Asm. Greg Myhre

Maddy summaryACR 17 is a proposed constitutional amendment requiring New Jersey’s legislature to hold four quarterly meetings each year solely to vote on bills certified as providing property tax relief. To qualify, bills must lower property taxes (not increase revenue) and address specific areas like education funding, pension reforms, or local government savings. If a bill passes in one legislative chamber, the other chamber must vote on it within 60 days. The amendment does not force the legislature to pass all such bills or prevent consideration of property tax legislation outside these designated meetings.

Maddy summaryThis bill reduces New Jersey's general sales and use tax rate from 6.625% to 6%, effective January 1, 2026. It directly affects all consumers and businesses selling taxable goods or services in New Jersey, including retail purchases, certain services like installation and storage, and prepared food. The key change is a straightforward percentage reduction in the tax rate applied to eligible transactions under existing tax law. This policy update simplifies the tax structure by lowering the rate without altering the scope of taxable items. The change applies to all sales and services subject to the state's general sales tax as defined in current law.

Maddy summaryThis bill shifts the cost of state-appointed school district monitors from local school districts to the State of New Jersey. When a district faces fiscal issues like audit failures, deficits, or repeated financial problems, the Commissioner of Education can appoint a State monitor to oversee finances, staffing, and operations. The bill requires the State to cover all costs - including the monitor's salary and related staff expenses - instead of forcing financially strained districts to pay these costs themselves. This change directly affects school districts in fiscal distress, preventing them from using limited funds to cover oversight costs while addressing budget crises.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires public employees or officers convicted of crimes related to their job, or found at fault in civil cases involving their employment, to repay public costs for their legal defense. It specifically targets expenses paid by the state or local government, excluding standard public defender services unless recoverable under separate law. The law allows pension payments to be reduced to collect these debts, covering both prosecution costs and illegally obtained funds. It applies to current and former state or local government workers in New Jersey.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New Jersey's 9-1-1 trust fund law to explicitly allow state funds to cover costs incurred by counties and municipalities for 9-1-1 emergency services. It permits the use of trust fund money for expenses like emergency response training, operating costs, and equipment purchases related to maintaining 9-1-1 systems. The bill establishes a priority system for distributing funds, directing them first to county, regionalized, or large centralized 9-1-1 centers, then to other local providers. This change expands the fund's existing scope to directly support local governments' 9-1-1 operations.

Maddy summaryThis bill changes where juvenile delinquency cases must be heard in New Jersey. It requires that when a juvenile is charged with a delinquent act, the case must be prosecuted in the county where the incident giving rise to the complaint allegedly occurred. Currently, cases could sometimes be heard in the juvenile's home county unless a court found "good cause" to keep it in the incident county. The bill removes this exception, making the county of the incident the mandatory location for prosecution. This applies specifically to juvenile delinquency cases handled under New Jersey's juvenile court system.

Maddy summaryBill A-1838 removes a current prohibition that prevents New Jersey state/local government agencies and private detention facilities from entering agreements to detain noncitizens for civil immigration violations. Currently, such agreements are barred under state law, but this bill would permit them. The key change eliminates the ban on immigration detention agreements, allowing entities to enter, renew, or extend these contracts. This directly affects how New Jersey manages noncitizen detention under state law.

Maddy summaryThis bill creates a special "Support Our Veterans" license plate in New Jersey, available to vehicle owners who pay a $50 application fee plus a $10 annual fee. The collected fees fund a dedicated "Support Our Veterans License Plate Fund," which annually supports the Veterans Haven Council's services for homeless veterans housed at Veterans Haven facilities. The fund, managed within the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, covers costs for veterans' housing and support programs. The plate design will be chosen with input from the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, and initial costs are offset by donations from the Veterans Haven Council and other donors, not public funds.

Maddy summaryThis bill revises New Jersey's prohibition on public contracts with entities engaging in Iran's energy sector. It lowers the threshold from $20 million to "more than $0" for goods/services provided to Iran's energy sector (including oil, gas, or nuclear activities) or for financial institutions extending credit to such entities. State agencies, school boards, and local contractors are directly affected, as they must now avoid contracts with any entity providing even minimal goods/services to Iran's energy sector. The change aligns New Jersey's policy with federal sanctions aimed at restricting Iran's energy revenue, which the bill states supports U.S. efforts to prevent Iran from funding terrorism or weapons of mass destruction.

Maddy summaryACR 70 proposes a constitutional amendment to allow New Jersey's Legislature to extend civil service hiring preferences to all veterans, not just those who served during wartime. Currently, only veterans with wartime service receive this preference when applying for state government jobs. The amendment would enable the Legislature to create a new law defining eligibility for this hiring preference, potentially including veterans who served in peacetime. This change would directly affect all veterans applying for civil service positions across New Jersey state government. The amendment requires voter approval at the next general election following its passage.