New Jersey S 4180: Establishes Commission on Black Women and Girls.

Bill Text

S4180 

SENATE, No. 4180 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

INTRODUCED MAY 11, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� BENJIE E. WIMBERLY

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

Senator� ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT

District 31 (Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes Commission on Black Women and Girls. 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� As introduced.

�� 

An Act establishing the Commission on Black Women and Girls 
and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� a. The �Commission on 
Black Women and Girls� is established.� For the purposes of complying with the 
provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey 
Constitution, the commission is allocated within the Department of Children and 
Families, but, notwithstanding this allocation, the commission shall be 
independent of any supervision or control by the department or by any officer 
or employee thereof.

���� b.��� The commission shall be 
composed of 11 members as follows:

���� (1)�� the Commissioner of 
Health, ex officio, or a designee;

���� (2)�� the Director of the 
Division on Women in the Department of Children and Families, ex officio, or a 
designee;

���� (3)�� the Commissioner of 
Human Services, ex officio, or a designee;

���� (4)�� the Commissioner of 
Education, ex officio, or a designee;

���� (5)�� the Commissioner of 
Labor and Workforce Development, ex officio, or a designee;

���� (6)�� the Director of the 
Division on Civil Rights in the Department of Law and Public Safety, ex 
officio, or a designee;

���� (7)�� the Commissioner of 
Community Affairs, ex officio, or a designee;

���� (8)�� the Public Defender, ex 
officio, or a designee; and

���� (9)�� three public members who 
shall be appointed by the Governor.� One member shall have a background in 
medical research.� Two members shall be appointed from community-based 
organizations and have a background working on culturally specific issues 
unique to the needs of Black women and girls.� The Governor shall make 
appointments to the commission within 30 days after the effective date of this 
act.

���� c.���� Each public member 
shall serve for a term of four years and until the appointment and 
qualification of a successor; except that, of the members first appointed, one 
shall be appointed for a two-year term, one shall be appointed for a three-year 
term, and one shall be appointed for a four-year term. 

���� d.��� The commission shall 
organize within 60 days after the effective date of this act.� The members 
shall annually elect one member to serve as chair.� The chair may appoint a 
secretary, who need not be a member of the commission.

���� e.���� Vacancies on the 
commission shall be filled for the unexpired terms in the same manner as 
original appointments. Members of the commission shall be eligible for 
reappointment to the commission.

���� f.���� A member of the 
commission may be removed by the Governor only for good cause.

���� g.��� The members of the 
commission shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for 
necessary and actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties to 
the extent that funds are made available for that purpose.

���� h.��� The Division on Women in 
the Department of Children and Families shall provide stenographic, clerical, 
and other administrative assistance and professional staff as the commission 
requires to carry out its work.

���� i.���� All State, county, and 
municipal government entities shall provide information to the commission that 
the commission requests to carry out its duties under this act.

���� 2.��� a. The commission shall 
identify and recommend programs, policies, and incentives related to education 
that State, county, or municipal governments may adopt with respect to the 
following:

���� (1)�� community-led education 
and support for Black girls in kindergarten through grade 12, including:

���� (a)�� social and emotional 
learning programs, including those that employ facilitators trained in 
identity-based dialogue;

���� (b)�� support for girls who 
have a parent or guardian who is incarcerated or has a substance use disorder;

���� (c)�� support for a college 
scholarship fund and programs to increase access to post-secondary education 
for Black children of incarcerated parents;

���� (d)�� classroom and after 
school empowerment programs for Black girls;

���� (e)�� community-led civic 
engagement and community organizing education;

���� (f)�� classroom and 
community-led art; theater; and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math 
(STEM) learning centers;

���� (g)�� school-based and 
community-based programs that employ trained de-escalation professionals and 
eliminate the detention and incarceration of school-aged children;

���� (h)�� facilitating household 
access to school-based communication technologies;

���� (i)��� school-based or 
community-based resto