SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1380

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 15, 2025

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1380.

      As reported, this bill would create a “Civil Air Patrol Fund” within the Department of Military Affairs.  Under the bill, the “Civil Air Patrol Fund” is a non-lapsing fund which is to be credited with all monies appropriated annually by the Legislature, federal and other grants received by the State, and any donations made by members of the public.  This bill would require an appropriation to the fund of $100,000 annually from the General Fund.  The monies in the “Civil Air Patrol Fund” will be used by the Department of Military Affairs to provide support and funding to the New Jersey Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.  The bill also appropriates $100,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Military Affairs to implement the provisions of the bill.

      The Civil Air Patrol was founded in 1936 by Gill Robb Wilson, a World War I aviator and the New Jersey director of aeronautics.  Wilson envisioned mobilizing America’s civilian aviators for national defense and shortly after, launched his national program.  The Civil Air Patrol was approved by the federal government and national recruiting began on December 8th, 1941. Since the program’s inception, the Civil Air Patrol has played key roles in World War II, the Cold War, and national defense in a post-9/11 world.  Today, the Civil Air Patrol continues to have a profound impact by aiding in mobilizations for COVID-19 by delivering supplies, building and staffing field hospitals and transporting vaccine vials.  The Civil Air Patrol also develops pertinent new programs and new technology, such as multispectral imaging for post-disaster damage assessment.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill creating a non-lapsing Civil Air Patrol Fund within the Department of Military Affairs would result in a State expenditure increase of up to $100,000 in the first year of implementation and indeterminate cost increases thereafter.

      If the full $100,000 appropriation is not expended in the first year, the residual amount will be spent in subsequent fiscal years until the full $100,000 is exhausted.