Requires members, officers, and employees of Legislature to undergo implicit bias and cultural competency training.

A2170

ASSEMBLY, No. 2170

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman Park

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires members, officers, and employees of
Legislature to undergo implicit bias and cultural competency training.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
concerning implicit bias and cultural competency
training for members, officers, and employees of the Legislature and
supplementing chapter 13 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� The Legislature shall
provide an online tutorial on implicit bias and cultural competency for its
members and State officers or employees and special State officers or employees
in the Legislative Branch of government.� Each member of the Legislature and
officer or employee in the Legislative Branch shall take the tutorial no later
than April 1 of every even-numbered year.� Each Executive Director shall submit
a certification to the Legislative Counsel for himself or herself and for his
or her respective staff members that they have completed the online tutorial.�
Each member of the Legislature shall submit to the Legislative Counsel a
certification that he or she and his or her district office staff members have
completed the online tutorial.� The certification shall be public information.

���� In addition to the tutorial,
all officers and employees in the Legislative Branch shall participate in
annual implicit bias and cultural competency training as directed by their
Executive Directors and all members of the Legislature shall participate in annual
implicit bias and cultural competency training as directed by the President of
the Senate for members of the Senate and by the Speaker of the General Assembly
for members of the General Assembly.� The Executive Directors, the President of
the Senate, and the Speaker of the General Assembly shall also direct the
process by which completion of the training is verified.� Such verification
shall be filed with the Legislative Counsel.� The verification shall be public
information.

���� �Implicit bias� means a bias
in judgment or behavior that results from subtle cognitive processes, including
implicit prejudice and implicit stereotypes, that often operate at a level
below conscious awareness and without intentional control.

���� �Implicit stereotypes� means
the unconscious attributions of particular qualities to a member of a certain
social group, influenced by experience, and based on learned associations
between various qualities and social categories, including race and gender.

���� �Cultural competency� means
the ability to understand, appreciate, and interact with people from different
cultures or belief systems.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect on the January 1, next following enactment, but the Legislature may take
any anticipatory action in advance of that date as may be necessary for the
timely implementation of this act.

STATEMENT

����� This bill requires implicit bias and cultural
competency training for members, officers, and employees of the Legislature.�
Implicit bias is a bias in judgment or behavior that results from subtle
cognitive processes, including implicit prejudice and implicit stereotypes,
that often operate at a level below conscious awareness and without intentional
control.� Cultural competency is the ability to understand, appreciate, and
interact with people from different cultures or belief systems.

����� An online tutorial must be completed by April 1 of
every even-numbered year and training must be done annually.� Successful
completion of both the online tutorial and the annual training must be
communicated to the Legislative Counsel and such communications will be
considered public information.

����� Every day, the Legislature creates laws that impact
people of all backgrounds and cultures.� In doing this important work, it is
critical for all members, officers, and employees of the Legislature to
understand their own biases as well as cultures and belief systems different
from their own.