On Thursday, March 7 at noon, the League is hosting a 90-minute Lunch & Learn briefing to discuss priority League legislation: reauthorization of the Transportation Trust Fund (TTF), affordable housing reform, and Open Public Records Act (OPRA) reform. All are scheduled for consideration in the next two weeks.
Transportation Trust Fund. The Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee will consider A-4011 on Thursday. This bill reauthorizes the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund (TTF) for five years with an increase of 1.9 cents per gallon each year, as well as the creation of an annual $250 registration fee for zero-emission vehicles that increases an additional $10 each year for the duration of this legislation. S-2931, the Senate counterpart, is scheduled to be considered on Monday in the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. The reauthorization is consistent with past League Conference Resolutions that support robust transportation funding through the TTF to ensure that transportation funding is not borne solely by local property taxpayers.
Affordable Housing Reform. The League has been working with the sponsors of the affordable housing legislation and our membership to address local government concerns. We continue working with the sponsors to address methodology, available data sets, ambiguities regarding municipal responsibility, and other issues of concern. Both A-4, which passed the Assembly last month and S-50 will be considered by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Monday, March 11. Further amendments are anticipated but are not yet available.
OPRA Reform. Senate President Scutari and Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo introduced S-2930. It is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Monday, March 11. The League supports this legislation as it gives greater discretion to records custodians regarding duplicate and anonymous requests; encourages that documents be placed online and provides funding to facilitate that goal; prohibits records requests made by data brokers who take the information for commercial purposes; increases the membership of the Government Records Council; establishes a Police Record Access Improvement Task Force; and implements recommendations from the Privacy Study Commission to provide privacy protections for our residents. The Assembly counterpart, A-4045, has been introduced and referred to the Assembly State and Local Government Committee. The League is supportive of these efforts to modernize a more than two-decade-old records law.
The Lunch & Learn is free to League membership and affiliate members with advanced registration. You will receive the webinar link about one hour before the program is scheduled to begin.
Contact: Mike Cerra, Executive Director, mcerra@njlm.org, 609-695-3481, x120.