ASSEMBLY, No. 1989

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

208th LEGISLATURE

INTRODUCED MAY 4, 1998

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman RICHARD H. BAGGER

District 22 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)

Assemblyman ALAN M. AUGUSTINE

District 22 (Middlesex, Morris, Somerset and Union)

Co-Sponsored by:

Senator Kosco

SYNOPSIS

Establishes Blue Star Memorial Highway Council in Department of Transportation.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

As introduced.

(Sponsorship Updated As Of: 5/11/1999)

An Act establishing the Blue Star Memorial Highway Council in the Department of Transportation, supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes and repealing Joint Resolution No. 13, approved October 6, 1948.

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

1. a. The Legislature finds that the Blue Star Memorial Highway Council was created by Joint Resolution No. 13, approved October 6, 1948, to plan for and advise the State Highway Department, now the Department of Transportation, concerning the development of the landscaping, arboreal ornamentation, and incidental facilities of the Blue Star Memorial Highway system. The New Jersey Department of Transportation, in cooperation with the Garden Club of New Jersey, landscapes, plants, and maintains the roadsides of Blue Star Memorial Highways. These highways serve as living memorials in tribute to the men and women of New Jersey who have served in the armed forces.

Therefore, the Legislature declares that the time has come to incorporate the council within the permanent statutes, update the membership of the Council to reflect current State department designations, and include an officer or employee of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs as a member of the council in place of an officer and employee of the Department of Health.

b. There is hereby established in the Department of Transportation a Blue Star Memorial Highway Council that shall consist of seven members, each of whom shall be appointed by the Governor.

One of the members shall be designated by the Governor from the officers and employees of the Department of Transportation, one from among the officers and employees of the Department of Environmental Protection, and one from among the officers and employees of the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs, each of whom shall serve at the pleasure of the Governor.

The remaining four members of the council shall be appointed by the Governor from among the persons recommended to the Governor for appointment to the council by the Garden Club of New Jersey, each of whom shall serve for a period of four years and until his or her successor is appointed and has qualified, and each of whom shall be eligible for reappointment to membership of the council.

c. The Blue Star Memorial Highway Council shall plan for and advise the Department of Transportation concerning the development of the landscaping, arboreal ornamentation, and incidental facilities of the Blue Star Memorial Highway system.

2. Joint Resolution No. 13, approved October 6, 1948, is repealed.

3. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

The Blue Star Memorial Highway Council was originally created and placed within the State Highway Department by Joint Resolution No. 13, approved October 6, 1948. The council plans for and advises the Department of Transportation concerning the development of the landscaping, arboreal ornamentation, and incidental facilities of the Blue Star Memorial Highway system. The system includes certain sections of Routes 22, 78, 295, 95, and 80, for a total of 238 miles. In addition, the council also supervises the activities of the Blue Star Memorial Byways Program established pursuant to Joint Resolution No. 1, approved January 11, 1973.

The purpose of this bill is to codify the Blue Star Memorial Highway Council within the permanent statutes of this State while correcting the names of the State departments from which three of the members of the council are drawn and making one change in the membership. Currently, three of the members of the council are from the State Highway Department, the Department of Conservation and Economic Development, and the State Department of Health. Under this bill, these three members will be taken from the Department of Transportation, Department of Environmental Protection, and the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs.

The council is a permanent part of State government; therefore, the opportunity presented by this need to revise the membership should be taken to incorporate the council within the permanent statutory laws.

If this bill is enacted, there will no longer be a need for the joint resolution that originally created the council; therefore, the bill repeals Joint Resolution No. 13 of 1948.