Asm. Chris Tully

Maddy summaryBill A 3096 requires New Jersey Transit (NJT) to provide public notice and hold hearings before making significant service changes or fare increases. Specifically, NJT must hold at least two public hearings (one during work hours, one evening) for rail service curtailments or abandonments, and one hearing for bus service changes, with notices sent 15 days in advance to affected counties and municipalities. For fare increases on bus or rail routes, NJT must hold 10 geographically distributed public hearings (with specific time requirements), including five during typical work hours. This bill directly affects NJT and transit riders by mandating transparency before service reductions or fare hikes.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to conduct a five-year assessment of unregulated perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in drinking water. It specifically mandates the DEP to evaluate whether current drinking water standards adequately protect children (considering their smaller body size and higher water intake relative to weight) and determine if new standards are needed for unregulated PFAS. The DEP must submit written reports of these assessments to the Governor and Legislature, and publish them online. The bill is pending before the Assembly Environment Committee and has not yet become law.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows individuals aged 18 or older, emancipated minors, or their authorized representatives to create a voluntary nonopioid directive, stating opioids should not be administered or prescribed for them. The directive must be completed using a form developed by the New Jersey Department of Health and entered into the patient's electronic health record. Healthcare providers are protected from disciplinary action or liability if they comply with the directive in good faith, though opioids may still be prescribed if medically necessary. The bill also requires the Department of Health to publicize the program and allows the directive to be revoked anytime.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New Jersey's Public Employees' Retirement System (PERS) rules to allow temporary state employees at psychiatric hospitals or correctional facilities to qualify for accidental disability benefits. It specifically covers injuries sustained after January 2003 while working temporarily at these facilities (before becoming a PERS member), making such injuries eligible for PERS benefits once the employee gains membership. The key change deems these pre-membership injuries as occurring "during membership" if the employee joins PERS without interruption in the same job. This expands eligibility beyond current rules, which only provided workers' compensation for such injuries before PERS membership.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey death certificates to list the specific drug responsible for a drug overdose death when that information is available. It directly affects medical examiners, funeral directors, and public health officials who complete or process death certificates. The key provision amends the death certificate form to mandate inclusion of the overdose drug name under section 26:6-7(6), alongside standard details like decedent's name and date of death. This change aims to improve public health data tracking for overdose incidents without altering existing requirements for other death certificate fields.

Maddy summaryThis New Jersey bill requires health insurance plans sold in the state and the Medicaid program to cover specific family planning and reproductive health services without any out-of-pocket costs for enrollees. It mandates no deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance for services including abortion (both aspiration and medication types), emergency care for mothers/newborns, contraception counseling, genetic testing, inpatient care for mothers and infants, well-baby visits, and ultrasounds. The coverage applies to all in-network providers under insurance contracts and Medicaid, but excludes childbirth services. Religious employers may still qualify for exemptions under existing law.

Maddy summaryThis bill revises New Jersey's involuntary commitment standards for substance use disorder treatment, directly affecting adults with substance use disorder who recently overdosed or refuse voluntary treatment. It explicitly states that individuals recently treated for opioid overdose are automatically deemed "dangerous to self," requiring a clinical certificate from a physician within three days of screening. The bill clarifies that commitment must be for residential, outpatient, or inpatient treatment when other options aren't appropriate, and specifies that clinical certificates cannot be signed by relatives of the person being screened. These changes aim to standardize emergency commitment processes for substance use disorder while maintaining specific medical and procedural safeguards.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey's professional licensing boards (e.g., for nursing, engineering, and other regulated occupations) to collect national average application approval times from other states and calculate a standard for their own processing timelines. Boards must use this national average as their target for approving initial credentials, after approval by the Division of Consumer Affairs. If boards miss the target, they must use licensing fees to hire third-party experts to identify improvements, with follow-up reviews after six months. The law mandates initial data collection within six months of enactment, followed by annual accuracy reviews to ensure boards meet the standardized timelines.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows New Jersey's Government Records Council to use annual state appropriations to hire staff attorneys whose sole role is handling public record access complaints. It directly affects the Council (which resolves disputes over denied government records), people filing complaints about denied access, and government agencies (records custodians) responding to such complaints. The key provision amends existing law to require the Council to employ dedicated staff attorneys exclusively for reviewing and resolving complaints, rather than using general staff. This creates a specific, funded mechanism for the Council to process complaints about government agencies denying public records access.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey hospitals to provide mental health evaluations to patients treated for drug overdoses before discharge. It mandates that all health insurance plans - including hospital service contracts, medical service contracts, and individual/group policies - cover these evaluations at the same level as other medical treatments. The law directly affects hospitals, insurers, and patients recovering from drug overdoses in New Jersey. It ensures coverage for these evaluations without additional cost-sharing, applying to all relevant insurance contracts issued or renewed in the state.