Gov. Murphy Signs 14 Bills Into Law, Making Big Obamacare Change

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed 14 bills into law on Wednesday, including one that makes a big Obamacare change that will impact all New Jerseyans. He also vetoed three bills, including one that drew the ire of environmentalists who said it would bring more hazardous waste to be treated in New Jersey.

Murphy signed legislation, A-3380, that restores the mandate - just for New Jerseyans – that everyone must obtain health insurance or pay a tax, though it's not completely clear how much that fee will be.

Congress essentially gutted the federal Obamacare mandate in December. Under the individual mandate, most Americans were required to purchase health coverage, but starting Jan. 1, 2019, there is no fee associated with the individual mandate. The new state mandate law will take effect on Oct. 1.

The mandate fee imposed by the law will be assessed and collected in the same manner as the income tax, with the commissioner of Banking and Insurance establishing a program for determining whether to grant exemptions for “religious conscience or hardship,” lawmakers say.

The "New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act" was part of a two-bill legislative package, sponsored by Assembly members John McKeon, Carol Murphy and Pamela Lampitt, that lawmakers say will "protect New Jersey from President Trump’s effort to dismantle the Affordable Care Act and preserve the health care benefits provided by the law to the state’s residents."

The two new laws maintain the viability of the individual mandate and establish a reinsurance fund to help stabilize the insurance market, the lawmakers say. The ACA has expanded health insurance coverage to more than 800,000 New Jersey residents, including some 340,000 who purchased policies through the individual market.

“President Trump’s efforts to destabilize the health insurance market will only lead to higher costs for New Jersey residents unless we take common sense action to preserve the benefits the Affordable Care Act has been providing to our residents,” said McKeon, D-Essex, Morris. “We cannot stand idle as our residents are put at risk. We fought long and hard to get more people insured in New Jersey, because it’s both fiscally and socially responsible. We will continue that fight because it’s the right thing to do.”

The other new law, A-3379, allows for a reinsurance program to bring more stability to an insurance market that has been destabilized by the actions and inactions of the Trump administration, lawmakers say.

The law, designated as the "New Jersey Health Insurance Premium Security Act," directs the commissioner of Banking and Insurance to apply for a federal waiver of provisions of the ACA to support a reinsurance program to control premiums in New Jersey.

“Hundreds of thousands of New Jerseyans rely on the ACA to get the comprehensive medical coverage they need and deserve,” said Murphy, D-Burlington. “These laws will ensure that the necessary infrastructure remains in place for the ACA to thrive.”

It also will establish a board that will work with the state insurance commissioner to design the plan. The board will come up with a fee structure to assess insurance carriers to fund the program and the money that will be held in a newly created fund under the Treasury Department.

“The Republican effort to threaten health care for hard working families is unconscionable,” said Lampitt, D-Camden, Burlington. “We will take whatever efforts are necessary to ensure our citizens get the coverage they deserve.”

In April, A-3379 was approved 46-22 by the Assembly, and 22-14 by the Senate, and A-3380 was approved 50-23 by the Assembly and 22-13 by the Senate.

The Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey (RMANJ) also applauded Murphy for signing the New Jersey Surrogacy Bill (S-482). The group praised Murphy for making gestational surrogacy legal in New Jersey, allowing men and women struggling with infertility to start or complete their families with the help of a gestational surrogate.

“This new law creates a higher level of inclusiveness when it comes to building a family in New Jersey,” said Richard T. Scott, CEO of IVI-RMA Global and a founding partner of RMANJ. “As a leading infertility center in New Jersey and the U.S., we are encouraged that the path to parenthood has been expanded for our patients.”

Infertility affects one in eight people in the U.S., the group said, and many turn to gestational surrogates to help them have a child. For the last 30 years, New Jersey has viewed gestational surrogacy contracts as unenforceable, and those desiring the service have gone out of state. The new law changes that – individuals can now seek the services of surrogates in New Jersey, according the organization.

RMANJ says it is optimistic this may represent a sea change for surrogacy in the U.S. and serve as a model for other states where these arrangements are currently illegal.

Murphy also conditionally vetoed a bill, passed by the Assembly by a vote of 69-2-0, that amends the definition of “existing major hazardous waste facility” in the “Major Hazardous Waste Facilities Siting Act.” The bill would allow some companies, such as DuPont, to import hazardous waste from all over, according to environmental advocates.

Murphy said the bill appropriately addresses an "important" environmental issue by amending the definition of “existing major hazardous waste facility” in the “Major Hazardous Waste Facilities Siting Act” to include facilities that have stopped accepting hazardous waste for a period of no longer than 10 years.

"While I certainly support the intent of the bill’s sponsors to simplify the process of siting facilities that until recently were authorized to operate as commercial facilities and conduct commercial hazardous waste operations, I am concerned that the bill does not contain specific safeguards to protect the health of our environment and the safety of our residents," Murphy said.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said the legislation shows the state Legislature has "sided with corporate polluters over clean water."

"This bill will put more pollution into the Delaware because it creates a loophole that redefines a hazardous waste facility, allowing them to dump toxic chemicals," Tittel said. "This is a dangerous bill because it will allow the DuPont facility to bring in more and different hazardous waste to be treated in New Jersey."

Murphy announced also signed the following bills into law:

• A2787 (Dancer, Andrzejczak, Houghtaling, Rooney/Cruz-Perez, Singer) – Extends pilot program authorizing special occasion events at wineries on preserved farmland; implements reporting requirement.
• A3380 (McKeon, Murphy, Lampitt, Conaway/Vitale, Singleton) – “New Jersey Health Insurance Market Preservation Act.”
• S482 (Vitale/Vainieri Huttle, Quijano, Jasey) – Authorizes certain gestational carrier agreements.
• S846 (Turner, Cruz-Perez/Pintor Marin, Mukherji, Gusciora, Jones, Sumter) – Reinstates and extends duration of certain UEZs; requires DCA to study UEZ program and report recommendations to the Legislature.
• S868 (Sweeney, Vitale/Coughlin, Jasey, Schaer) – Permits candidates for school board to circulate petitions jointly and be bracketed together on ballot; permits short nonpolitical designation of principles on petitions and ballots.
• S1217 (Sweeney, Smith/Mazzeo, Armato, DeAngelo) – Requires BPU consideration and approval of amended application for qualified wind energy project offshore in certain NJ territorial waters.
• S1870 (Vitale, Ruiz/Speight, Quijano, McKnight) – Requires Child Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board to study racial and ethnic disparities that contribute to infant mortality.
• S1876 (Ruiz, Corrado/Vainieri Huttle, Caputo, Jasey) – Requires Commissioner of Education to include data on chronic absenteeism and disciplinary suspensions on School Report Card and requires public schools to make certain efforts to combat chronic absenteeism.
• S1878 (Vitale, Singleton/McKeon, Lampitt, Murphy) – "New Jersey Health Insurance Premium Security Act;" establishes health insurance reinsurance plan.
• S1894 (Ruiz, Turner/Lampitt, Sumter, Barclay) – Requires "breakfast after the bell" program in all schools with 70% or more of students eligible for free or reduced price meals.
• S1895 (Ruiz, Turner/Lampitt, Jones, Wimberly) – Requires certain school districts to submit report on nonparticipation in "Community Eligibility Provision" of National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.
• S1896 (Ruiz, Turner/Lampitt, Wimberly, Jones) – Requires school district to report at least biannually to Department of Agriculture number of students who are denied school breakfast or school lunch.
• S1897 (Ruiz, Turner/Lampitt, Pintor Marin, Barclay) – Expands summer meal program to all school districts with 50 percent or more of students eligible for free or reduced price meals.
• S2247 (Sweeney/Burzichelli, Mukherji, Murphy) – Allows charitable assets set aside from the sale of nonprofit hospital to for-profit entity to be allocated to successor nonprofit charitable entity that is establishing and operating equivalent nonprofit hospital.

Murphy also conditionally vetoed the following bills:

• S879 (Sweeney/Burzichelli, Taliaferro, Murphy) – Amends definition of "existing major hazardous waste facility" in "Major Hazardous Waste Facilities Siting Act."
• S976 (Vitale, Bateman/Vainieri Huttle, Lagana, Mukherji) – "Revised State Medical Examiner Act"; establishes Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner in DOH.
• S1968 (Pou/Wimberly, Mukherji, Sumter) – Extends document submission deadline for certain residential and mixed use parking projects under Economic Redevelopment and Growth Grant program; increases maximum credit amounts awarded for certain residential and mixed use parking projects.

Photo: Earlier picture of Murphy signing a bill to help residents in the wake of the capping of the SALT deduction; May 3, 2018. NJOIT/Governor's Office.