After a flurry of last-minute activity before the Legislature took off for summer break, several bills were either signed into law or await the governor’s imprimatur.
S-3814/A-5598: Kinship guardians under the Division of Children and Families; amendments to terminating parental rights
The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) supported this legislation, which requires the Department of Children and Families or the court to consider placement of children with relatives or kinship guardians when making placement decisions. It also makes changes to certain standards for initiating petitions to terminate parental rights. The bill was part of a package to combat the fallout from the opioid crisis, to help “build resiliency among children and families impacted by the opioid crisis,” according to the governor’s office. The governor signed the bill into law on July 2 and it became effective immediately.
S-3584/A-4979: Establishes immunity relating to COVID-19 spread in planned real estate developments
The New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) opposed this legislation, which would provide immunity from COVID-19 damages in planned real estate developments. Among the concerns of the NJSBA was the infringement on a person’s right to access the courts and have the matter heard on the merits, and the ambiguity of the bill, which had no end date. The bill was amended to include an immunity end date, thus answering one of the Association’s concerns. The bill was signed into law on July 1 and became effective immediately.
S-758/A-1032: Reopens workers compensation (WC) judges part of the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) and requires WC judges to be enrolled in PERS
The NJSBA supported this bill, which puts workers compensation judges back into the public pension system. The bill would help preserve experienced judges without any added costs to taxpayers, according to the NJSBA. The bill was signed into law on June 30 and it became effective immediately.
S-2725/A-4473: Concerns assessment of real property in counties operating under the Real Property Assessment Demonstration Program
The NJSBA opposed this legislation, believing it would have a discriminatory impact on homeowners due to unequal assessments and the imposition to homeowners having to comply with an interior inspection when potentially unnecessary to conduct one. The governor conditionally vetoed the measure, advocating for, and obtaining amendments to apply the requirements statewide. The NJSBA further opposed the conditional veto. The bill was signed into law on June 30 and became effective immediately.
On the governor’s desk
S-3361/A-5207: Prohibits state and local entities and private detention facilities from entering into agreements to detain noncitizens
The NJSBA opposes this bill, which would prohibit new or extended agreements with the federal government to house noncitizen detainees. In anticipation of this bill’s passage, counties have already begun shipping detainees to other facilities around the country, to places such as Georgia and Nevada, where news coverage has reported poor treatment of these individuals. The American Civil Liberties Union-NJ filed an emergent application to keep detainees in New Jersey. The NJSBA has reached out to the governor’s office to urge reconsideration of the bill.
S-3842/A-5758: Provides funding for experiential housing advocacy programs to provide legal services for low- and moderate-income tenants in need of housing assistance
The NJSBA supports this legislation as a means to address the anticipated influx of landlord-tenant cases upon the conclusion of the governor’s moratorium on evictions in New Jersey. The NJSBA pointed out that this bill would assist in the resolution of numerous cases.
S-2861/A-5390: Concerns certain restrictive covenants on real property
The NJSBA opposes this bill, which would prohibit discriminatory restrictive covenants on real property. Its opposition is based on the fact that these prohibitions already exist in state and federal laws and the belief the legislation would further confuse the issue. Furthermore, it imposes obligations on recording officers who may lack the ability to ascertain whether a restrictive covenant is prohibited, or be required to conduct burdensome research to ascertain this, resulting in recordings being delayed or denied.
S-2794/A-4367: Online plea negotiations through Judiciary
The NJSBA supports this bill, but with substantial amendments to address issues raised by municipal court practitioners. As rewritten, the bill legislates the program consistent with the Rules of Court or procedures promulgated by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC). The NJSBA has pledged to work with the AOC to address the concerns of practitioners.
S-2508/A-4250: Remote notary and electronic signatures
The NJSBA supports this legislation and was instrumental in amendments that are currently being considered by the governor. As amended, the bill would permit remote online notarization of family law documents and certain Uniform Commercial Code documents previously prohibited from being notarized via this mechanism. With regard to wills and codicils, the bill would permit remote ink notarization, but not remote online notarization. Also, the NJSBA advocated to ensure that attorneys were not required to take the continuing education requirements imposed on notaries in the bill.
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 as the involvement of the NJSBA as amicus in appellate court matters. To learn more, visit njsba.com.