SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 3457

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  NOVEMBER 13, 2025

     The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 3457 (1R).

     As amended, this bill establishes a New Jersey Out-of-School Time Advisory Commission.

     Under the bill, the commission is to consist of 22 members, including the Commissioners of Education, Human Services, and Children and Families, and the Secretary of Higher Education, ex officio, or their designees; and 18 public members appointed by the Governor, including one member appointed upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate, one member appointed upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly, and 16 representatives from various education stakeholder groups and experts in youth development. 

     The duties of the commission pursuant to the bill are to:

     (1)   assess the state of out-of-school time programs in New Jersey by reviewing the policies of all State agencies that fund before-school, after-school, or summer programs, as well as review existing research and best practices;

     (2)   recommend models for out-of-school time program design, implementation, and assessment;

     (3)   examine the existing amount of funding available for out-of-school time programs and the source of the funding; and

     (4)   examine the development and operation of out-of-school time programs in urban, suburban, and rural school districts, and make recommendations to increase the accountability and quality of the before-school, after-school, and summer programs and improve access to the programs.

     The bill requires the Department of Education to provide staff and related support services to the commission.  Alternatively, the department, in consultation with the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education and within 90 days of the effective date of the bill, would select a public institution of higher education that is willing to provide staff and related support services to the commission at no cost to the State.

     The bill directs the commission to issue an interim report of its findings and recommendations, including any recommended legislation, to the Governor, and to the Legislature, no later than one year after its organizational meeting, and a final report no later than two years after its organizational meeting. The commission will expire 30 days after the submission of the final report.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· stipulate that certain members of the commission would be appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly, instead of directly by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly;

· correct references to the names of certain groups from which representatives are to be appointed to the commission;

· extend the timeframe in which the commission is required to organize from 30 days to 60 days following the appointment of its members;

· provide that the commission is to appoint a secretary from among its members;

· remove a section of the bill requiring the chairperson of the commission to retain a consultant;

· provide that the commission’s duties include recommending models for out-of-school time program design, implementation, and assessment instead of adopting Statewide standards, and making recommendations to improve access to out-of-school time programs;

· stipulate that the Department of Education would provide staff and related support services to the commission or, in consultation with the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education, select a public institution of higher education that is willing to provide staff and related support services to the commission at no cost to the State; and

· provide that the commission issue its reports to the Legislature as a whole, not only to the Senate Education Committee and the Assembly Education Committee.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.