Sen. Britnee Timberlake

Maddy summaryThe Safe Communities Act requires New Jersey's Attorney General to develop model policies ensuring safety and accessibility at key community locations like schools, hospitals, places of worship, shelters, and courthouses. These policies must be adopted by relevant state agencies (including education, health, and corrections departments) within 180 days of the law's enactment, with institutions required to post them visibly. The law aims to prevent residents from avoiding essential services or gatherings due to safety concerns, focusing on maintaining open access to public services and religious spaces. It applies directly to all covered facilities and their visitors across New Jersey.

Maddy summaryThis bill codifies New Jersey's existing Attorney General directive to prevent state and local law enforcement from enforcing federal immigration laws. It prohibits police from stopping, questioning, or detaining people solely based on immigration status, asking about immigration status unless relevant to a crime investigation, or sharing personal information (like addresses or social security numbers) with federal immigration authorities. Exceptions apply only for serious crimes (e.g., violent offenses or recent convictions) or when required by law for criminal investigations. The law directly affects all New Jersey state, county, and municipal law enforcement agencies and officers, aiming to build trust between police and immigrant communities by clarifying that immigration enforcement is a federal responsibility.

Maddy summaryThis bill, the "Privacy Protection Act," prohibits New Jersey government entities (like state agencies, counties, and municipalities) and healthcare facilities from collecting or sharing specific personal information - such as immigration status, citizenship details, Social Security numbers, or place of birth - except when necessary to determine eligibility for public services, benefits, or professional licensing. It requires that any collected data be retained only as long as needed for those purposes and prevents such records from being disclosed under the state's open records law, except in limited cases like court orders, election requirements, or with explicit written consent. Written consent must clearly explain what data is shared, why, that refusal won't cause discrimination, and that consent can be revoked. The bill also restricts sharing of automated license plate data except to other government entities under legal authority or with a court order.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a minimum daily reimbursement rate of $950 for pediatric special care nursing facilities (SCNFs) participating in New Jersey's Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare programs. It directly affects four facilities in New Jersey - Children’s Specialized Hospital (Mountainside and Toms River), Phoenix Center for Rehabilitation and Pediatrics, and Voorhees Pediatric Facility - that provide specialized long-term care to medically fragile children and youth up to age 21. To qualify for this rate, facilities must comply with state and federal requirements for licensure, patient safety, and care quality. The state will fund this increase through General Fund appropriations and requires the Department of Human Services to seek necessary federal approvals for reimbursement.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes the Office of Disordered Eating Prevention within New Jersey's Department of Health and creates a related research grant program. The office must create public resources about disordered eating (including culturally sensitive materials in multiple languages), partner with schools and mental health programs, and administer grants to fund research on disordered eating's causes and risk factors across all age groups. The grant program provides funding to eligible organizations for research focused on prevention, particularly for communities disproportionately affected like people of color, LGBTQ+ individuals, youth, and older residents. The office is required to submit annual reports to the governor and legislature detailing its activities and grant program outcomes.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey's Department of Children and Families (DCF) to expand the existing NJ Statewide Student Support Services program to include eating disorder awareness, prevention, and counseling services for students in grades K-12. Regional hubs (15 service providers contracted by DCF) must first assess community needs for eating disorder services and determine if current services meet student needs. Based on this assessment, hubs must develop policies to provide tiered services - ranging from universal workshops (Tier 1) to clinical support (Tier 3) - tailored to student needs. The DCF must adopt implementing rules, and the changes take effect three months after enactment.

Maddy summaryThis bill establishes a minimum daily reimbursement rate of $950 for pediatric special care nursing facilities (SCNFs) participating in New Jersey's Medicaid and NJ FamilyCare programs. It directly affects SCNFs providing specialized long-term care to children and youth up to age 21 who require medical services beyond standard nursing care. Facilities must comply with state and federal regulations on licensure, patient safety, and care quality to qualify for this rate. The state will appropriate funds from the General Fund to cover the increased reimbursement costs, and the Department of Human Services must seek necessary federal approvals for implementation.

Maddy summaryThis bill requires New Jersey's Department of Health (DOH) to study racial differences in ovarian cancer outcomes. The study must examine variations in cancer effects, rates, risk factors, symptoms, and treatment results among women of specific racial and ethnic groups, including Asian, African-American, Caucasian, Hispanic, Native American, and Pacific Islander communities. The DOH must complete the study and submit a report to the Governor and Legislature within one year of the bill's enactment, after which the bill expires. The measure directly affects women in these communities by seeking data to understand potential disparities in ovarian cancer care.

Maddy summaryThis bill (A560) requires all New Jersey transportation network company (TNC) drivers - like those for Uber or Lyft - to complete an anti-human trafficking training course approved by the Attorney General. The training, which can be taken online, covers human trafficking definitions, how drivers can report it, and steps to respond to suspected cases. Drivers must certify completion to their TNC; failure to do so results in being blocked from using the app until certified. TNCs must also track and document completion in driver records within 90 days of the bill's effective date.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New Jersey's Law Against Discrimination to explicitly prohibit housing and employment discrimination based on "source of lawful income." It defines "source of lawful income" to include public assistance, housing vouchers (like Section 8), disability benefits, veterans' benefits, child support, alimony, and other lawful payment methods. The law now makes it illegal for landlords to refuse rental payments based on the source of income, and for employers to discriminate against applicants or employees based on how their income is earned. This directly affects tenants and job seekers who rely on non-traditional income sources, particularly those using public assistance programs or housing vouchers.