SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 1081

with Senate committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: SEPTEMBER 19, 1996

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 1081 of 1996 with amendments.

      As amended, Senate Bill No. 1081 appropriates $34,000 to the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs to provide a grant to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation. The Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc. is the non-profit organization charged by Congress with the responsibility for funding and moving the project forward.

      According to the foundation, this memorial is now under construction at the Memorial Gate area of the Arlington National Cemetery. Anticipated completion and dedication will be in October of 1997. The memorial will contain a library, an education center, a small theatre and exhibit areas. To date, eighteen states have contributed $475,000 to the foundation in amounts ranging from $7,600 to $50,000 and the names of the states that contribute money will be displayed on the wall of the memorials' education center.

      Prior to being amended for technical reasons, this bill was identical to Assembly Bill 172 of 1996 (Gibson/LeFevre).

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS

      The committee amended to bill to change references to the Fiscal Year 1996 appropriations act to the Fiscal Year 1997 appropriations act. Since the bill's introduction, State Fiscal Year 1996 has ended and the Fiscal Year 1997 appropriations act has been adopted.

FISCAL IMPACT

      This bill appropriates $34,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs to provide a grant to the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, Inc.