Asm. Chris DePhillips

Maddy summaryThis bill prohibits New Jersey public school boards from teaching family life education, sex education, sexual health, sexual orientation, or gender identity to students in preschool through fourth grade. It directly affects school districts, students in those early grades, and current health education curricula. The bill requires the State Board of Education to revise the Comprehensive Health and Physical Education learning standards within 30 days of the law taking effect. The law takes effect immediately upon passage.

Maddy summaryThis bill revises emergency care referral standards for telemedicine and telehealth providers in New Jersey. It requires health care providers using telemedicine or telehealth to develop written emergency protocols that include making a good faith effort to facilitate contact with local emergency services and remain connected during real-time encounters until emergency services arrive. The protocols must include methods for providing patient location information, contact details, and relevant medical information to emergency responders when a patient experiences a health care emergency during a telemedicine encounter. Providers must also follow State mandatory reporting laws for suicide attempts and provide patients with 9-8-8 suicide prevention hotline information when appropriate. These requirements apply directly to all health care providers offering telemedicine or telehealth services in New Jersey.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes new ethical and financial oversight requirements for New Jersey's state authorities (including boards, commissions, and agencies operating outside main government departments). It mandates annual ethics and fiscal training for authority members - covering federal financial oversight laws and duties like contract approvals - and requires executive directors to certify yearly compliance with existing ethics orders. The Inspector General must assess internal controls across all authorities and recommend uniform practices, while the Governor's Authorities Unit reviews coverage gaps and conflicts of interest. Failure to comply could lead to removal from office or employment.

Maddy summaryACR 38 proposes a constitutional amendment to extend New Jersey's existing $250 annual property tax deduction for veterans to Gold Star families. Specifically, it would allow parents, siblings, children, legal guardians, or other legal custodians of service members who died on active duty or from combat injuries to claim the deduction - currently available to honorably discharged veterans and unmarried surviving spouses. The amendment would maintain the $250 deduction amount and limit eligibility to one deduction per family, with priority among eligible relatives determined by law. This change requires voter approval through a constitutional referendum, as it modifies the state constitution.

Maddy summaryThis proposed constitutional amendment would guarantee New Jersey registered voters the right to vote in person at their local polling place on election day. It would require voters to submit a written request to receive a mail-in ballot, rather than automatically receiving one. The amendment aims to prevent future laws or executive orders from restricting in-person voting options or sending mail-in ballots to all voters without an individual request. It does not change current voting methods but establishes these requirements as constitutional rights.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A3171) requires the New Jersey Veterans' Memorial Homes in Paramus and Menlo Park to convert at least one section in each facility to single-occupancy rooms and upgrade their heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems to infection control standards. The Adjutant General may also require additional modifications like negative pressure ventilation for infectious disease control. Funding will come first from federal block grants (including American Rescue Plan Act funds) allocated to the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, with state General Fund money covering shortfalls if needed. The changes directly affect veterans residing at these two specific facilities.

Maddy summaryThis bill appropriates $10 million from the General Fund to the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) for installing highway guard rail along Route 208 in specific towns: Franklin Lakes, Wyckoff, Hawthorne, Glen Rock, Fair Lawn, and Oakland. It targets sections of Route 208 without existing guard rail, focusing on areas where installation is deemed necessary to protect motorists and residents living adjacent to the highway. The funding allows NJDOT to bypass standard 2015 Roadway Design Manual requirements for this specific project. The bill directs the funds specifically for capital construction of guard rail along the entire route segment in the listed municipalities.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a program that helps New Jersey residents who volunteer as emergency responders (like firefighters, EMTs, or emergency management staff) pay down their student loans. To qualify, applicants must be New Jersey residents, have completed an in-state undergraduate degree or certificate, and provide proof of active volunteer service from their organization. The program covers up to $16,000 total in student loan repayment - $4,000 in the first year, $4,000 in the second, and $8,000 in the third - based on continued volunteer service, but never exceeding the actual outstanding loan balance. It directly affects eligible volunteer emergency responders who already have student debt from New Jersey colleges.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A3339, "Parents Bill of Rights Act") gives New Jersey parents and guardians the right to review and direct their child's education in public schools. It requires school districts to provide parents with a curriculum summary, allow them to review textbooks/media used, and permit opting children out of any curriculum conflicting with their conscience or beliefs - without academic penalties like grade loss or graduation delays. The law prohibits schools from interfering with these parental rights or denying requested information. It directly affects all K-12 public school parents/guardians and school districts across New Jersey.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a new fourth-degree criminal offense for using GPS or location-tracking devices to follow a vehicle with the intent to commit an unlawful act, such as domestic violence, sexual assault, or theft. It directly affects individuals who misuse tracking technology to monitor others for harmful purposes. The key provision mandates a minimum five-year prison sentence for this offense under New Jersey's sentencing law (N.J.S.2C:43-7), which is an enhanced penalty compared to standard fourth-degree crimes. The bill aims to address technology-facilitated abuse by imposing stricter consequences for tracking used in unlawful contexts.