ASSEMBLY, No. 2436

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED OCTOBER 21, 1996

 

 

By Assemblymen COHEN and LANCE

 

 

An Act concerning legal services and amending P.L.1996, c.52.

 

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

 

    1. Section 6 of P.L.1996, c.52 (22A:2-51) is amended to read as follows:

    6.a. An amount equal to [95] 91 percent of the increase in fees collected pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1996, c.52 (C.22A:2-51 et al.) shall be annually appropriated to the Department of Community Affairs for the provision to the poor of legal assistance in civil matters by Legal Services of New Jersey and to the Judiciary to fund 10 Superior Court judgeships, to supplement other funds appropriated from any other source in a fiscal year for these purposes. An appropriation pursuant to this section shall not be used to replace appropriations from other sources for these purposes.

    b. An amount equal to 5 percent of the increase in fees collected pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1996, c.52 (C.22A:2-51 et al.) shall be annually appropriated to the Department of State, Higher Educational Services, to be allocated equally among Rutgers-Newark Law School, Rutgers-Camden Law School and Seton Hall Law School for clinical programs which provide free legal representation to the poor, to supplement other funds appropriated from any other source in a fiscal year for these purposes. An appropriation pursuant to this section shall not be used to replace appropriations from other sources for these purposes.

    c.     An amount equal to 4 percent of the increase in fees collected pursuant to the provisions of P.L.1996, c.52 (C.22A:2-51 et al.) shall be annually appropriated to the Department of Community Affairs for the provision of legal assistance to the elderly and disabled by the Community Health Law Project.

    d.    There is created in the Department of the Treasury a non-lapsing, revolving fund into which the Treasurer shall deposit annually an amount equal to the revenue derived from the increase in the fees collected pursuant to P.L.1996, c.52 (C.22A:2-51 et al.). Interest and other income earned on moneys deposited into this fund shall be credited to the fund. Moneys in the fund shall be appropriated and distributed annually exclusively for the purposes set forth in subsections a. and b. of this section. The State Treasurer shall have perfomed an audit of this fund biennially following the effective date of P.L.1996, c .52 (C.22A:2-51) and the results of the audit shall be included in the report required pursuant to subsection d. of this section.

    [d]e. The State Treasurer shall submit an annual report to the Legislature on the use of the fees collected pursuant to P.L.1996 , c.52 (C.22A:2-51 et al.) and deposited into the fund created pursuant to subsection c. of this section. The report shall be submitted to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the General Assembly, and the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee, Assembly Appropriations Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee and Assembly Judiciary Committee, or their successors.

(cf: P.L.1996, c.52, s.6)

 

    2.    There is appropriated $400,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Health and Senior Services for the provision of legal services to the elderly and the disabled through the Community Health Law Project.

 

    3. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    This bill would provide use a portion of the recently increased civil court filing fees to provide funding to the Community Health Law Project which provides legal services to the elderly and disabled. The anticipated funding would replace a loss of about $400,000 per year in federal funding.

 

 

                             

Provides funding for Community Health Law Project.