KLS Keeping Law Simple Legislation in plain English

Straight-ahead summaries built from the official bill text. We keep the source links front and center and leave the decision up to you.

Back to New Jersey

A1198 • 2026

Requires reservation of portion of funding under State rental assistance program for households ineligible for federal Section 8 program due to leave resulting from pregnancy or newborn care needs.

Requires reservation of portion of funding under State rental assistance program for households ineligible for federal Section 8 program due to leave resulting from pregnancy or newborn care needs.

Housing
Passed Legislature

This bill passed both chambers and reached final enrollment, even if later executive action is not shown here.

Sponsor
Schnall, Alexander
Last action
2026-01-13
Official status
Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

Requires reservation of portion of funding under State rental assistance program for households ineligible for federal Section 8 program due to leave resulting from pregnancy or newborn care needs.

Requires reservation of portion of funding under State rental assistance program for households ineligible for federal Section 8 program due to leave resulting from pregnancy or newborn care needs.

What This Bill Does

  • Requires reservation of portion of funding under State rental assistance program for households ineligible for federal Section 8 program due to leave resulting from pregnancy or newborn care needs.
  • Topic: Housing Fiscal note: This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Limits and Unknowns

  • This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Bill History

  1. 2026-01-13 New Jersey Legislature

    Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing Committee

Official Summary Text

Requires reservation of portion of funding under State rental assistance program for households ineligible for federal Section 8 program due to leave resulting from pregnancy or newborn care needs.
Topic:
Housing
Fiscal note:
This bill has not been certified by OLS for a fiscal note.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
A1198

ASSEMBLY, No. 1198

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman ALEXANDER "AVI" SCHNALL

District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires reservation of portion of funding under
State rental assistance program for households ineligible for federal Section 8
program due to leave resulting from pregnancy or newborn care needs.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.

��

An Act

concerning rental assistance for households
experiencing pregnancy or newborn care needs and amending P.L.2004, c.140.

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

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.2004,
c.140 (C.52:27D-287.1) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� The Commissioner of
Community Affairs shall establish a rental assistance program for low income
individuals or households.� This program shall be in addition to and supplement
any existing programs established pursuant to the "Prevention of Homelessness
Act (1984)," P.L.1984, c.180 (C.52:27D-280 et al.).

���� a.��� The program shall
provide rental assistance grants comparable to the federal section 8 program,
but shall be available only to State residents who are not currently holders of
federal section 8 vouchers.

���� b.��� Assistance to an
individual or household under the State program shall be terminated upon the
award of federal section 8 rental assistance to the same individual or
household.

���� c.��� The program shall
reserve a portion of the grants for assistance to senior citizens aged 62 or
older who otherwise meet the criteria of subsection a. of this section.

���� d.��� The program shall
reserve a portion of the grants for assistance to veterans who have
successfully completed the Veterans Transitional Housing Program, or
"Veterans Haven," a vocational and transitional housing program for
homeless veterans administered by the New Jersey Department of Military and
Veterans' Affairs.

���� e.��� The program shall
reserve a portion of the funds available to it for tenant-based vouchers to
veterans, other than those veterans eligible for assistance pursuant to
subsection d. of this section.

����
f.� The program shall
reserve a portion of the funds available to it to provide assistance for
households that are unable to participate in the federal Section 8 program due
to time taken off from work or community service responsibilities as a result
of pregnancy or the need to care for an infant under six months old.�

(cf: P.L.2017, c.29, s.1)

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.�

STATEMENT

���� This bill requires the
Commissioner of Community Affairs to reserve a portion of the funds available
through the State rental assistance program (SRAP) to provide assistance for households
that are unable to participate in the federal Section 8 program due to time
taken off from work or community service responsibilities as a result of a pregnancy
or the need to care for an infant under six months old.�

���� Federal law requires that
residents of housing supported by the federal Section 8 program, who do not
qualify for an exemption, contribute certain community service hours each
month.� Exemptions from this requirement include engagement in 30 hours per
week of employment activities, status as a senior citizen, and disability.�
Pregnancy and parental leave only qualify for an exemption in certain limited
circumstances.� This bill is meant to establish an alternative housing support
option, through the State-funded SRAP program, for households experiencing
pregnancy or the need to care for a newborn.