Again Invalidating Christie Attack on Civil Service,
Allowing Students to take Service Animals on School Bus, Help for Cranberry Farmers & Veterans Assistance Also on Tap
Bills to Ban Smokeless Tobacco from Schools & Secure Personal Health Information Also Set
(TRENTON) – Reforming the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act, seven more higher education cost control bills and a bill to toughen penalties for heroin offenses top Thursday’s Assembly voting session.
Measures to again invalidate the Christie administration’s attempt to dismantle Civil Service, allow students to take service animals onto school buses, help cranberry farmers and assist veterans are also to be considered, as are bills to ban smokeless tobacco in schools and secure personal health data.
The session is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. and will be streamed live at:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
· A3350 (Vainieri Huttle) – Requires PANYNJ be subject to NY Freedom of Information Law and NJ open public records act; and A3417 (Vainieri Huttle/Prieto/Greenwald/Johnson/Eustace/Lagana/Garcia) – Increases transparency and accountability at PANYNJ.
· A2270 (Burzichelli/Eustace) – “Aid in Dying for the Terminally Ill Act”; permits qualified terminally ill patient to self-administer medication to end life in humane and dignified manner.
· A-2803 (Cryan/Riley/Benson/Garcia) – Requires independent colleges report certain consumer information on their websites; requires information on remedial instruction to be provided by public and independent colleges; directs how remedial education is delivered at public and certain independent colleges; A-2804 (Giblin/Riley/Cryan/Benson) – Requires county colleges to develop plan to achieve three-year graduation rate of at least 33 percent for full-time degree-program students by 2019-2020 academic year; A-2808 (Giblin/Eustace/Riley/Benson) – Directs Secretary of Higher Education to study prevalence, cost, and quality of on-line courses compared to traditional classroom courses offered by institutions of higher education; A-2811 (Cryan/Riley/Mazzeo/Pinkin) – Prohibits four-year public and independent institutions of higher education from requiring students to purchase meal plans and permits the institutions to only offer meal plans in the form of a spending allowance; A-2813 (Cryan/Burzichelli/Riley/Benson/Garcia) – Requires closure of a four-year public institution of higher education that fails to achieve a six-year graduation rate of at least 50% for full-time undergraduate students; A-2816 (Cryan/Riley/Pinkin/Lagana) – Requires State Auditor to conduct audit of fees charged by public institutions of higher education; and A-2818 (Stender/Riley/Cryan/Lagana) – Requires certain undergraduate students to file degree plan and requires public institutions of higher education to develop pathway systems to graduation.
· A783/2831 (Caride/Eustace/Lagana/Andrzejczak/Mukherji) – Reduces thresholds for certain heroin offenses.
· ACR189 (McKeon/Lagana) – Determines that proposed DEP rules and regulations repealing rules and regulations concerning State participation in greenhouse gas cap and trade programs are inconsistent with legislative intent.
· A3322 (Schaer/Garcia/Lagana) – Requires health insurance carriers to encrypt certain information.
· A2605 (Diegnan/Johnson) – Establishes sexual assault training requirements for law enforcement officers.
· A1958 (Riley) – Concerns permits, letters of exemption, and enforcement with regard to agricultural activities under “Freshwater Wetlands Protection Act.”
· A3499 (Andrzejczak/Mazzeo/Johnson/Pinkin/DeAngelo) – Requires DMVA to encourage and facilitate returning service members’ registration with VA.
· A3690 (Mazzeo/Vainieri Huttle/Lampitt/Mosquera/Benson) – Allows students with disability to bring service animal on school bus.
· A305 (Mainor/McKeon/Wimberly) – Prohibits use of smokeless tobacco in public schools