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A2366
ASSEMBLY, No. 2366
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WILLIAM F. MOEN, JR.
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes Gold Star Family Scholarship Program;
appropriates $100,000 from General Fund to Higher Education Student Assistance
Authority.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
establishing a scholarship program for certain family
members of military personnel who died while on active duty, supplementing
chapter 71B of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes and chapter 9 of Title 54A
of the New Jersey Statues, amending P.L.1999, c.192, and making an
appropriation.
����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.��� (New section) As used in
this act:
���� �Gold Star Family member�
means a spouse, domestic partner, civil union partner, parent, brother, sister,
child, legal guardian, or other legal custodian, whether of the whole blood or
the half blood, or by adoption, of a member of the Armed Forces of the United
States or the National Guard who lost his life while on active duty for the
United States;
���� �Institution of higher
education� means an institution of higher education licensed by the appropriate
agency or department and accredited or preaccredited by a nationally recognized
accrediting association.� An institution of higher education shall also include
certain proprietary institutions, but only for degree granting programs
approved by the Secretary of Higher Education or other institutions as
determined by the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority.
���� 2.��� (New section) There is
established in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority a non-lapsing
fund that shall be known as the Gold Star Family Scholarship Fund.� The fund
shall consist of: all funds appropriated by the Legislature for inclusion in
the fund; contributions made by taxpayers pursuant to section 4 of P.L.��� ,
c.�� (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill); receipts from the
personalized license plate surcharge established pursuant to section 1 of
P.L.1999, c.192 (C.39:3-33a); contributions made to the fund by private
sources; and investment earnings of the fund.� The Director of the Division of
Investment in the Department of the Treasury shall invest and reinvest the
money in the fund.
���� 3.��� (New section) a.
Beginning in the first full academic year following the enactment of P.L.��� ,
c.�� (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the authority is
authorized to award scholarships from the fund for the costs of undergraduate
study at an institution of higher education to Gold Star Family members.� The
authority shall:
���� (1) establish criteria for the
determination of eligibility for a scholarship; and
���� (2)�� establish procedures for
determining the amount of each scholarship award based on the cost of
attendance at the institution of higher education and other federal and State
financial assistance for which the scholarship recipient is eligible.
���� b.��� An individual
scholarship award shall not exceed the average tuition charged by the four-year
public institutions of higher education in the State.
���� 4.��� (New section)� a.� Each
taxpayer shall have the opportunity to indicate on the taxpayer�s New Jersey
gross income tax return that a portion of the taxpayer�s tax refund or an
enclosed contribution shall be deposited in the Gold Star Family Scholarship
Fund established pursuant to section 2 of P.L.��� , c.�� (C. ) (pending before
the Legislature as this bill).
���� b.��� Any costs incurred by
the Division of Taxation for collection or administration attributable to this
section may be deducted from the receipts collected pursuant to this section,
as determined by the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting.� The
State Treasurer shall deposit the net contributions into the Gold Star Family
Scholarship Fund.
���� 5.��� Section 1 of P.L.1999,
c.192 (C.39:3-33a) is amended to read as follows:
���� 1.���
a.
Whenever the
[
Division of
]
New Jersey
Motor
[
Vehicles
]
Vehicle
Commission
is authorized to charge an additional application fee for the
issuance of a personalized, courtesy or special license plate, the
[
division
]
commission
shall charge that additional application fee only upon the initial issuance of
the plate.� If a personalized, courtesy or special plate is issued to a lessee
in a motor vehicle leasing agreement, upon termination of the lease the lessee
may apply to the
[
director
]
chief
administrator
to have the plate reissued to another motor vehicle leased or
owned by the lessee upon payment of a fee of $4.50.� If a personalized,
courtesy or special license plate is issued to an owner of a motor vehicle, the
owner may apply to the
[
director
]
chief
administrator
to have the plate reissued to another motor vehicle leased or
owned by the owner upon payment of a fee of $4.50.� Nothing in this section
shall be construed as prohibiting the
[
division
]
commission
from charging, at the time of annual registration renewal, the payment of the
additional fee which has been required under any other section of law for a
special license plate.
����
b.��� The annual
registration renewal of a motor vehicle that has been issued a personalized
license plate shall include in each year subsequent to the issuance of the
personalized license place a fee in the amount of $2, which shall be in
addition to the fee for the renewal of the registration renewal, and shall be
deposited in the Gold Star Family Scholarship Fund established pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.��� , c.�� (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this
bill).
(cf: P.L.1999, c.192, s.1)
���� 6.��� There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority the
sum of $100,000 to be credited to the Gold Star Family Scholarship Fund to
effectuate the provisions of this act.
���� 7.��� Sections 1 through 3 and
section 6 of this act shall take effect immediately, section 4 of this act
shall take effect in the first full tax year following enactment, and section 5
of this act shall take effect 90 days following enactment.
STATEMENT
����
This bill establishes the Gold Star Family Scholarship
Program in the Higher Education Student Assistance Authority (HESAA).� Under
the program, a spouse, child, parent, guardian, or sibling of an individual who
served in the Armed Forces of the United States or National Guard and lost his
life while on active duty would be eligible to receive a scholarship to attend
an institution of higher education.� HESAA would be responsible for
establishing eligibility criteria, and determining the amount of each scholarship
award after considering the cost of attendance at the institution of higher
education and other federal and State assistance for which the individual is
eligible.� An individual scholarship award may not exceed the average tuition
charged at the four-year public institutions of higher education in the State.
����� HESAA will award scholarships using money in the Gold
Star Family Scholarship Fund created under the bill.� The bill establishes an
annual $2 surcharge on personalized license plates, the proceeds of which will
be deposited into the fund.� It also provides for a designation on the State
gross income tax return that permits a taxpayer to make voluntary contributions
to the fund.� Last, the bill appropriates $100,000 to the fund.