A number of bills were passed out of the Legislature in the last week that will change the landscape of issues such as notarization, COVID-19 immunity, immigration detention centers, and much more.
S-3361/A-5207 – Immigration detention centers
The Legislature moved through a bill that would prohibit state and local entities and private detention facilities from entering into agreements to detain non-citizens. The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) urged the sponsors to reconsider the measure believing it would place those who are detained in worse conditions and leave them without proper, effective legal representation. At the time of this writing, the Assembly passed the bill 46-24 and the Senate was considering it.
S-2725/A-4473 – Real property assessments
The Senate is considering the governor’s conditional veto on the bill, which imposes requirements for interior inspections prior to challenging a real property tax assessment. The bill was initially drafted to apply only to those counties operating in a Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program. The governor’s conditional veto proposes to impose this requirement statewide, as well as to remove certain protections for taxpayers under Chapter 123 and the Freeze Act. The NJSBA urged the governor to veto the bill because of the imposition of burdensome requirements for tax appeals and also for the implied removal of taxpayer protections.
S-3049/A-5176 – Establishes a regional municipal court pilot program
The NJSBA supports the establishment of a regional municipal court program to consolidate certain municipal courts, increasing efficiency and promoting judicial independence. It supports the concept of the bill. It urged the sponsors to include language to require analysis of the pilot program before it is taken statewide. The Administrative Office of the Courts has agreed to work with stakeholders, including the NJSBA, to monitor the program.
S-3842/A-5758 – Provides funding for legal services for low- and moderate-income tenants
The NJSBA supported this measure to provide funding for experiential housing advocacy programs to provide legal assistance for low- and moderate-income tenants in need of housing assistance. The Association lauded the measure to help blunt the impact of the onslaught of landlord-tenant matters at the conclusion of the eviction moratorium.
S-3584/A-4979 – Establishes immunity relating to COVID-19 spread in planned real estate developments
The bill would provide immunity to planned real estate developments for damages arising from exposure to the transmission of COVID-19. The NJSBA opposed the bill because it carves out immunity and also is unclear with regard to the timeline of immunity.
This is a status report provided by the New Jersey State Bar Association on recently passed and pending legislation, regulations, gubernatorial nominations and/or appointments of interest to lawyers, as well