Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator HOLLY T. SCHEPISI
District 39 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Provides for voluntary contributions for taxpayers on gross income tax returns to support nonprofit organizations providing pro-life information and services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning voluntary contributions through gross income tax returns to support nonprofit organizations providing pro-life information and services, and supplementing chapter 9 of Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Department of the Treasury a special fund to be known as the “New Jersey Access to Pro-Life Information and Services Fund.”
b. Each taxpayer shall have the opportunity to indicate on the taxpayer’s New Jersey gross income tax return that a portion of the taxpayer’s refund or an enclosed contribution shall be deposited into the special fund.
c. Any costs incurred by the Division of Taxation for collection or administration attributable to this section may be deducted from receipts collected pursuant to subsection b. of this section, as determined by the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting. The State Treasurer shall deposit net contributions collected pursuant to this section into the “New Jersey Access to Pro-Life Information and Services Fund.”
d. The Legislature shall annually appropriate all monies deposited into the “New Jersey Access to Pro-Life Information and Services Fund” established pursuant to this section to the Department of Health to be used exclusively for the awarding of grants, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services and the Commissioner of Children and Families, to nonprofit organizations whose mission and operations are dedicated to providing pro-life information and services in this State.
e. As used in this section, “pro-life information and services” means educational, counseling, or referral services relating to pregnancy, childbirth, and alternatives to abortion including, but not limited to, programs and services available in this State to support children and families, adoption, and foster care.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1 next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the “New Jersey Access to Pro-Life Information and Services Fund” through a designation on the State gross income tax return. This designation would permit taxpayers to make voluntary contributions to support nonprofit organizations providing pro-life information and services in this State.
The State would be required to annually appropriate the amounts deposited into the “New Jersey Access to Pro-Life Information and Services Fund” to the Department of Health to be used exclusively for the awarding of grants, in consultation with the Commissioner of Human Services and the Commissioner of Children and Families, to nonprofit organizations whose mission and operations are dedicated to providing pro-life information and services in the State.
The bill defines “pro-life information and services” to mean educational, counseling, or referral services relating to pregnancy, childbirth, and alternatives to abortion including, but not limited to, programs and services available in this State to support children and families, adoption, and foster care.