SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4632

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 26, 2025

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 4632.

      As amended and reported, this bill requires the Commissioner of Education to establish a School Lead Filters program to provide grants, subject to available appropriations, for the purchase and installation of point-of-use filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets in public schools no later than 180 days after enactment of the bill. Public schools that wish to apply to the program are to apply to the Department of Education for a grant in a form and manner as determined by the commissioner.

      The amended bill requires the commissioner to advertise the availability of the grants to public schools, including publishing information about the program on the department’s Internet website.

       The amended bill requires the commissioner to give priority to public schools that demonstrate significant water quality issues, as evidenced by test results, reports from the Department of Environmental Protection, or reliable data sources indicating elevated levels of lead and other contaminants in drinking water, as well as to public schools that have not already installed point-of-use filtered bottle-filling stations or filtered faucets.

      The amended bill permits the commissioner to develop and disseminate guidance to public schools to assist in the development of plans for installing point-of-use filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets.  The resources may include information on factors that a school should consider when selecting point-of-use filtered bottle-filling stations, filtered faucets, and filter cartridges.

      The amended bill requires the commissioner to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature no later than six months after the end of the 2025-2026 school year.  The report is to contain information on the implementation of the grant program and information on the number of grants applied for, the number of grants awarded, and the commissioner’s recommendation as to how much additional funding would be needed to match total demand in all public schools.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

      (1)  provide that the name of the grant program is the School Lead Filters program;

      (2)  specify that the filtered bottle-filling stations and filtered faucets, the purchase and installation of which are to be financed with grants under the bill, are to be point-of-use; and

      (3)  require the Commissioner of Education to establish the program no later than 180 days after enactment instead of no later than 90 days after enactment.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      Fiscal information for this bill is currently unavailable.