Permits legislative agents and organizations to receive funds assessed on tuition bills as waivable fees.

A2043

ASSEMBLY, No. 2043

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman SHAMA A. HAIDER

District 37 (Bergen)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Bagolie and Assemblyman Kennedy

SYNOPSIS

���� Permits legislative agents and organizations to
receive funds assessed on tuition bills as waivable fees.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
concerning tuition fees at public institutions of
higher education and amending P.L.1995, c.63.

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

���� 1.��� Section 1 of P.L.1995,
c.63 (C.18A:62-22) is amended to read as follows:

���� 1.��� The governing body of
any public institution of higher education shall
[
not
]
allow funds for legislative
agents or organizations as defined in chapter 13C of Title 52 of the New Jersey
Statutes which attempt to influence legislation to be assessed on student
tuition bills
[
,
except that optional fees for non-partisan organizations which employ
legislative agents or attempt to influence legislation shall be collected by
the governing body whenever students at the institution have authorized an
optional fee for such organizations by a majority vote of those students voting
in an official student referendum
]

as waivable fees
.� For the purposes of this section "
[
optional
]

waivable

fee" shall mean any amount payable on a student tuition bill, appearing as
a separately assessed item, but not a mandatory charge
[
or a waivable
fee
]
.�

[
Optional
]

Waivable

fees shall be accompanied by a statement as to the nature of the item,
[
and
]
that the item
is not a charge required to be paid by the student
[
but rather the student may add
the charge to the total amount due, and that the item appears on the bill at
the request of the student body
]
,

the process for waiving the fee,
and
that the presence of the fee

does not necessarily reflect the endorsement of the governing body.

(cf: P.L.1995, c.63, s.1)

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

STATEMENT

���� This bill would permit the
governing body of a public institution of higher education to allow funds
generated from student tuition bills to be distributed to legislative agents or
organizations which attempt to influence legislation as waivable fees.�

���� Under current law, the
governing body of a public institution of higher education is prohibited from
allowing funds for legislative agents or organizations which attempt to
influence legislation to be assessed on student tuition bills.� However,
optional fees may be assessed for nonpartisan organizations that employ
legislative agents or attempt to influence legislation provided that such a fee
has been authorized by a majority vote in a student referendum.� An optional
fee is an amount payable on a student tuition bill, appearing as a separately
assessed item, but not a mandatory charge or a waivable fee.� Optional fees
that appear on student tuition bills are currently required to be accompanied
by a statement as to the nature of the item along with an explanation that the
item is not a charge required to be paid by the student, the student may add
the charge to the total amount due, and that the item has appeared on the bill
at the request of the student body and does not necessarily reflect the
endorsement of the governing body of the public institution of higher
education.

���� This bill would amend current
law to eliminate the optional fee authorizations process and allow funds for
legislative agents and organizations that attempt to influence legislation to
be assessed on tuition bills as waivable fees.� These fees would appear on
student tuition bills without prior student referendum but students would have
the option to have the fee waived.� For purposes of this bill, a waivable fee
means any amount payable on a student tuition bill, appearing as a separately
assessed item, but not a mandatory charge.� The bill requires a waivable fee to
be accompanied by a statement as to the nature of the item, that the item is
not a charge required to be paid by the student, the process for waiving the
fee, and that the presence of the fee does not necessarily reflect the endorsement
of the governing body of the public institution of higher education.