Sen. Nick Scutari

Maddy summaryThis bill directs New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities (BPU) to study the feasibility of developing advanced nuclear reactors across the state. The BPU must complete an 18-month study with input from environmental and economic agencies, covering suitable locations, regulatory requirements, economic viability, safety, environmental impacts, and public input through at least three stakeholder sessions. The study will assess how advanced reactors could integrate with existing energy infrastructure and provide recommendations for a potential statewide deployment program. The bill does not fund or authorize reactor development, only directing a feasibility assessment.

Maddy summaryThis New Jersey bill (S 5006) expands employer reporting requirements to include ride-sharing and delivery platforms, requiring them to report new hires and rehires within 20 days. It mandates submission of employee names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and employer details to the state. Companies failing to comply face $25 penalties per violation, increasing to $500 for intentional false or incomplete reports. The law aims to improve data accuracy for state employment and workers' compensation programs.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey public safety answering points (PSAPs), which handle 9-1-1 calls, to create a process for accepting "alarm scores" from alarm monitoring companies. These scores, based on the ANSI/TMA-AVS-01 2023 standard, rate the likelihood of unauthorized activity detected by intrusion alarms during each activation. PSAPs must then share these scores with law enforcement to help prioritize and respond to incidents more effectively. The bill directly affects PSAPs, alarm monitoring companies, and law enforcement agencies by standardizing how alarm data is shared for emergency response.

Maddy summaryThis bill allows property owners, agents, or contractors to independently choose private inspection agencies (authorized by the state) to conduct construction code inspections instead of relying solely on municipal inspectors. Previously, this option required proving municipal delays or obtaining department approval; the bill removes those restrictions, permitting the choice for any reason. It also requires fee reconciliation if private inspections replace delayed municipal ones and maintains conflict-of-interest rules for private agencies. The change directly affects construction project stakeholders and aims to improve inspection timeliness.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires health insurance carriers and pharmacy benefits managers in New Jersey to apply third-party discounts and payments toward an individual's cost-sharing amounts, including copayments, coinsurance, deductibles, and other out-of-pocket costs for covered health benefits. It prohibits insurers from using "accumulators" that would prevent these discounts from reducing an individual's cost-sharing responsibility. The bill mandates that carriers must give credit for any cost-sharing amount paid by the enrollee or on their behalf by another party when calculating out-of-pocket costs. It also requires annual certification to the Commissioner of Banking and Insurance to verify compliance with these requirements. The bill takes effect January 1, 2025, and applies to all health benefits plans offered or issued by carriers in New Jersey.

Maddy summaryThis bill would enter New Jersey into the Interstate Physician Assistant Licensure Compact, allowing physician assistants (PAs) licensed in New Jersey to practice in other participating states through a "Compact Privilege" without needing separate state licenses. To qualify, PAs must hold an unrestricted license in a participating state, have current NCCPA certification, no criminal convictions, and meet other requirements like passing background checks. The compact requires participating states to share license status and adverse action information through a centralized data system administered by a PA Licensure Compact Commission. This would streamline licensure for PAs across participating states, benefiting those who need to practice in multiple states while maintaining patient safety through shared disciplinary reporting.

Maddy summaryThis bill modifies New Jersey's renewable energy incentive programs to expand solar project opportunities. It allows multiple solar facilities to be co-located on the same or adjacent properties (as separate projects with individual interconnections) and removes size restrictions for solar installations on landfills, brownfields, contaminated sites, and mining sites under the community solar and remote net metering programs. Electric utilities must interconnect qualifying solar projects on these sites, and developers have 33 months (with automatic extensions for utility delays) to achieve commercial operation after registration. The changes directly affect solar developers, utilities, and communities with underutilized land sites.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a Commission on Efficiency and Regulatory Review within the Office of Administrative Law to assess the economic impacts of executive branch agency rules and regulations, as well as executive orders. The commission, chaired by a public member appointed by the Governor, will review these rules to determine if their costs outweigh benefits for businesses, workers, and local governments, and make recommendations for changes to unduly burdensome rules. It will hold public hearings in different regions of the state and issue annual reports with its findings. The bill also amends the Administrative Procedure Act to require cost-benefit analyses for new rules and clarify procedures for rule extensions.

Maddy summaryThis bill increases fees for New Jersey county surrogate courts (which handle probate matters like wills and estates) and adds new fee categories. Key changes include raising the base fee for probating a will from $100 to $150 (for a two-page will) and increasing fees for services like certified copies, exemplifying documents, and reports to the Division of Taxation. These fees directly affect individuals and families managing estates, including those probating wills, appointing executors, or requesting certified documents. The changes apply uniformly across all New Jersey counties where these probate services are provided.

Maddy summaryThis bill transfers the investigative responsibilities of the Office of the State Comptroller (specifically, investigations into public corruption, waste, and fraud) to the State Commission of Investigation (SCI). The SCI, which already handles public corruption investigations, will now consolidate these duties alongside its existing authority under state law. This change eliminates overlapping oversight by combining investigative functions into one agency with a proven track record, while the Comptroller retains its core audit and Medicaid oversight roles. The bill amends existing statutes to formally redirect these investigative duties to the SCI, aiming to streamline oversight and leverage its specialized expertise.