Revamped school funding new taxes among many new laws
- January
- 16
6:27 am Live Crew
TRENTON, N.J. - Revamped school funding, new taxes and
several anti-crime measures were among new laws signed Sunday by
Gov. Jon S. Corzine.
The measures, approved last week as the legislative session
ended, will:
_ Redo how the state allocates money to public schools.
Under the law, aid is partly tied to the number of low-income
students in each district. Suburban districts with enrollment
increases and large numbers of low-income students could see annual
aid increases as big as 20 percent.
However, advocates for 31 poor urban districts _ which have
received heavy state aid for about 20 years under a Supreme Court
ruling _ contend the new law will mean less support for those
schools.
Those districts are expected to ask the state Supreme Court to
overturn the law, but state Attorney General Anne Milgram has
declared it constitutional.
“Our children, regardless of where they live, will now have the
educational resources they truly deserve in order to succeed,”
Corzine said.
_ Impose a new tax on solid waste facility owners and
collectors.
The $3 per ton tax would raise $34 million annually for
municipal and county recycling programs.
_ Allow Newark to tax tickets at the new Prudential Center
arena. The tax could be as high as 5 percent of the ticket price,
with money raised going to Newark.
_ Allow cities to impose a 7 percent parking tax during sporting
events, trade shows, concerts and other special events held on
weekday evenings, weekends and holidays.
_ Offer 36-month payment plans to pay driving surcharges.
Current law allows no more than 24 months.
_ Allow a judge to waive up to $200 of court-imposed driving
penalties for indigent people. The penalty would be replaced with
community service.
_ Give parents and legal guardians authority to check the
driving records of their children under 18 years of age.
_ Toughen the state’s hate crime and bullying laws.
The measure amends an existing bias intimidation law by adding
the terms “gender identity” and “national origin” to the list
of classes of protected people under the statute.
_ Impose several new anti-crime measures, including allowing
only those who hold valid permits to buy or carry handguns to buy
handgun ammunition; create the gang-related offenses of gang
criminality and promoting organized street crime; require handgun
thefts to be reported within 36 hours after they are discovered,
and increase the penalties for illegal possession of handguns and
gun trafficking.
_ Require Internet dating services to provide notice whether the
service conducts criminal background screenings.
_ Changes deadline for voter-verified paper record of votes cast
on voting machines to June 3.
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