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Bills to protect newborns and exploited children also on agenda

Assembly committees Thursday will consider toughening penalties for failing to report the death or disappearance of a child, allowing New Jersey to quickly implement sports gaming should federal law be changed, promoting shared services to control property taxes and several job creation and economic development bills.

Measures to require insurance coverage for sickle cell anemia, provide for screening newborns for lysosomal storage disorders, protect sexually exploited children and improve the NJ STARS scholarship programs will also be considered.

Senate committees also will meet.

Key Assembly committee bills include:

Legislation called Caylee’s Law – after Caylee Anthony - that upgrades the penalty for failing to report a death or disappearance of child (A-4297/A4322) will be heard by the lower house’s Law and Public Safety Committee.

A bill to allow the state to quickly implement sports gaming, if a federal law banning it in the state is overturned (A-4385), will be considered by the Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee.

A job creation and economic development bill to provide tax credits for small and mid-size businesses that expand their exporting operations (A-4172) will be reviewed by the Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

A job creation and economic development measure to extend business tax credit programs to businesses who file via the gross income tax (A-4342) will be heard by the Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

A bill creating a program to provide low-interest loans to small-businesses and those owned by women and minorities (A-4343) will be considered by the Commerce and Economic Development Committee.

Legislation to help control property taxes by limiting the annual fee increases in shared service agreements to 2 percent will be heard by the Housing and Local Government Committee.

A proposal to require insurers to cover treatment for sickle cell anemia (A-1120) will be considered by the Health and Senior Services Committee at 10 a.m.

Legislation dubbed Emma’s Law that would provide for screening newborns for lysosomal storage disorders (A-2708) will be reviewed by the Health and Senior Services Committee.

A bill to require care to be provided for sexually exploited juveniles and create an affirmative defense for them against prostitution (A-3700/3934) will be considered by the Appropriations Committee. The panel also will consider legislation (A4394) that would move school board elections and budget votes from April to November and a measure to improve the NJ STARS and NJSTARS II scholarship programs (A-4283).

The Senate Labor Committee will meet to hear testimony from state Department of Labor and Workforce officials concerning the pending expiration of emergency and extended unemployment insurance benefits in New Jersey.

The upper house’s Budget and Appropriations Committee will consider legislation to restore $139 million in state aid to 11 cities and towns.

—TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM