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A203
ASSEMBLY, No. 203
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Assemblyman CLINTON CALABRESE
District 36 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Peterson
SYNOPSIS
���� Renames Blue Star Memorial Highway Council as Blue
and Gold Star Memorial Highway Council; renames Blue Star Memorial Highway
system as Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway system.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
concerning the Blue Star Memorial Highway
Council and the Blue Star Memorial Highway system, amending P.L.1999, c.120,
and supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.1999,
c.120 (C.27:1A-5.16) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.��� a.� The Legislature
finds that the Blue Star Memorial Highway Council
, renamed by P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill) as the Blue and Gold 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
, renamed by P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill) as the Blue and Gold 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
and Gold
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
]
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
and Gold
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
and Gold
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
and Gold
Star
Memorial Highway system.
(cf: P.L.1999, c.120, s.1)
���� 2.��� (New section) Within 90
days of the effective date of P.L. ,
c. (C. )
(pending before the Legislature as this bill), the Department of Transportation
shall update all signage throughout the State concerning the Blue Star Memorial
Highway system to reflect the highway system�s updated name, the �Blue and Gold
Star Memorial Highway system.�
���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.
STATEMENT
���� This bill renames the Blue
Star Memorial Highway Council as the Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway
Council and the Blue Star Memorial Highway system as the Blue and Gold Star
Memorial Highway system to recognize Gold Star families.� Gold Star families are
immediate relatives of members of the United States Armed Forces who have been
killed in combat or in support of certain military activities.� The bill also
requires the Department of Transportation, within 90 days of the bill�s
effective date, to update all signage throughout the State concerning the Blue
Star Memorial Highway system to reflect the highway system�s updated name, the
�Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway system.�