Sen. Joe Lagana

Maddy summaryNew Jersey's S 1475, the "Consumer Legal Funding Act," regulates companies that provide non-recourse funding to residents with pending lawsuits. It requires contracts to include a 5-day rescission period (allowing cancellation without penalty), clear fee disclosures, and written attorney acknowledgments verifying proper disclosure and contingency billing. The bill bans funding companies from paying referral fees to attorneys or misleading advertising, and prohibits them from influencing legal case decisions. This directly affects New Jersey consumers with active legal claims, funding companies, and their attorneys by establishing transparency and consumer protections in this financial service.

Maddy summaryNew Jersey's S 3674 designates the "9/11 Heart Symbol" flag - a white banner with a red heart displaying "9-11-01 Never Forgotten" and twin tower imagery - as an official state flag for remembrance. It directly affects all public buildings in the state that honor 9/11 victims, including state memorials, the State House in Trenton, and main municipal and county buildings. The bill mandates that this flag be displayed during normal business hours on September 11th each year at these locations. The measure focuses solely on ceremonial recognition of the 9/11 attacks, with no additional policy changes or funding requirements.

Maddy summaryBill S 3407 requires that workers on projects financed through New Jersey's Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) program receive prevailing wage rates. The bill amends existing law to classify C-PACE financing as "authority financial assistance" subject to prevailing wage requirements under state law. This applies to all workers involved in construction and installation projects funded through the C-PACE program, including those for energy efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation, and resiliency improvements. The prevailing wage rate, determined by the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, will apply to all such projects. The bill ensures workers on clean energy projects receive fair compensation aligned with local wage standards.

Maddy summaryThis bill amends New Jersey's bias intimidation law to specifically include Sikhism as a protected class, alongside existing categories like race, religion, and sexual orientation. It requires law enforcement to properly classify anti-Sikh hate crimes and provides $100,000 annually for three years to fund Sikh awareness education and outreach initiatives. The bill mandates training for law enforcement on Sikh identity features (such as turbans and beards) to prevent misclassification of hate incidents. It also requires public entities to incorporate anti-Sikh hate definitions into their bias policies and directs the Attorney General to develop educational programs about Sikhism for schools. These measures address the fact that Sikhs are the second-most targeted religious group for hate crimes in the U.S., with 198 anti-Sikh hate incidents reported by the FBI in 2023.

Maddy summaryS 2822 increases the maximum contingency attorney fee cap in New Jersey workers' compensation cases from 20% to 25% of the settlement or award amount. This directly affects attorneys representing injured workers who typically work on a contingency basis (paid only if they win the case). The bill amends R.S. 34:15-64 to adjust this fee limit, which has not been updated since its original establishment. The change applies to all pending and future workers' compensation claims after enactment.

Maddy summaryS 3491 establishes legal protections for patients and healthcare providers accessing or providing reproductive health care (including abortion) and gender-affirming health care services in New Jersey. The bill defines "legally protected health care activity" as services lawful in New Jersey, regardless of where the patient resides, and creates criminal penalties for interfering with access to these services (such as obstructing facilities, intimidating patients, or recording individuals without consent). It also prohibits New Jersey from extraditing people for providing or seeking these services, protects patient privacy regarding these services, and specifies that fertilized eggs, embryos, or fetuses cannot have independent legal rights under New Jersey law. The bill applies to all individuals seeking or providing these services within New Jersey, including those traveling from states with restrictions on reproductive or gender-affirming care.

Maddy summaryThis bill expands New Jersey's definition of "burglar's tools" to explicitly include devices or programs that can bypass keyless locking mechanisms. It makes it a crime to manufacture, sell, or publish instructions for such tools (a fourth-degree offense punishable by up to 18 months in jail or a $10,000 fine), while merely possessing them is a lesser disorderly persons offense (up to 6 months jail or $1,000 fine). The law directly affects individuals or businesses creating, distributing, or sharing tools designed to access properties without physical keys. It specifically targets technology that exploits keyless lock systems, such as electronic bypass devices. The changes take effect immediately upon enactment.

Maddy summaryS 3460 requires New Jersey's Attorney General to study residential burglaries and issue regular reports to inform law enforcement and the public. The study must collect detailed data from 2018 onward, including burglary times, weapons used, injuries, property damage values, and charges filed, broken down by county. The Attorney General must submit an initial report within six months of the bill's enactment, followed by annual reports. These reports will include statistics, summaries of current prevention efforts, and recommendations for reducing residential burglaries statewide.

Maddy summaryThe New Jersey Student Support Act creates a tax credit program allowing New Jersey taxpayers to claim 75% of their contributions (minimum $100) to approved student support organizations that award scholarships. These scholarships are for New Jersey students from low-income families (household income not exceeding 2.6 times the federal reduced-price lunch guidelines) attending participating nonpublic schools that meet specific eligibility criteria. The program limits total annual tax credits to $37.5 million and requires scholarship organizations to spend no more than 5% of contributions on administration. The bill also establishes a separate $37.5 million annual grant program for public school districts with high poverty rates to fund student support services like tutoring and counseling.

Maddy summaryS 3356 amends New Jersey's Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights Act to exclude full-time students (in any educational level) and au pairs from the legal definition of "domestic worker." It also removes a provision requiring employers to share joint liability for violations of the law. These changes mean the bill's workplace protections and enforcement mechanisms will no longer apply to full-time students or au pairs. The bill takes effect July 1, 2024.