ASSEMBLY EDUCATION COMMITTEE
STATEMENT TO
ASSEMBLY, No. 3260
with committee amendments
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
DATED: MAY 6, 2024
The Assembly Education committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 3260 with committee amendments.
As amended, this bill requires the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of Education, to develop and make available to each school district and nonpublic school implementing a school lunch program or a school breakfast program, an Internet-based school meals application.
The Internet-based school meals application required under the amended bill is designed to facilitate the subsidized school meals determinations required by current law. A school district or nonpublic school has the option to implement and use the Internet-based school meals application. In the event that the school district or nonpublic school does implement and use the Internet-based school meals application, the district or school is still required to continue to make available hard copies of the subsidized school meals application required by current law.
Under the amended bill, a school district or nonpublic school, which currently provides an Internet-based school meals application, has one year from the date of the bill’s enactment to switch to the application developed pursuant to the bill.
This bill was pre-filed for introduction in the 2024-2025 session pending technical review. As reported, the bill includes the changes required by technical review, which has been performed.
COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:
The committee amended the bill to:
· revise the law amended under section 1 of the bill to conform with the provisions of section 3 of P.L.2023, c.336;
· update terminology used in the bill to align with changes made under P.L.2022, c.104 (known as the “Working Class Families Anti-Hunger Act”) and P.L.2023, c.336;
· remove the bill’s definition of “school meal application”; and
· update the title and synopsis of the bill to reflect the committee amendments.