The New Jersey Senate on Jan. 14, 2025, moved a series of bills on third reading to final passage and took several procedural steps, including substitutions under Senate Rule 17:3 and returning select bills to second reading for amendment. Most measures recorded unanimous or near-unanimous affirmative tallies on the floor.

Among the bills the Senate passed: Senate Bill 199, which requires an environmental sustainability plan for the State House complex, passed with 36 votes in the affirmative and 0 opposed after Sen. Smith moved the bill. Senate Bill 3466, expanding the expiration of a special appraisal process for the Green Acres and farmland preservation program and providing aid for watershed lands, was carried and recorded as passed. Senate Bill 3695, which requires a cell phone and social media policy to be developed by the Department of Education and adopted by schools, passed after Sen. Moriarty moved the bill. Senate Bill 3746, establishing a presumption against pretrial intervention for certain persons, passed with a recorded 34 affirmative votes and 0 opposed after Sen. Singleton moved the measure.

Several Assembly bills were also called and passed on third reading. Assembly Bill 1672 (substituted for Senate Bill 1285), which makes certain disabled persons receiving disability payments under the Federal Railroad Retirement Act eligible for Homestead Property Tax Reimbursement, passed with 35 affirmative votes and 0 opposed. Assembly Bill 3881 (prohibiting dissemination of certain criminal history background information) passed by voice/electronic tally. Assembly Bill 4091 (expanding services audiologists and hearing aid dispensers may provide) and Assembly Bill 4757 (permitting amusement game licenses for certain nonprofit organizations) each recorded affirmative tallies and were declared passed.

Not all measures moved straightforwardly. Assembly Bill 2390, which would give priority consideration for certain state grants to municipalities in compliance with affordable housing obligations, was the subject of extended floor criticism and was placed on hold. Senator Scanlon objected to what he described as the bill’s reward structure for municipalities complying with the State’s affordable housing mandates and said he would vote against it.

The Senate also adopted a resolution returning several bills to second reading for the purpose of amendment. Senator Ruiz moved that Senate Bills 1403, 2544, 3787, 3994 and Assembly Bill 5117 be placed back on second reading for amendment; the motion carried and the amendments were adopted on the floor.

Other procedural items included several substitutions pursuant to Rule 17:3 (assembly bills substituted for identical senate bills) and passage of a concurrent resolution scheduling a joint session on Jan. 14, 2025, to receive the governor’s State of the State address.

Votes at a glance (selected items from the Jan. 14, 2025 floor session):
- S-199 (Sen. Smith) — Environmental sustainability plan for State House complex — vote recorded: 36 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- S-3466 (Sen. McKeon) — Extends special appraisal expiration for Green Acres/farmland preservation; aid for watershed lands — vote recorded: 36 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- S-3695 (Sens. Moriarty, Corrado) — Requires DOE-developed cell phone and social media policy for schools — vote recorded: 36 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- S-3746 (Sens. Singleton, Turner) — Presumption against pretrial intervention for certain persons — vote recorded: 34 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- A-1672 (Asm. Lampitt, Karabinchak) [sub for S-1285] — Railroad Retirement Act disability recipients eligible for Homestead Property Tax Reimbursement — vote recorded: 35 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- A-2390 (Asm. Spearman, Stanley, Quijano) — Grant priority for municipalities in compliance with affordable housing obligations — held after floor objections; not passed at this session.
- A-3881 (Asm. Quijano, Park) — Prohibits dissemination of certain criminal history background information — vote recorded: 35 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- A-4091 (Asm. Speight, Sampson, Hall) — Expands audiologists’ and hearing aid dispensers’ service authority — vote recorded: 35 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- A-4757 (Asm. Danielson) — Permits amusement game licenses for certain nonprofit organizations — vote recorded: 35 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- AJR-120 (Asm. Conaway) — Designates first full week of May as Tardive Dyskinesia Awareness Week — vote recorded: 35 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.
- AJR-166 (Asm. Rodriguez, Kojasos, Quijano) — Urges Congress to continue progress on the National Museum of American Latino — vote recorded: 31 yes, 0 no — outcome: passed.

Procedural substitutions and amendments were recorded under Rule 17:3; where substitutions were moved, senators announced the voice vote results and the substituted assembly bills were called for passage. The session ended with adoption of a concurrent resolution scheduling the Senate and Assembly to meet in joint session to hear the governor’s State of the State address later the same day.