Sen. John Burzichelli

Maddy summaryS 4463 prohibits developers or deployers of artificial intelligence systems in New Jersey from advertising or representing those systems as licensed mental health professionals. It directly affects AI creators and businesses marketing AI tools for mental health services. The law defines "licensed mental health professional" as individuals holding state licenses in fields like psychology, social work, or counseling, and bans AI from being falsely presented as having such credentials. Violations carry penalties of up to $10,000 for a first offense and $20,000 for repeat offenses, plus potential consumer fraud penalties under state law.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New Jersey's Administrative Procedure Act to increase transparency in how state agencies create and modify rules. It requires agencies to make all public comments, data sets, and rulemaking details publicly available online, extends the public comment period for proposed rules from 30 to 60 days, and mandates detailed socio-economic impact statements including dollar estimates of costs for businesses, residents, and governments. The bill establishes a $50 million annual expenditure threshold requiring public hearings for proposed rules, and requires agencies to check for conflicts with other state or federal rules before readopting existing regulations. These changes apply to all New Jersey state agencies that develop or amend rules and regulations.

Maddy summaryNew Jersey's S 4367 bans the sale, distribution, or offer for sale of certain consumer products containing intentionally added PFAS chemicals, effective 3 years after the law takes effect. This includes apparel, carpets, cosmetics, food packaging, children's products, feminine hygiene items, ski wax, and textile articles. The bill also requires cookware with PFAS in food-contact surfaces to display "This product contains PFAS" labels with a website link, and prohibits using PFAS-containing firefighting foam for training or testing (except in emergencies). Violations carry civil penalties up to $20,000 per day.

Maddy summaryS 4368 requires New Jersey to create a public awareness campaign and a dedicated call center to help residents understand and apply for six specific property tax relief programs, including the ANCHOR program, Homestead Property Tax Reimbursement (Senior Freeze), and Stay NJ Property Tax Credit. The campaign will explain eligibility, application steps, and required documents for these programs through media and online channels, while the call center will provide real-time assistance in English and three other common languages. The bill also mandates the Stay NJ Task Force to submit annual reports to the Governor and Legislature detailing program statistics, costs, and recommendations for improvements. These changes aim to simplify access to property tax relief for eligible homeowners, tenants, veterans, seniors, and disabled residents.

Maddy summaryThis bill restructures New Jersey's electric and gas utility industries by allowing electric utilities to own power generation facilities, which would require them to file new rate schedules with the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) for approval and eliminate customer choice of power suppliers. Gas utilities can choose to discontinue residential retail choice for gas suppliers, but must file updated rate schedules with the BPU if they make this change. The bill establishes a new certificate process for electric facilities requiring utilities to obtain BPU approval before construction, including public hearings and environmental assessments. It also creates new rules for determining fault and cost recovery after accidents at power facilities, prohibiting utilities found at fault from recovering certain costs from ratepayers.

Maddy summaryNew Jersey's S 3620 requires electric and gas utilities using smart meters to establish an "Energy Bill Watch" program for smart meter customers. The program mandates utilities to notify customers when their daily usage exceeds the previous billing cycle's average (on the 10th and 20th days of each cycle), offer customizable dollar-value alerts, and include average monthly usage costs and kilowatt/therm amounts in notifications. Utilities must automatically enroll smart meter customers, provide opt-out options, advertise the program through multiple channels, and include specific billing details in all customer bills (previous cycle amount, current cycle amount, and the difference between them). This bill directly affects smart meter customers of New Jersey's electric and gas utilities.

Maddy summaryS 3587 upgrades retail theft offenses in New Jersey, including elevating "leader of organized retail theft enterprise" to a first-degree crime punishable by 10-20 years in prison. The bill creates a new offense for "fostering the sale of stolen property" (including online sales), which is a disorderly persons offense punishable by up to six months in jail. It establishes a retail theft unit within the Department of Law and Public Safety to investigate and prosecute organized retail theft, appropriating $1 million for this purpose. The bill also includes new requirements for gift card sales to prevent fraud, such as mandatory notices for retailers and packaging restrictions for both open- and closed-loop gift cards.

Maddy summarySJR 159 designates April each year as "Donate Life Month" in New Jersey to promote organ, eye, and tissue donor registration and honor those impacted by donation. The resolution requests the Governor to issue an annual proclamation encouraging public awareness activities, noting that over 4,000 New Jersey residents are awaiting transplants. It emphasizes that one donor can save up to eight lives and enhance the lives of over 75 others through tissue and eye donations, highlighting the critical need to increase donor registration. The bill does not create new laws but serves as a symbolic effort to address the organ shortage.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes clear standards for courts to determine if a rent increase is "unconscionable" (extremely unfair) in New Jersey, directly affecting landlords and tenants. Courts must consider factors like the rent amount, landlord expenses (e.g., maintenance, insurance), local rent comparisons, tenant bargaining power, property condition, and time since the last increase. It also requires landlords to prove an increase isn’t unconscionable and mandates that eviction court records where tenants win be kept private (unless landlords win at trial). The bill excludes rent-controlled areas or affordable housing programs from its rules and takes effect immediately, except for the record privacy provision, which starts six months after enactment.

Maddy summaryS 3118 prevents certain regional school districts from facing state aid reductions during 2019-2025. It specifically protects regional districts that spend at least 10% below state adequacy standards and where every constituent municipality has a property tax burden (equalized tax rate) at least 10% above the statewide average. This extends existing "hold harmless" protections - previously only available to individual districts - to regional districts formed by multiple municipalities. The bill amends New Jersey's school funding law to ensure these qualifying regional districts receive full state aid without reductions based on the new criteria.