ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 5212

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  FEBRUARY 20, 2025

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 5212.

As amended and reported, this bill provides for the expansion of social services supports at county colleges in the State.

     Under the amended bill, the New Jersey Council of County Colleges is to collaborate with each county college in the State to identify gaps in meeting basic student needs among low-income students.  The amended bill requires the council, in consultation with the Department of Human Services (DHS), to provide information to designated representatives at county colleges on available social services supports and enrollment procedures.  Additionally, the amended bill permits the council to facilitate partnerships between county colleges and State agencies, county boards of social services, or community-based and other non-profit organizations to increase enrollment in social services supports among students in need.

     The amended bill further requires each county college to work with a representative of the county board of social services to provide direct assistance to students and to help students in accessing social services supports.

     Additionally, the amended bill requires the Division of Family Development in the DHS to work with local workforce development boards and community college staff to better assist students with applications for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), Childcare Subsidy, and other available social services supports.

     Finally, the amended bill requires each county college and local workforce development board to jointly establish partnerships with workforce training providers, economic development organizations, and community-based and other non-profit organizations to assist the entities in identifying populations of unemployed and underemployed residents who may benefit from enrollment in a county college if those partnerships do not currently exist. The partnerships are to facilitate enrollment in county colleges to provide career pathways.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· require the New Jersey Council of County Colleges to collaborate with each county college to identify, rather than address, gaps in meeting basic student needs among low-income students;

· stipulate that information concerning certain social services supports provided by the council to county colleges is to be provided to designated county college representatives rather than students;

· require the Division of Family Development in the DHS to work with local workforce development boards, instead of the New Jersey Council of County Colleges, to assist students with certain applications; and

· clarify that county colleges and local workforce development boards are only required to establish partnerships with certain workforce-related entities if those partnerships do not currently exist.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that this bill may lead to increases in expenditures for various State and local entities, to the extent that these entities do not already implement efforts that are consistent with the bill’s provisions.  Costs would also be dependent on the nature in which the various entities implement the provisions of the bill.

      The bill’s requirements on county colleges to work or otherwise collaborate with county boards of social services and local workforce development boards may result in additional expenditures for these entities.  These potential costs would be dependent on the nature of the partnerships or other agreements formed between the boards and county colleges and on the extent to which these types of arrangements do not already exist.

      Finally, the bill may also have a fiscal impact on the Division of Family Development in the Department of Human Services, which is tasked under the bill with working with local workforce development boards to better assist students with applications for various social services supports.