LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 5426

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: APRIL 1, 2025

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Requires State domestic violence public awareness campaign to add information on coercive control; requires annual reporting on activities of campaign and expands range of languages.

Type of Impact:

One-time State expenditure increase from the General Fund.

Agencies Affected:

Department of Children and Families.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

One-Time

 

State Expenditure Increase

At least $55,000

 

 

 

 

·       The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that this bill will increase one-time State costs for the Department of Children and Families by at least $55,000 in order to redesign the department’s existing publication materials regarding domestic violence in compliance with the provisions of the bill. 

·       Additional one-time indeterminate expenses may be incurred by the department: 1) for translation services, reflecting recommendations from the Advisory Council on Domestic Violence regarding the languages, in addition to English and Spanish, in which these publications are to be available; and 2) any initial printing costs associated with requests to replace the current publication materials with the newly designed materials under the bill.

 

 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      This bill requires the State domestic violence public awareness campaign, created pursuant to P.L.2005, c.204, to also include information concerning the recognition of the indicators of coercive control, subject to the availability of funds.

      Additionally, the bill expands the range of languages for the public awareness campaign beyond English and Spanish to include other languages that the Advisory Council on Domestic Violence may recommend, and requires the Director of the Division on Women in the Department of Children and Families to report annually on the activities of the campaign.

 

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

      None received.

 

 

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

 

      The OLS estimates that this bill will increase one-time State costs for the Department of Children and Families by at least $55,000 in order to redesign the department’s existing publication materials regarding domestic violence in compliance with the provisions of the bill.  Currently, the department provides four outreach brochures related to domestic violence.  This estimate assumes the average salary and benefits of a Principal Public Information Assistant in the department for a total of six months.

      Additional one-time indeterminate expenses may be incurred: 1) for translation services, reflecting recommendations from the Advisory Council on Domestic Violence regarding the languages, in addition to English and Spanish, in which these publications are to be available, as permitted under the bill; and 2) any initial printing costs associated with requests to replace the current publication materials with the newly designed materials under the bill.  The OLS assumes that the newly designed materials, as with the current materials, will be available in a digital format; thereby minimizing any printing costs.  

      The OLS is unable to predict the number of new languages the advisory council may recommend or estimate the costs of the document translation under the bill.  However, for reference, the OLS solicited interpretation and translation rates from one provider serving State government entities.  The provider charges $0.15 per word to translate documents into that vendor’s 12 most requested languages of Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Arabic, Russian, Farsi, Vietnamese, Swahili, Somali, Korean, French, Portuguese, German, and Italian.  Document translations also incurred an additional cost of $39.50 per hour for desktop publishing.

      This estimate assumes that the annual reporting requirements of the bill will be absorbed into the department’s general operating budget, as implementation of the public awareness campaign is an existing department responsibility.

 

Section:

Human Services

Analyst:

Sarah Schmidt

Principal Research Analyst

Approved:

Thomas Koenig

Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

 

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

 

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).