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Legislation to stimulate creation of technology industry clusters around New Jersey colleges and research hospitals, streamline corporate laws, stabilize the education of foster children, promote green building and allow the state to get a better handle on the number of uninsured children and parents top Thursday's Assembly committee agendas.
The Commerce and Economic Development Committee will consider legislation to establish innovation zones to stimulate technology industry clusters around research universities and hospitals in the Newark, Camden and Central Jersey regions.
The bill (A-904) requires the state Economic Development Authority to establish three innovation zones, with each zone surrounding a New Jersey research university, college or research hospital and located in the Camden area, Newark and Greater New Brunswick.
Under the bill, the Camden area includes Camden, Glassboro, Mantua in Camden County.The Greater New Brunswick Area includes New Brunswick, South Brunswick, North Brunswick, Piscataway in Middlesex County, Franklin in Somerset County and Princeton Township, Princeton Borough, Plainsboro, East Windsor and West Windsor in Mercer County.
The sponsors noted the Central Jersey zone, for instance, would draw on such institutions as the Sarnoff Center, Rutgers University, Princeton University and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and would spur new levels of investment in Central Jersey communities along the Route 1 corridor.
"By drawing on existing research and academic facilities, we will do a better job of fostering innovation and creating new entrepreneurial opportunities," said Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula (D-Somerset), a co-sponsor. "New Jersey already boasts one of the most highly educated population centers in the country. Now we can do more to firmly establish this with new businesses, new opportunities and good jobs."
The panel will also consider legislation to permit developers to qualify for low-interest loans from the New Jersey Economic Development Authority when building a high-performance green building.
It will also consider legislation to streamline New Jersey's corporate laws to make the state more attractive to businesses. The bill is the final piece of an Assembly Democratic reform package signed into law during the last legislative session.
The bill (A-2420) eliminates the 10-day waiting period for certain shareholder actions not concerning mergers and acquisition activity governed by state law. This 10-day waiting period can create inefficiencies in transactions and delay closings while the notice period runs.
"For New Jersey to be competitive as a home for industry in the global marketplace, we need laws that will allow them to operate in real time, using 21st century technology," said Assemblyman Patrick Diegnan (D-Middlesex), who crafted the bill package. "This is common sense proposal that modernizes our law and puts and makes us even more competitive with nearby states when it comes to luring and attracting businesses that employ our residents."
The Human Services Committee will consider legislation (A-2068) to require hospitals to detail the uninsured children and parents they handle.
The bill requires a hospital, as a condition of receiving charity care funding, to file a report with the Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) on the number of:
Children who present themselves for treatment at the hospital and are deemed presumptively eligible for NJ FamilyCare; and
Parents or caretakers of children deemed presumptively eligible by the hospital for NJ FamilyCare or Medicaid coverage, who complete an application for the NJ FamilyCare or Medicaid programs at the hospital.
"If we're going to tackle this problem realistically, we need as detailed a take as possible on how hospitals are handling uninsured children and parents," said Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). "We know caring for the uninsured costs taxpayers and hospitals hundreds of millions per year, so trying to better track how many our hospitals handle is not too much to ask."
The panel will also consider legislation to ensure New Jersey foster children receive a stable education.
The bill (A-2137) would revise state policy that automatically places a foster child in the school district of their foster family. Instead, the bill would allow a child to remain in their current school if they are moved to a different foster family.
If it becomes law, the bill would put New Jersey in compliance with federal law and ensure the state doesn't risk losing about $125 million in federal aid.
Under current law, towns receiving foster children are responsible for paying for the education of foster children, causing a hardship for taxpayers in towns like Willingboro in the 7th Legislative District, which takes in many more foster children than it loses to other towns.
"Moving from school to school can be stressful for any child, but especially so for children in foster care," said Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Burlington), a co-sponsor. "With this bill, we can keep children with their friends, classmates and teachers and provide some stability amid a difficult situation. That would be healthy for them both academically and psychologically."
– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
