THE URBAN HOPE ACT: A-4426(Fuentes)/S-3173 (Norcross) The Senate Budget Committee approved the Urban Hope Act with amendments by a vote of 9-0-3. The three abstentions were Senators Kevin O’Toole, (R-40), Steve Oroho, (R-24), and Barbara Buono, (D-18). An identical version of the bill was approved unanimously by the Assembly Budget Committee. NJEA testified in support of the bill.
The most significant change made to the bill today is that Jersey City was replaced by Trenton in the legislation. Therefore, the three districts now eligible to participate in this pilot program are Newark, Trenton, and Camden.
Another amendment that NJEA favored establishes a three year sunset period. In other words, pilot districts will have three years to decide if they want to participate in the program--- after that, their opportunity will be foreclosed.
The Urban Hope Act will be voted on in both houses on Monday, January 9.
OPTION TO MOVE SCHOOL ELECTIONS A-4394 (Greenwald) would establish procedures for districts, municipalities, or voters to opt to move their annual school election to November. A district that moves its annual school election to November would not require voter approval for its base budget if the budget is under the 2% cap. Districts would still need to seek voter approval for spending that exceeds the cap at the November election. According to the bill, municipalities may move their school elections from April to the November general election by a resolution by the governing body of the municipality; a resolution by the municipality's board of education; or a petition signed by 15 percent of the legally qualified voters who voted in the immediately preceding presidential election is filed with the municipality's board of education. Towns that successfully move their school elections to November will not be permitted to move their election back to the third Tuesday in April until at least four school elections have been held in November. For limited purpose regional school districts, each of the constituent local school districts must approve moving the election to November. NJEA supported this bill which was released by the Assembly Budget Committee again, after having been amended on the floor in December. Amendments were technical in nature. The bill is scheduled to be voted on in both houses on Monday, January 9--- the last voting day of the lame duck session.
PROHIBITS SOLICITATION OF CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS ON PUBLIC PROPERTY: A-4432 (Cryan, Chiusano, Quijano, McHose)/S-3166 (Lesniak, Oroho) The Senate Economic Growth Committee approved S-3166 by a vote of 5-0-2. The two abstentions were Senators Richard Codey, (D-27) and Sandra Cunningham, (D-31). An identical version of the bill was introduced in the Assembly.
This bill expands the prohibition in current law on the soliciting of campaign contributions on public properties by candidates for office and their agents to include all candidates for elective public office and any public property. The bill also confers jurisdiction upon the Election Law Enforcement Commission to enforce the provisions of the bill. S-3166 will be voted on in the Senate on Monday, January 9.
$5 MILLION SUPPLEMENTAL APPROPRIATION FOR SUPER-GROWTH DISTRICTS: S-2868 (Sweeney) This bill, which already passed the Senate, has now passed the Assembly Budget Committee and is expected to pass the Assembly in lame duck session. It would provide a supplemental appropriation of $4 million from Property Tax Relief to the Department of Education to provide additional state aid to school districts that have experienced significant enrollment growth. The legislation would apply to districts where the projected resident enrollment for October 2011 exceeds the actual October 2008 resident enrollment by at least 13%. Districts in Bergen, Burlington, Cape May, Gloucester, Monmouth, Ocean, Passaic and Salem counties qualify, with growth ranging from 13 to 39.2%. NJEA supports the bill because it helps make FY2012 school aid allocated to non-Abbott districts fairer by increasing aid to “super-growth” districts on a per pupil basis that more closely parallels aid to other districts that did not experience rapid enrollment growth. A related bill, A-3961 (Burzichelli, Riley), was amended in committee to conform to the Senate version.