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December 20, 2019

I. State Issues
II. Federal Issue
III. Annual League Conference
IV. Also of Interest

Municipal Clerks: Please forward to your Mayor, Governing Body and Department Heads.

I. State Issues

a. Marijuana Legalization Headed to the Ballot

As expected, both houses of the State Legislature voted Monday to place a question on the November 2020 ballot asking the citizens of the State to approve the legalization of marijuana. The measures both passed the respective houses by a 3/5^th majority, which means they do not need to act again and the measure heads to the ballot.

Contact: Michael F. Cerra, Assistant Executive Director, mcerra@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x120.

b. Expungement Expansion Approved and Signed into Law

Also on Monday, S-4154 was approved by both houses. The Governor, in turn, signed the new law in Newark on Wednesday. The new law establishes a process for individuals who have not committed any crimes for ten years and have only been convicted for certain minor offenses for a “clean slate” expungement. Additionally, the bill directs a task force to develop and the Administrative Office of the Courts to implement an automated clean slate expungement system. The new also requires that low-level marijuana convictions be sealed, and requires the creation of an e-filing system, eliminating fees to petition for an expungement.

Contact: Michael F. Cerra, Assistant Executive Director, mcerra@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x120.

c. Bill Allowing Municipalities to Access Property for Lead Line Replacement Heads to Governor

The Senate and Assembly on Monday approved legislation that would give municipalities the authority to adopt ordinances allowing access to private property for the replacement of lead service lines. The legislation now awaits Governor Murphy’s action.

S-4110, which the League supports, provides clear authority allowing a municipality to pass an ordinance allowing the municipality, municipal water system, or an agent thereof to enter onto property within the municipality to perform lead service line replacement. The legislation requires that the municipality provide notice to the property owner at least 72 hours prior to entering the property.

The League would like to thank the bill’s sponsors; Senator Teresa Ruiz and Assemblywoman Pintor Marin for their efforts in assisting municipalities to see that their communities are free of lead water service lines.

Contact: Frank Marshall, Esq., League Staff Attorney, fmarshall@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x137.

d. 20 and Out Expansion Poised for Senate Action

On Monday, the General Assembly approved A-6024. This bill, along with its Senate companion S-4297 would create an additional category of service retirement for Police Fire Retirement System (PFRS) employees. Under the bill, a PFRS employee who is enrolled before or after the bill’s effective date may retire, regardless of age, upon attaining 20 or more years of service credit and would receive a retirement allowance equal to 50% of the member’s final compensation.

The December 12 statement from the Assembly Appropriations Committee on the Assembly companion bill, A-6024 included a fiscal impact analysis, which was prepared by the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services (OLS). The OLS analysis stated that the bill "...will have a significant, indeterminate fiscal impact, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars, on both the State and local portions of the PFRS pension funds and the unfunded liability costs that would be charged to the State and local government entities to fund the unfunded liability created by the bill.” The public safety unions pushing this legislation and whose members benefit from this change, have countered with their own analysis, challenging the OLS conclusions.

The League has stated its opposition to the bill, which now may be considered by the Senate Budget and Appropriations committee in early January. The League will review all data and analysis related to the bill and report back to you, but in the meanwhile we ask that you bring these concerns to your State Senator in a timely fashion. The League’s Town Crier blog post has more information.

Contact: Lori Buckelew, Senior Legislative Analyst, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x112.

e. New Jersey 2020 Legislative Priorities Survey

The League’s Legislative team is your link to policymakers in Trenton. As your municipality’s primary policy decision-maker, your opinions on these issues is crucial to our efforts to represent you in the State Capital.

In his first act as League President, Hardwick Committeeman Jim Perry has directed the League to survey the State’s mayors to identify their five legislative priorities going forward. President Perry intends to prioritize these top issues to develop consensus policy recommendations for presentation to State policymakers.

Please take the time to complete this very brief survey.

II. Federal Issue

a. Federal Budget in the Books

The House and Senate have passed, and the President is expected to sign, a pair of bills that will enact the Federal Budget for the 2020 Fiscal Year, which began on October 1. After a series of Continuing Resolutions, caused by disagreements about spending priorities, these bills provide assurance that we will not experience another government shut-down – not, at least, before the beginning of the next Federal Fiscal Year, when we will be in the midst of Presidential and Congressional election campaigns.

The defense and homeland security spending bill includes $425 million for election security grants.

We note that the domestic spending bill includes provisions that might unlock Federal support for the crucial Gateway Project. This initiative was spearheaded by New Jersey Congressmen Frank Pallone and Bill Pascrell. Specifically, it would prevent the Federal Department of Transportation (DOT) from considering loans to state and local governments – loans that will be paid back with state and local tax dollars – as part of the Federal share of funding for transportation projects. DOT Secretary Elaine Chao has been requiring New Jersey and New York to come up with their shares of dedicated Gateway funding – equaling 50% of projected costs - from sources other than the loans.

Also included in the legislation are provisions originally proposed by New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith, as the TICK Act (Ticks: Identify, Control, and Knockout Act). They are meant to create a new national strategy to aggressively fight Lyme disease. In part, they will strengthen efforts at the regional and local levels to fight Lyme by reauthorizing Regional Centers of Excellence in Vector Borne Disease at $60 million over six years (FY2021-26), as well as authorizing CDC grants of $120 million over six years (FY2021-26) to build a public health infrastructure for Lyme and other tick-borne diseases.

Contact: Jon Moran, Senior Legislative Analyst, jmoran@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x121.

III. Annual League Conference

a. Claim Your CEU’s from the 2019 League Conference

Attention Municipal Officials! Do Not Forget to Claim Your CEU’s from the 2019 NJLM Annual Conference! Visit the Conference Tracking page to claim your credits.

IV. Also of Interest

a. Explainer Video on the 2020 Census

NLC has created a motion graphic video on the 2020 Census. This explainer video seeks to maintain interest and promote best practices around the Census, all while providing you with a resource to share out to your community and network.

Also, see more resources at the NJLM Census 2020 page.

b. NJBPU Announces New Incentives to Expand Local Government Electric Vehicle Fleets

To jump-start, the electrification of local government vehicle fleets, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has created the “Clean Fleet Electric Vehicle Incentive” program, which offers local governments $4,000 per battery electric vehicle and $1,500 for one dual-port Level 2 EV charging station. The application window opened on December 1, 2019, and the program will award grants on a rolling basis until April 15, 2020, or until the funding is fully committed.

To make it easier for local governments to add electric vehicles to their fleets, EVs were recently adding to the State Purchasing Contract.

Please visit the website for more information; you will also find information about the application process.

If you have questions about the incentive program, please contact Peter Peretzman at 609-984-9707 or send an email to EV.programs@bpu.nj.gov.

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