New Jersey A 3720: Requires school districts to provide for the safe operation of electrically operated partitions in classrooms or other school facilities.

Bill Text

A3720 

ASSEMBLY, No. 3720 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman ALIXON COLLAZOS-GILL

District 27 (Essex and Passaic)

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� "Disaster Victims Protection Act"; requires 
Governor to allocate federal and State disaster aid to municipalities in 
proportion to amount of catastrophic physical damage sustained within each 
municipality.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

An Act concerning the allocation of federal and State 
disaster funds and supplementing chapter 9 of Appendix A.

���� Be It 
Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of 
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� This act shall be known 
and may be cited as the "Disaster Victims Protection Act."

���� 2.��� The Legislature finds 
and declares that:

���� a.���� Beginning on October 
28, 2012, and continuing through October 30, 2012, Hurricane Sandy produced 
unprecedented severe weather conditions and devastated the State of New 
 Jersey and its residents with high winds and torrential rains, enormous storm 
surges and floods.

���� b.��� As a result of the 
catastrophic damage to the State caused by Hurricane Sandy, New Jersey received 
billions of dollars from Congress in the form of Community Development Block 
Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to support the State�s recovery and rebuilding 
efforts.� The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 
designated the nine most-impacted counties, which include Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean, and Union counties, to which 
the CDBG-DR funds were to be allocated.

���� c.���� Although the entire 
State suffered as a result of this natural disaster, some municipalities within 
the nine most-impacted counties were much more severely damaged than other 
municipalities within the nine designated counties.

���� d.��� While worthwhile housing 
and development projects within the nine most-impacted counties have been 
funded with CDBG-DR funds, some of the municipalities that were the hardest hit 
and most financially strained within those nine counties remain in need of substantial 
aid and development due to funds not being allocated in proportion to the 
amount of damage suffered by the municipality, but by the designation of the 
county itself.� This has caused some municipalities to receive disaster relief 
aid substantially disproportionate to the amount of damage suffered, 
particularly when compared to municipalities that suffered more damage within 
other designated counties.

���� e.���� In order to utilize 
limited federal and State disaster relief funds in the most appropriate manner, 
and to provide assistance to those most vulnerable and most in need in our 
State without delay, when developing a State action plan for the allocation and 
disbursement of federal CDBG-DR funds and State resources, it is only fair and 
just that municipal funding priority consideration be given to municipalities 
for its rebuilding and development efforts in direct proportion to the amount 
of physical damage sustained within each municipality.

���� 3.��� Whenever the Governor is 
given discretion by the federal government to allocate federal Community 
Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery funds through the creation of an 
action plan or other administrative process, or when the Governor has 
discretion in the allocation of State disaster relief funds, priority 
consideration in the allocation of funds to and within municipalities, as far 
as practicable under federal funding requirements, shall be given in proportion 
to the relative amount of physical damage sustained within each municipality.

���� 4.��� This act shall take 
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� Under this bill, the Governor 
would allocate federal and State disaster relief aid to municipalities, 
including residents and businesses therein, in proportion to the relative 
amount of catastrophic physical damage suffered within each affected 
municipality.� This aid allocation methodology is intended to ensure that 
residential victims and business owners in the most heavily damaged areas 
following a disaster are provided assistance prior to the expenditure of aid 
monies for other economic development and redevelopment projects.

���� In response to the 
unprecedented damage to this State caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, New 
 Jersey received billions of federal dollars from Congress in the form of 
Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds to support 
the State�s rebuilding and reconstruction efforts.� With approval from the 
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Governor 
allocated millions of dollars to housing development projects within the nine 
most-impacted counties, as designated by HUD, whi