On Monday, January 8, the New Jersey Legislature held its final voting sessions of the 220^th legislative session, sending hundreds of bills to Governor Murphy’s desk for action. Bills that were not acted on by yesterday’s deadline expire and must start the legislative process over again in the new two-year session.

The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey (CCSNJ) weighed in on many bills during the lame duck session, some of which were passed by the Legislature and signed into law by the Governor before yesterday’s deadline, including three key measures:

The Data Privacy legislation, S-332/A-1971 (Singleton/Codey/Mukherji/Benson/Moriarty), which impacts how New Jersey businesses collect data on their clients and patrons. The CCSNJ was part of a coalition of business groups that have been working with the bill’s sponsors to improve the legislation, which will have a large impact on businesses that do business in New Jersey or target products or services to New Jersey consumers. In the final days of the legislative session, there were a number of last-minute changes that were detrimental to the bill. As a result, businesses will have to take steps above and beyond existing or planned compliance activities in order to comply with the new law, which goes into effect early next year. The amendments include:

• Language that provides for the potential of a “private right of action” under the Consumer Frauds Act. This means that an individual who believes their privacy rights were violated by a business they purchased goods or services from could sue the company directly.
• Universal Opt-Out Mechanism language, which allows consumers to submit opt-out requests across multiple websites at a time, instead of one by one. This language makes the bill a national outlier and will have the unintended consequence of impacting companies unintentionally.
• Language that gives the Attorney General rulemaking authority, meaning that office will exert significant influence on how this law is shaped, updated, and enforced. No timeline has been set for New Jersey to complete the rulemaking session.

Despite vigorous opposition by the CCSNJ and many other groups, the bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 46-27 and the Senate by a vote of 21-14. The bill was signed by Governor Murphy on January 16, 2024 and the CCSNJ plans to remain actively engaged in the rulemaking process on behalf of its many impacted member companies.

A-5840/S-4217 (Pintor Marin, Wimberly/Sarlo), which waives a requirement that employees spend at least 60 percent of their time in the office to be eligible for certain tax incentive programs. Some statewide tax incentive programs established prior to the pandemic required full-time employees to spend at least 80 percent of their time at their workplace. The state reduced the in-office obligations in 2020 to 60 percent, and with this bill’s passing the 60 percent requirement will continue to be waived for businesses through April 1, 2024. The CCSNJ strongly supported this bill as it is necessary for the state to recognize the changing workplace environment post-pandemic, and not penalize companies as a result of this shift. The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 67-4-1, and the Senate by a vote of 34-1. Governor Murphy signed the bill into law on Friday, January 12, 2024.

The Governor also signed S-4692/A-5912 (Calabrese/ Danielsen/McKeon/Gopal/Sarlo/ Singleton), which significantly overhauls the liquor license process in the state. The new law addresses inactive and pocket licenses by prohibiting license holders from indefinitely retaining a retail consumption license without using it. If a license has remained inactive for two consecutive license terms – a total of two years – the license holder will now be required to either use the license or sell it. If neither option is exercised, the license can be transferred from one municipality to a contiguous municipality. Additionally, the new law eliminates the long-standing requirement that breweries, distilleries, cideries, and meaderies provide tours of the premises to patrons, while also allowing them to:

• Offer snacks and other non-alcoholic beverages.
• Collaborate with outside vendors, including food trucks.
• Host unlimited onsite events and private parties, including birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, and civic/political functions.
• Host up to 25 off-site special events.
• Participate in up to 25 events hosted by the holder of a social affairs permit.

Lastly, a bill to make Atlantic City casinos smoke-free environments was unable to garnish widespread support and was removed from consideration during lame duck. As the organization whose mission is to promote the economic prosperity of the southern portion of the state, the CCSNJ has long been opposed to a smoking ban. According to the New Jersey Casino Control Commission’s 2022 annual report, of the 22,289 casino employees, approximately 21,593 live in the seven most southern counties of New Jersey – the exact footprint that the CCSNJ represents – leaving the CCSNJ no choice but to fight to protect the economic viability of the gaming industry, and therefore the economic welfare of an enormous number of South Jersey residents. It is unclear if the bill will receive a hearing in the new session.

Other bills that the CCSNJ supported which signed into law include:

A-5840/S-4217 (Pintor Marin, Wimberly/Sarlo), which extends special accommodations put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic that allowed businesses to remain eligible for tax incentives, while also working under new health and safety guidelines. The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 67-4-1, and the Senate by a vote of 34-1. Governor Murphy signed the bill into law on January 12th.

A-4211/S-2249 (Benson/Reynolds-Jackson/Singleton/Oroho), which would revise the number of qualified disabled veteran businesses required to set aside a contract under the “Set-Aside Act for Disabled Veterans’ Businesses” from three businesses to two businesses. This bill passed the Senate and Assembly unanimously and Governor Murphy signed the bill into law on January 16, 2024.

S-659/A-2014 (Oroho, Greenstein/Conaway/Wirths/Umba), known as the “Manufacturing in Higher Education Act”. The bill passed the Senate unanimously and passed the Assembly by a vote of 73-0-2. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

S-3837/A-5438 (Pou/Cruz-Perez/Pintor Marin/Wimberly), which clarifies the process for administrative appropriations to Urban Enterprise Zones (UEZs). The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 57-19-0 and the Senate by a vote of 27-5. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

A-2146wGR/S-855 (Reynolds-Jackson, Wimberly, Sumter/Singleton, Beach) - Creates a state business assistance program to establish contracting agency procurement goals for socially and economically disadvantaged business enterprises. The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 60-7-4 and the Senate by a vote of 31-1. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

A-2581/S-2503 (Lampitt, Park/Beach) - Provides that certain cosmetology and hairstyling courses may be taught using distance learning technology. The bill passed both Houses unanimously. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

A-4212/S-2762 (Pintor Marin, Reynolds-Jackson, Verrelli/Ruiz, Cunningham) - Establishes the Center for Career Relevant Education and Talent Evaluation of New Jersey at Thomas Edison State University. The bill passed both Houses unanimously. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

A-4496/S-3247 (Coughlin, Lampitt, Karabinchak, Wimberly/Zwicker, Greenstein) - Revises various provisions of law governing construction of school facilities projects and operations of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority. The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 69-2 and the Senate by a vote of 34-1. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

A-5582/S-3781 (Swain, Simonsen/Lagana, Cryan) - Establishes a grant program for NJ YouthBuild programs through DOLWD. The bill passed both Houses unanimously. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

A-5748/S-4166 (Spearman, Moen, Moriarty/Cruz-Perez, Madden) - Amends the definition of “participating county” under the County Option Hospital Fee Program. The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 66-8-1 and the Senate by a vote of 35-0. Governor Murphy signed the bill on January 16, 2024.

 To read the full list of bills that the Governor took action on, click here.