SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4309

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 4, 2026

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 4309.

      As reported, this bill modifies the requirements for the publication of required legal notices.

      Under current law, to qualify as an online news publication eligible to publish legal notices for municipal-wide circulation, the online news publication is required to receive 4,000 unique monthly visits on average as calculated annually, no less than 50 percent of which are to be from IP addresses within the applicable municipality or within a 10-mile radius of the municipality.  This bill includes the county in which the applicable municipality is located in this calculation.  Under the bill, if an online news publication meets the county-wide circulation requirements for the county in which the applicable municipality is located, or which meets the State-wide circulation requirements, the publication is deemed to also meet the municipal-wide circulation requirements to qualify as an online news publication.

      This bill specifies that an online news publication that meets the State-wide circulation requirements is deemed to also meet the county-wide circulation requirements to qualify as an online news publication.  Additionally, this bill extends the grace period for which a newspaper utilized or permitted to be utilized by a person for the purpose of complying with any legal requirement from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2026.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill is not certified as requiring a fiscal note.