New Jersey S 3356: Requires Type I school districts and charter schools to establish citizen budget oversight committee to monitor district's or charter school's financial position.

Bill Text

S3356 

SENATE, No. 3356 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� SHIRLEY K. TURNER

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires Higher Education Student Assistance 
Authority to develop pathway to nursing scholarship for health care workers who 
want to become nurses; appropriates $1 million.� 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� As introduced.

�� 

An Act establishing a nursing scholarship for certain 
undergraduate students and supplementing chapter 71B of Title 18A of the New 
Jersey Statutes.

���� 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 �Pathway to Nursing Scholarship Program Act.�

���� 2.��� As used in this act:

���� �Approved course of study� 
means an undergraduate program leading to an associate�s degree or bachelor's 
degree offered by a public or independent institution of higher education, or a 
certificate of accreditation issued by the New Jersey Board of Nursing.

���� �Authority� means the Higher 
Education Student Assistance Authority established pursuant to N.J.S.18A:71A-3.

���� "Program" means the Pathway 
to Nursing Scholarship Program established pursuant to section 3 of this act.

���� �School of professional 
nursing� means a school in New Jersey offering a program of nursing instruction 
not exceeding four years beyond high school, which is affiliated with a 
hospital and holds a certificate of accreditation issued by the New Jersey 
Board of Nursing.

���� 3.��� The authority, in 
consultation with the New Jersey Board of Nursing, shall develop a pathway to 
nursing scholarship program. The purpose of the scholarship program is to 
address the current and projected critical shortage of nurses in the State by 
providing an incentive for persons who currently work in the field of 
healthcare to enter an approved course of study in a nursing education program to 
ensure that sufficient numbers of trained nursing staff are available to 
provide quality health care services to the residents of this State.

���� 4.��� To be eligible to 
participate in the scholarship program, an applicant shall:

���� a.���� be a resident of the 
State and maintain domicile in the State during participation in the program;

���� b.��� currently work in, or 
have previously worked in, the healthcare industry;

���� c.���� be enrolled in an 
approved course of study concerning nursing instruction at an institution of 
higher education or at a school of professional nursing; and

���� d.��� submit a written 
statement to the authority detailing the applicant�s ongoing commitment to 
working as a nurse upon completion of an approved course of study concerning 
nursing instruction at an institution of higher education or at a school of 
professional nursing.

���� 5.��� a.� An individual who 
wishes to participate in the scholarship program established pursuant to 
section 3 of this act shall submit an application to the authority in a manner 
and on such forms as determined by the authority.� 

���� b.��� Under the program, the 
authority shall award 100 scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each to 
qualified recipients enrolled in an approved course of study concerning nursing 
instruction at an institution of higher education or at a school of 
professional nursing.

���� c.���� Each scholarship 
awarded under this act shall be contingent upon the recipient remaining in good 
standing at the institution or school of professional nursing.���� 

���� 6.��� There is appropriated 
from the General Fund to the authority the sum of $1,000,000 to effectuate the 
purposes of this act.� 

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the Higher 
Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA), in consultation with the New 
Jersey Board of Nursing, to develop a pathway to nursing scholarship program. 
The purpose of the scholarship program is to address the current and projected 
critical shortage of nurses in the State by providing an incentive for persons 
who currently work in the field of healthcare to enter an approved course of 
study in a nursing education program to ensure that sufficient numbers of 
trained nursing staff are available to provide quality health care services to 
the residents of this State.

���� Under the bill, HESAA will 
award 100 scholarships in the amount of $10,000 each to qualified recipients 
enrolled in an approved course of study in a nursing education program in the 
State. To be eligible for the scholarship, an applicant must: be a resident of 
the State and maintain domicile in the State during participation in the 
program; currently work in, or have previously worked in, the healthcare 
industry; be enrolled in an approved course of study concerning nursing 
instruction at an institution of higher education or at a school of 
professional nursing; and submit a writ