5 Bill Proposals In NJ: School-Funded Tampons, New Fentanyl Penalties

NEW JERSEY — Here are 5 bills in the New Jersey Legislature that lawmakers are considering this week.

Bills increasing penalties for fentanyl and heroin distribution, creating guidelines for major warehouse applications, and providing free menstrual supplies are before legislators this week.

Increasing fentanyl penalties

A Democrat-sponsored bill before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee this week (S3325) would bring tougher penalties to people distributing, manufacturing, or possessing fentanyl in the state.

Under current state law, making or distributing up to an ounce of fentanyl (28 grams) is a second-degree crime that carries a five to 10 year sentence in prison.

The proposal would make it a first-degree crime to make or distribute more than 10 grams of fentanyl (about 0.35 ounces) or 100 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture, which could mean a 10-20 year prison term. Distribution or manufacturing between five and 10 grams of fentanyl would be a second-degree crime, with a potential sentence between five and 10 years in prison.

Possessing more than 10 grams of fentanyl would be a crime of the first degree under the bill, and possessing under 10 grams of fentanyl would be a third-degree crime.

“The sponsor’s intent is not to target or punish fentanyl users who could benefit from drug rehabilitation,” sponsors Paul Sarlo and Joseph Lagana wrote. “Rather, the sponsor’s express intent is to target drug distributors.”

Sarlo emphasized this at a Senate committee hearing in February after receiving pushback from drug harm reduction advocates, as the New Jersey Monitor reported.

“We’re not going after folks with addiction or mental health,” he said. “We’re looking at the repeat offenders who are creating these networks and trafficking young kids.”

Where’s this bill? In the Senate Budget and Appropriations committee, and on the schedule for discussion Tuesday.

Who sponsored it? Senators Paul A. Sarlo (D-NJ-36) and Joseph A. Lagana (D-NJ-38). There is no Assembly version at this time.

Increased penalties for heroin and “heroin mixtures”

A separate Democrat-sponsored bill in both chambers of the legislature (S 3096/ A 3168) would upgrade penalties for crimes which involve heroin and fentanyl, and certain heroin mixtures.

This bill would make it a first-degree crime to manufacture, distribute, or dispense; or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, heroin or its analogs in amounts of 10 grams or more. Current state law sets the amount to five ounces or more (141.7 grams) for a first-degree offense. This includes heroin mixtures that do not include fentanyl, but are cut with a different substance. First-degree crimes of this nature would be punishable by a term of 10-20 years in prison, and a fine up to $500,000.

Similarly to the aforementioned fentanyl-focused bill, this proposal reduces the amount threshold for a second-degree manufacturing, distribution, or dispensation crime related to heroin and heroin mixtures. Current state law has that threshold at more than half an ounce, but less than five ounces. The bill would reduce the amount threshold to 5 grams (0.176 ounces) or more, but less than 10 grams (0.35 ounces).

Speakers at a Senate Judiciary Commission hearing in February said this legislation would cut off services for people struggling with addiction by putting them in jail instead of getting them social services to help them.

Caitlin O’Neill, co-director of the New Jersey Harm Reduction Coalition, said this bill and others like it would “destroy the people who use drugs and the people who live in neighborhoods targeted by the drug overdose,” as quoted in the New Jersey Monitor.

The bill would also create eligibility for recovery court (formerly called drug court) for people convicted of a first-degree crime related to manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a variety of substances including heroin or fentanyl.

A “heroin mixture” is defined in the bill as “a substance containing heroin, or its analog, and at least one other controlled dangerous substance classified as a narcotic drug, or its analog, resulting in the consumption of two or more controlled dangerous substances or analogs.”

Where’s this bill? In the Senate, it passed the Judiciary Committee 9-1 and is now before the Budget and Appropriation Committee. In the Assembly, it has been referred to the Judiciary Committee. Neither version is on the docket for this week’s legislative sessions according to Monday’s calendar.

Who sponsored it? In the Senate, Vin Gopal (D-NJ-11) and Brian P. Stack (D-NJ-33). In the Assembly, John F. McKeon (D-NJ-27), Annette Quijano (D-NJ-20) and Shama A. Haider (D-NJ-37).

Addressing warehouse development in New Jersey

Two bills are aimed at slowing the spread of warehouses, which have been springing up in communities across the state – fueled in part by e-commerce and the growing need for online order fulfillment. More than 100 additional warehouses totaling 26.5 million square feet of space will be built over the next several years in New Jersey, said a report from Costar.

The first bill in both chambers of the New Jersey Legislature (S 3664/A 5337) establishes new review processes for developments of certain “large warehouses,” defined as large facilities “designed predominantly for receiving and storing goods and materials before they are sold, used, or redistributed.”

The bill directs municipalities to re-examine their master plans and development regulations upon receiving a development application for a warehouse, and make a report to the State Planning Commission saying how the municipality incorporates the commission’s guidelines if the master plan has not been updated in the past year. Planning boards would have to consider the number and nature of variances granted in their municipality in the last 12 months.

A planning board would be required to deliver a report to the municipality within 90 days of receiving an application for a large warehouse, and the governing body would be able to amend development regulations within another 90 days of receiving the report.

This bill is retroactive. It would also direct municipalities who have received an application for a large warehouse in the last 60 months, but have not performed a “municipal-wide revaluation or municipal-wide reassessment of all real property in the municipality,” to do so immediately.

The New Jersey Business and Industry Association said this bill “establishes a more burdensome review process for warehouse development.”

“What is needed are not efforts to stop warehouses, but for everyone to work together to ensure they are properly located near highway systems and otherwise developed to minimize impacts on surrounding communities,” said NJBIA Deputy Chief Government Affairs Officer Ray Cantor.
There are versions of this bill in the Assembly and Senate.

Where’s this bill? Up for discussion in the Senate Monday. In the Assembly, it’s in the State and Local Government Committee.

Who sponsored it? In the Senate, Troy Singleton (D-NJ-7). In the Assembly, Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D-NJ-15), Anthony S. Verrelli (D-NJ-15), and Reginald W. Atkins (D-NJ-20).

Regulatory guidance for approving warehouse applications

Another set of bills (S 3468/ A 5028) directs the State Planning Commission to either adopt regulations or publish guidance for municipal planning boards and other agencies to consider warehouse applications.

Municipalities could use guidelines to address both community benefits and concerns from residents about what a warehouse could mean in their community, the bill states.

Sponsor Sam Thompson (D-NJ-12) said this bill is designed to give New Jersey towns guidance and enhance the ability of local governments to make decisions on if warehouses will be built in their communities in an interview with NJBiz.com.

Where’s this bill? In the Senate, passed the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee on March 3. In the Assembly, sitting in the Assembly Community Development and Affairs Committee.

Who sponsored it? In the Senate, Democrats Troy Singleton and Samuel Thompson. In the Assembly, Alex Sauickie (R-NJ-12) and Joe Danielsen (D-NJ-17).

State-funded feminine hygiene products in NJ schools

As Patch has reported previously, this bill (S 1221/A 1349) establishes a state-funded program in the Department of Education to reimburse school districts for providing menstrual products in certain public schools.

Approximately 1,383 schools across NJ would be required to provide free menstrual products in all school bathrooms on the state's dime under the bill, which has passed the state senate. The products would be available to the 354,497 female students enrolled in grades 6-12, based on 2020-21 school data.

Districts would buy the products and be reimbursed by the state, under this bill.

The Office of Legislative Services estimates the bill would cost the state between $1.8 million and $3.5 million in the first school year following enactment (including purchase of product dispensers), and $1.4 million to $2.9 million in each subsequent year.

Where’s this bill? It passed the Senate 37-0 in December, and appears this Thursday on the schedule for the Assembly's Women and Children Committee.

Who sponsored it? In the Senate, Teresa M. Ruiz (D-NJ-29) and Vin Gopal of Monmouth County (D-NJ-11). In the Assembly, Gabriela M. Mosquera (D-NJ-4) and Carol A. Murphy (D-NJ-7).