(TRENTON) – Legislation to encourage private corporations to pay for private school scholarships for low-income students in chronically failing public schools and a bill package to promote electric cars in New Jersey top the Assembly’s Thursday committee agendas.
Also on tap are hearings to update this year’s state budget situation and discuss higher education concerns and legislation to encourage local government consolidation, create a drug treatment program for nonviolent offenders and authorize free state park admission and hunting for veterans.
The hearings are slated to begin at 10 a.m.
They will be streamed live at http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/media/live_audio.asp.
Highlights include:
· The Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee will meet at 1:30 p.m. to consider the Opportunity Scholarship Act (A-2810) sponsored by Assembly Democrats Angel Fuentes (D-Camden/Gloucester) and Gary Schaer (D-Passaic/Bergen/Essex).
· The Assembly Appropriations Committee will meet at 2 p.m. to consider a 6-bill package to promote electric car sales and usage in New Jersey (A-3647-3648-3649-3650-3651 and AR-133).
· The panel will also consider legislation (A-2695) to authorize free state park admission and hunting for veterans. It’s sponsored by Assemblymen Matthew W. Milam and Nelson Albano (D-Atlantic/Cape May/Cumberland).
· The Assembly Budget Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to hear from the legislative budget officer on state budget revenues and other budget concerns.
· The Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to consider legislation sponsored by Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) and Craig J. Coughlin (D-Middlesex) to require health care facilities to report more data on infections to the state (A-2890).
· The Assembly Higher Education Committee will meet at 10 a.m. to hear testimony on President Obama’s plan to have county colleges throughout the country graduate an additional 5 million students by 2020. It will also continue taking testimony on the New Jersey Higher Education Task Force’s final report.
· The Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee will consider legislation (A-3539) sponsored by Connie Wagner (D-Bergen) and a bill (A-3587( sponsored by Wagner and Vainieri Huttle to make it easier for local governments to consolidate.
· The Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee will consider legislation (A-3703) sponsored by Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Mercer), Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), Albert Coutinho (D-Essex) and Wagner to create the “Earn Your Way Out of Prison Into Supervision, Treatment and Recovery Program.”
Complete agendas can be found at:
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/legislativepub/legcal.asp.
