8 New NJ Laws That May Impact Your Life In 2021

NEW JERSEY — Beginning on Jan. 1, new laws will take effect in New Jersey in 2021 that will affect millions of Garden State workers and families.

The new laws reflect the major headlines and challenges of 2020. They’re either born out of the coronavirus pandemic and the need to protect the economy. Or they tackle social justice following a year when millions took to the streets to march for racial justice.

They'll also come with some wrinkles. Some laws, like marijuana legalization, are supposed to take effect on Jan. 1. But the process of actually creating the framework so that the laws can have an impact on millions of New Jerseyans is much more complicated.

It can be difficult to keep track of the new laws that will affect you, so Patch has gathered a handful of the legislation likely to impact residents the most in the Garden State come 2021.

Marijuana Legalization

New Jersey voters overwhelmingly approved marijuana legalization in the November election, and the constitutional amendment will take effect on Jan. 1.

But the drug will be legal on paper only. On Monday, word leaked out that the process of actually making marijuana available to the public could take some time.

The Murphy administration is objecting to legislation that creates the framework for selling the drug in the Garden State in 2021, sources told Patch.

Sources confirmed a Politico report that says the Murphy administration is objecting to the legal issues in the long-debated legislation, A-21, that officially legalizes personal use of marijuana, decriminalizes the substance and removes it from the Schedule I drug list.

Gov. Phil Murphy, speaking during a Monday news conference, said there are some "technical, but important things we're trying to wrinkle out" on the legislation.

Sources told Patch that the Murphy administration wants to make sure there are penalties for underaged, under-21 users. The legislation appears to not provide any kind of legal mechanism that would penalize children and teenagers.

The objection comes just weeks after the state New Jersey Assembly and Senate voted in favor of legislation that clears the way and creates a framework for marijuana legalization in 2021. The bill needs Murphy's signature to become law.

But it may take six months to a year for the regulations to be developed so that marijuana could be sold in stores. Read more: NJ Marijuana Legalization Bill Is Delayed

Health insurance tax

The governor signed legislation to create the New Jersey Health Insurer Assessment, which sets the rate at 2.5 percent of net written premiums and will support the state's reinsurance program and state-level subsidies in FY 2021.

The law went into effect on Jan. 1.

The legislation establishes the New Jersey Health Insurer Assessment (HIA), which is a continuation of a federal assessment on health insurance companies that was to sunset at the end of the year.

All of the revenue generated will be used to support residents and families purchasing policies on the individual market. It will allow the state to provide state-level subsidies, in addition to federal subsidies that are available, for the majority of consumers purchasing insurance on the State Based Marketplace when the ACA Open Enrollment Period began on Nov. 1, 2020.

The subsidy program will be available to New Jerseyans with annual income up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level, which allows an individual earning up to $51,040, and a family of four earning up to $104,800, to qualify for the subsidy program.

The estimated average subsidy for an individual would be at least $564 a year, and at least $2,256 a year for a family of four. Actual subsidy amounts will be based on an actuarial simulation study being conducted by the Department of Banking and Insurance in order to maximize the benefit for New Jerseyans.

Driver's License Access For Immigrants

A year ago, Murphy signed a new law to expand access to driver’s licenses to those without legal immigration status. The law was supposed to start providing the opportunity to obtain a license beginning on Jan. 1.

But on Monday, the Motor Vehicle Commission announced that the implementation of the licensing will be delayed from the original Jan. 1 date. No new date has been announced since the MVC continues to monitor the impact of the COVID-19 public health emergency on its operations.

The hope is that the licenses will be issued soon now that a vaccine is being distributed and the MVC is working to reduce its workload that's caused long lines at its various sites.

“Status-neutral licensing is important for many New Jerseyans, but the demands on MVC due to COVID-19 have made it impossible for us to complete the training and software changes required to implement it,” said Sue Fulton, Chief Administrator of the Motor Vehicle Commission.

The MVC has implemented many changes in recent months, shifting most transactions online, but demand remains very high at agencies while staffing has been reduced due to COVID-19.

“We cannot conduct the necessary hands-on document training without violating COVID-19 restrictions; in addition, the stand-downs for training would impact our critical operations,” said Fulton. “We are hopeful that we will get past the worst of the pandemic in the next few months so we can get this done for those who sorely need it.”

New Jersey joined 13 other states, including California, New York, and Utah, and the District of Columbia, in allowing residents to obtain driver’s licenses regardless of immigration status.

“Expanding access to driver’s licenses is critical for the safety of New Jerseyans and a step toward building a stronger and fairer New Jersey for all,” said Murphy. “Allowing residents the opportunity to obtain driver’s licenses regardless of their immigration status will decrease the number of uninsured drivers and increase safety on our roads.”

The law creates two categories of driver’s licenses and non-driver identification cards: federally-compliant REAL ID, which is only available for documented residents, and the standard basic driver’s license and ID, which will be available to all New Jersey residents regardless of immigration status

Anyone who applies for a standard basic driver’s license or ID, whether a citizen or non-citizen, must provide six points of identification.

Law enforcement training

Beginning on Feb. 1st, this law will require each state, county and municipal law enforcement agency in New Jersey to establish a minority recruitment and selection program in accordance with guidelines issued by the attorney general.

The purpose of these programs is to ensure that law enforcement agencies in New Jersey reflect the diversity of the population of the community the agency protects.

Under the bill, each minority recruitment and selection program is required to set specific goals for recruiting and hiring minorities and females, establishing time frames for meeting these goals, and describing methods of evaluating whether these goals are met.

Each program also is required to set forth corrective action to be taken if the agency fails to meet the goals of the program. The bill requires each law enforcement agency to post the recruitment and selection program on the agency’s official Internet website.

Minimum Wage Hike

New Jersey’s minimum hourly wage will go up by $1 to $12 per hour, for most employees, on Jan. 1, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced this week.

The minimum hourly wage for employees of a small employer or those engaged in seasonal work will increase to $11.10, while employees who work on a farm for an hourly or piece-rate wage will see their minimum hourly wage increase to $10.44, both rising from $10.30.

In February 2019, Murphy signed a law that incrementally increases the minimum hourly wage to $15 by 2024 for most employees but gives seasonal, small and agricultural employers more time to reach the new minimum threshold.

“The Labor Department is tasked not only with providing benefits to people who are out of work, but also equipping our workforce with the tools and resources they need to earn sustainable wages,” said Labor Commissioner Robert Asaro-Angelo. "We applaud the governor for recognizing that the minimum wage must also be a living wage, and for giving low-wage earners a fair chance at financial success.

"The New Jersey Wage and Hour Law, as amended in 2019, requires NJDOL to revise the minimum hourly wage rates annually by either the amount specified in the law or by an amount based on any increase from the prior year in the consumer price index, whichever is higher."

Once the minimum wage reaches $15 per hour, the state Constitution specifies that it continues to increase annually based on any increase in the consumer price index.

Expungement

Murphy signed two major pieces of legislation more than a year ago to reform New Jersey’s criminal justice system and reform New Jersey’s expungement process.

Parts of one of the bills, S4154, will take effect by June. That bill creates a petition process for “clean slate” expungement for residents who have not committed an offense in 10 years and who have not been convicted of the most serious crimes.

The bill also requires the state to implement an automated clean slate expungement system, which will be developed by a task force charged with studying the technological, fiscal and practical issues and challenges associated with such a system.

The bill also requires that low-level marijuana convictions be sealed upon the disposition of a case, preventing those convictions from being used against those individuals in the future. It also makes numerous other changes to existing expungement procedures, including the creation of an e-filing system that would eliminate filing fees to petition for an expungement.

“Our administration is deeply committed to transforming our criminal justice system, and today we are taking a historic step to give residents impacted by that system a second chance,” said Murphy. “I am proud to sign one of the most progressive expungement laws in the nation, which will allow more New Jerseyans the opportunity to fully engage in our society. I am also proud to enact legislation that will restore voting rights to over 80,000 residents on probation or parole, allowing them to fully participate in our democracy.”

Severance

Murphy signed a bill allowing employers to avoid required layoff notification and severance requirements that would challenge the state's efforts to help businesses survive during the COVID crisis.

The bill effectively delays plans that, among other things, required 90-days advance written notice of an impending job loss for 50 or more people within a 30-day period and required mandatory severance pay in the event of a closing or mass layoff.

Now those rules will take effect after the public health emergency is over, which should be later in the year.

"As previously stated, New Jersey needs to be as prepared as possible to bounce back when the time is appropriate," said Michele Siekerka, president of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. "Providing our businesses and nonprofits with the necessary resources to stay afloat as we endure this crisis together is an essential step in our overall economic recovery."

Freeholders

Murphy signed legislation that requires the title of "chosen freeholder" to be changed to "county commissioner" and all "boards of chosen freeholders" to be known as "boards of county commissioners."

The bill requires counties to update their letterheads, stationery, and other writings, as well as their websites, to bear the title of county commissioners in place of freeholders or chosen freeholders within one year of the bill's effective date, Jan. 1.

"We have an obligation to ensure that governance in New Jersey is inclusive and representative of the tremendous diversity of our great state," said Murphy. "Amid a national reckoning to reexamine vestiges rooted in structural racism, this action will eliminate the use of the term 'freeholder' in county government— a title that is an outgrowth of a time when people of color and women were excluded from public office."

"Changing the title of 'freeholder' is long overdue. People know the term is offensive and refers to a time when only white male landowners could hold public office," said Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver, who serves as Commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs. "As a former freeholder, I was fully aware that this title was not inclusive of African American woman such as myself. History is constantly evolving, and our terminology needs to keep up with it to be more reflective of where we are as a society."

Read more: 'Freeholder' Title Abolished In New Jersey