SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 2959

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 4, 2026

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2959 (1R).

      As reported, this bill directs the State Chief Technology Officer of the New Jersey Office of Information Technology, no later than 365 days after the effective date of the bill and in collaboration with all applicable State agencies, to expand the MyNJHelps web-based application platform for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Work First New Jersey Program, and the NJFamilyCare Program, to include all State administered public assistance programs.  In doing so, the State Chief Technology Officer is required to: reformat the MyNJHelps web-based application platform as the State’s centralized online resource for applicants to access information about, apply for benefits to, and check the application status of all State administered public assistance programs; and design a single application, accessible on the MyNJHelps web-based application platform, through which an applicant can apply for all State administered public assistance programs.  The bill defines “public assistance program” to mean a program that provides benefits to low-income New Jersey residents via a means-tested eligibility process.  These types of programs provide benefits that include, but are not limited to:  healthcare, pharmaceutical, food, cash, child care, housing, and utility assistance.

      The provisions of the bill are not to be construed to alter the administrating agency of a public assistance program.  Rather, the platform established under the bill is required to provide all applicable administering agencies with access to the necessary applicant information to make eligibility determinations, as well as access to platform functions to post information regarding application status.  Moreover, the bill directs the State Chief Technology Officer to enter into any necessary data sharing agreements with applicable State agencies to comply with the provisions of the bill.  

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that the New Jersey Office of Information Technology would incur indeterminate expenses to expand the existing MyNJHelps web-based application platform to include all State-administered public assistance programs. 

      It is possible that certain expenditures incurred under the bill may qualify for federal reimbursement, as eligible administration costs for programs such as Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), thereby increasing State revenue by an indeterminate amount. 

      To the extent that existing web-based eligibility and screening tools can be utilized to develop the integrated eligibility system required under the bill, costs would be minimized.