ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 6149

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JANUARY 8, 2026

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Assembly Bill No. 6149 (1R).

      As amended, this bill requires the establishment of a three-year nonpublic school nursing services pilot program in the eligible county permitting the establishment or utilization of a county consortium for the provision of nursing services to nonpublic schools that are part of the county consortium.  The bill requires a board of education to disburse to the county consortium an amount equal to the nonpublic nursing services aid that is paid to the school district.  Any unexpended State aid for nonpublic school nursing services under the bill would be refunded to the State.

      The bill requires the Commissioner of Education to publish on the Department of Education’s website notification of the existence of the pilot program.  The notification would provide information to nonpublic schools related to the consortium’s responsibility under the pilot program to provide all of the required nursing services to the pupils attending a nonpublic school which is part of the county consortium.

      The bill requires a nonpublic school to notify the commissioner, the governing body of the county consortium, and any school districts in which the nonpublic school is located, of the nonpublic school’s intention to participate in the consortium no later than June 1 of the preceding school year.

      Under the bill, in order to participate in the pilot program, the consortium is required to provide to the commissioner, at the commissioner’s request, the necessary assurances that the consortium is capable of complying with the consortium's nursing responsibilities under the pilot program.

      The bill requires the consortium to annually enter into a contract with an independent entity to audit the implementation of the pilot program.  The audit for the prior school year would be submitted to the commissioner no later than October 1 of each year and the consortium is required to transmit a copy of the audit to the Governor and to the Legislature.

      The bill provides that two years following the establishment of the pilot program, the commissioner is required to provide the Governor and the Legislature a recommendation on the advisability of continuing the program and expanding the program Statewide.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· modify the definition of “county consortium” to stipulate that the term means a nonprofit entity representing a group of nonpublic schools that agree to participate in the pilot program;

· generally provide for the establishment of a pilot program permitting the establishment or utilization of a county consortium as opposed to requiring the Commissioner of Education to establish, supervise, and fund the pilot program;

· require a board of education to disburse its allotment of nonpublic nursing services aid to the county consortium instead of requiring the Department of Education to directly disburse these funds to the consortium;

· require the county consortium to refund at the end of each school year any unexpended nonpublic nursing services aid that is provided during the pilot program period;

· require the commissioner to publish notification of the existence of the pilot program on the Department of Education’s website instead of providing the notification to nonpublic schools in the eligible county;

· require the consortium, as opposed to the eligible county, to provide to the commissioner, at the commissioner’s request, the necessary assurances that the consortium can comply with the requirements of the pilot program;

· require the consortium, as opposed to the commissioner, to annually enter into a contract to audit the implementation of the pilot program and to transmit the audit to the Governor and the Legislature;

· remove a provision of the bill that would have required the establishment of an oversight committee;

· remove the requirement that the commissioner produce a report on the implementation of the pilot program and instead require the commissioner to submit to the Governor and the Legislature a recommendation on the advisability of continuing and expanding the program; and

· provide that the State Board of Education would only promulgate rules and regulations as may be necessary to effectuate the provisions of the bill.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.