital Statistics Statute in Title 26," issued April 21, 2022. The bill would take effect immediately upon enactment.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New Jersey's invasion of privacy law to clarify that consent to being photographed, filmed, or recorded in a sexual manner does not automatically cover consent for disclosing the image. It requires that any consent for sharing such images must be explicit, specific to the purpose given, and not implied by prior consent for taking the image. The law treats the act of capturing the image and the act of disclosing it as separate offenses, each needing distinct permission. This directly affects individuals whose intimate images are taken without consent and then shared without their explicit agreement for that sharing.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands New Jersey's Family Leave Act and Temporary Disability Benefits Law to provide protected bereavement leave for employees experiencing the death of a child, miscarriage, stillbirth, unsuccessful adoption, or failed fertility treatments. It allows up to 21 days of leave for circumstances where employees wouldn't otherwise qualify for leave or benefits, or up to 7 days for circumstances where they would qualify for other leave. The leave is available to employees who are biological parents, adoptive parents, or parents through a gestational carrier agreement, as well as to their spouses, domestic partners, or civil union partners. Employers with 30 or more employees must provide this leave under the amended laws, which applies to all eligible employees in New Jersey.