A5314

An Act concerning review of the prospective effects of pending legislation on individuals with a disability and supplementing Chapter 13F of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

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

1. a. When so requested by the Governor or by an individual member of the Senate or the General Assembly, the Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Department of Human Services shall conduct a disability impact assessment on a specific legislative bill affecting transportation, labor, or human services, and produce a statement of its findings based on that assessment. To this end, the division shall employ at least one full-time analyst whose primary responsibility shall be performing disability impact assessments and preparing disability impact statements and, subject to the availability of resources and funding to support the position, at least one half-time analyst to assist in the performance of disability impact assessments and the preparation of disability impact statements pursuant to this section.

b. At a minimum, each disability impact statement prepared pursuant to this section shall include an analysis of any disparate effects the bill will or may be expected to have on individuals in New Jersey who have a disability.

c. A disability impact assessment prepared pursuant to this section shall be based on the best available empirical information and professional assumptions available to the division within the time allotted for completing the assessment. In preparing a disability impact assessment pursuant to this section, the division shall be authorized to access any necessary information as may be held by any State department, division, office, or agency or any other State, county, or local governmental entity, provided that nothing in this section shall be deemed to require or authorize the disclosure of any personal identifying or confidential information in violation of State or federal privacy laws.

d. Subject to the provisions of subsection e. of this section, the division shall have 14 days from the date a request for a disability impact assessment is received to complete the assessment and produce a statement, provided that the division shall have the authority to request that the individual requesting the assessment authorize an extension of this deadline for good cause shown. For the purposes of this section, “good cause” shall include, but shall not be limited to: situations in which the scope or nature of the request will necessitate additional time to complete the assessment and prepare the statement; the overall volume of requests currently pending before the division would make compliance with the 14-day deadline functionally impossible; or the division will not be able to access and analyze the needed resource materials, complete the assessment, and prepare the statement within 14 days.

e. The division shall seek to perform between 10 and 20 disability impact assessments each year, but may limit the number of disability impact assessments it performs pursuant to this section to retain quality while operating within its available resources, and may decline a request for a disability impact assessment if complying with the request would not be feasible while operating within available resources. To facilitate the optimal use of division resources, the Assistant Commissioner of the Division of Developmental Disabilities in the Department of Human Services shall develop a system to prioritize requests for disability impact assessments made pursuant to this section.

Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to establish a limit on the number of disability impact assessments the division may perform in a year, provided the assessments can be performed within the limits of the resources and funding available to the division and the assessments continue to meet content and quality standards established pursuant to this section.

f. A disability impact statement prepared pursuant to this section shall constitute a public document that shall be published on the Legislature’s Internet website together with any other legislative materials pertaining to the bill that is the subject of the statement.

g. (1) The division shall have the authority to decline to perform a disability impact assessment requested pursuant to subsection a. of this section in the event that, based on its preliminary analysis, the division determines that a legislative bill is not likely to have any material effect on individuals who have a disability or if the division determines that the effects of the legislative bill on individuals who have a disability will be impossible to determine with any reasonable degree of certainty using the information and resources available to the division to perform assessments under this section.

(2) The division shall promptly transmit to the requester, in writing, any determination made pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection that a legislative bill is not expected to have a material effect on individuals who have a disability, or that the effects of the legislative bill on individuals who have a disability will be impossible to determine with any reasonable degree of certainty. A written determination prepared pursuant to this subsection shall constitute a public document that shall be published on the Legislature’s Internet website together with any other legislative materials pertaining to the bill that is the subject of the determination.

h. The division shall collaborate with other State departments, divisions, offices, or agencies as may be appropriate to identify any appropriate sources of State, federal, and private funding to carry out duties of the division as set forth in this section.

i. The Department of Human Services shall annually request that the annual appropriations act include, in addition to any other appropriations made to the department, an appropriation to the department in an amount sufficient to implement the provisions of this section.

j. As used in this section, "individual with a disability" means a natural person who has a physical disability, infirmity, malformation, or disfigurement which is caused by bodily injury, birth defect, or illness including epilepsy, and which shall include, but not be limited to, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical coordination, blindness or visual impairment, deafness or deaf-blindness or hearing impairment, inability to speak or speech impairment, or physical reliance on a service animal, wheelchair, or other remedial appliance or device, or from any mental, psychological, or developmental disability resulting from anatomical, psychological, physiological, or neurological conditions which prevents the normal exercise of any bodily or mental functions or is demonstrable, medically or psychologically, by accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques.

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires that, when so requested by the Governor or by an individual member of the Senate or the General Assembly, the Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD) in the Department of Human Services (DHS) will perform a disability impact assessment, and prepare a disability impact statement based on that assessment, for a specific legislative bill affecting transportation, labor, or human services. To this end, the DDD will be required to employ at least one full-time analyst whose primary responsibility will be performing disability impact assessments and preparing disability impact statements, and, subject to the availability of resources and funding as may be available to support the position, at least one additional half-time analyst to assist in the performance of disability impact assessments and the preparation of disability impact statements.

At a minimum, each disability impact assessment will include an analysis of any disparate effects the bill will or may be expected to have on individuals with a disability in New Jersey. The bill defines "individual with a disability" to mean a natural person who has a physical disability, infirmity, malformation, or disfigurement which is caused by bodily injury, birth defect, or illness including epilepsy, and which shall include, but not be limited to, any degree of paralysis, amputation, lack of physical coordination, blindness or visual impairment, deafness or deaf-blindness or hearing impairment, inability to speak or speech impairment, or physical reliance on a service animal, wheelchair, or other remedial appliance or device, or from any mental, psychological, or developmental disability resulting from anatomical, psychological, physiological, or neurological conditions which prevents the normal exercise of any bodily or mental functions or is demonstrable, medically or psychologically, by accepted clinical or laboratory diagnostic techniques.

Each disability impact assessment is to be based on the best available empirical information and professional assumptions available to the DDD within the time allotted for completing the assessment. In conducting a disability impact assessment, the DDD will be authorized to access any necessary information as may be held by any State department, division, office, or agency or any other State, county, or local governmental entity, provided that nothing in the bill is to be deemed to require or authorize the disclosure of any personal identifying or confidential information in violation of State or federal privacy laws.

In general, the DDD will have 14 days from the date a request for a disability impact assessment is received to complete the assessment and prepare the statement, provided that the DDD will have the authority to request an extension of this deadline for good cause shown. Examples of “good cause” may include, but will not be limited to, situations in which the scope or nature of the request will necessitate additional time to complete the assessment and prepare the statement, the overall volume of requests currently pending before the DDD would make compliance with the 14-day deadline functionally impossible, or the DDD will not be able to access and analyze the needed resource materials, complete the assessment, and prepare the statement within 14 days.

The bill requires that the DDD seek to perform between 10 and 20 disability impact assessments per year. However, the DDD may limit the number of disability impact assessments it performs to retain quality while operating within its available resources, and may decline a request for a disability impact assessment if complying with the request would not be feasible while operating within available resources. To facilitate the optimal use of resources, the Assistant Commissioner of the DDD will be required to develop a system to prioritize requests for disability impact assessments. Nothing in the bill is to be construed to establish a limit on the number of disability impact assessments the DDD may perform in a year, provided the assessments can be performed within the limits of the resources and funding available to the DDD and the assessments continue to meet content and quality standards established pursuant to the bill.

Disability impact statements will constitute a public document that will be published on the Legislature’s Internet website together with any other legislative materials pertaining to the bill that is the subject of the statement.

The DDD will have the authority to decline to perform a disability impact assessment requested under the bill in the event that, based on its preliminary analysis, the DDD determines that a legislative bill is not likely to have any material effect on individuals who have a disability or that the effects of the legislative bill will be impossible to determine with any reasonable degree of certainty using available information and resources. The DDD will be required to promptly transmit to the requester, in writing, any determination it makes that a legislative bill is not expected to have a material effect on individuals who have a disability or that the effects will be impossible to determine with any reasonable degree of certainty. The written determination will constitute a public document that will be published on the Legislature’s Internet website together with any other legislative materials pertaining to the bill that is the subject of the determination.

The DDD will be required to collaborate with other State departments, divisions, offices, or agencies as may be appropriate to identify any appropriate sources of State, federal, and private funding to carry out the DDD’s duties under the bill.

The DHS will be required to annually request that the annual appropriations act include, in addition to any other appropriations made to the DHS, an appropriation to the DHS in an amount sufficient to implement the provisions of the bill.