Bill Text: NJ ACR146 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Joint Committee on Human Trafficking."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-12-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Public Safety and Preparedness Committee [ACR146 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-ACR146-Introduced.html
ASSEMBLY CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 146
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED DECEMBER 16, 2024
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman VICTORIA A. FLYNN
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Joint Committee on Human Trafficking."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Concurrent Resolution establishing the "Joint Committee on Human Trafficking."
Be It Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of New Jersey (the Senate concurring):
1. a. There is established the "Joint Committee on Human Trafficking." The purpose of the joint committee shall be to assess and monitor the human trafficking initiates, programs, and supports within New Jersey. The joint committee shall seek to identify both short-term and long-term solutions and recommendations to monitor and address the effectiveness of current human trafficking initiatives, programs, and supports within the State.
b. In conducting its business, the joint committee shall call upon the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, the New Jersey Commission on Human Trafficking, and the Human Trafficking Unit of the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General to offer their respective expertise and experience concerning the condition of the State's human trafficking initiatives, programs, and supports, and what improvements are necessary to ensure maximum effectiveness of these efforts. The joint committee shall also call upon individuals in the academic community or organizations with expertise, knowledge, or experience with issues facing the State's victims of human trafficking and the various programs implemented to prevent or address human trafficking. In addition, the joint committee shall investigate the steps other states are taking to address human trafficking and any funding mechanisms used to finance needed improvements and updates.
2. a. The joint committee shall comprise six members, three of whom shall be members of the Senate appointed by the President of the Senate, and three of whom shall be members of the General Assembly appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly. No more than two members of the joint committee appointed by the President or the Speaker shall be members of the same political party. The President and the Speaker shall each designate one appointee to the joint committee to serve as co-chairperson of the joint committee.
b. The joint committee shall hold its first meeting within 30 days of the appointment of a majority of the members, and shall meet thereafter at the call of its co-chairpersons.
c. A majority of the membership of the joint committee shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of joint committee business, and action may be taken at any meeting by the affirmative vote of a majority of the membership of the joint committee. All public meetings of the joint committee shall be recorded and transcribed. All meetings at which official joint committee action is taken shall be open to the public. The joint committee may meet and hold hearings at the places it designates during the sessions or recesses of the Legislature. The co-chairpersons of the joint committee shall notify jointly the Office of Legislative Services, for posting and distribution to the public, of the time, place, and agenda of each meeting of the joint committee.
d. The Office of Legislative Services shall provide professional and clerical staff to the joint committee.
e. The joint committee shall be entitled to call to its assistance and avail itself of the services of the employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board, bureau, commission, or agency, or any public institution of higher education in the State, as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes, and to employ stenographic and clerical assistance and incur traveling and other miscellaneous expenses necessary to perform its duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to it for its purposes.
3. The joint committee shall annually prepare and submit to the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the General Assembly, the Minority Leader of the Senate, the Minority Leader of the General Assembly, and the chairpersons of the Senate Law and Public Safety Committee and the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, or their successors, a report containing its findings and recommendations, including any proposals for legislation and other appropriate legislative or regulatory action. Any member of the joint committee who does not concur with the report of the joint committee may issue a minority statement, which shall be included in the transmitted report of the joint committee.
4. This concurrent resolution shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This concurrent resolution establishes the "Joint Committee on Human Trafficking" to study and make recommendations concerning issues related to the effectiveness of human trafficking initiatives, programs, and supports in New Jersey. The joint committee is charged with identifying both short-term and long-term solutions and making recommendations to address the effectiveness of human trafficking initiatives in the State. In conducting its business, the joint committee is directed to call upon the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, the New Jersey Commission on Human Trafficking, and the Human Trafficking Unit of the Office of the Attorney General to offer their respective expertise and experience concerning the State's human trafficking initiatives and what improvements are necessary to ensure maximum effectiveness of these efforts.
The joint committee is to be composed of six members: three members of the Senate appointed by the Senate President, and three members of the General Assembly appointed by the Speaker.
On an annual basis, the joint committee will prepare and submit a report containing its findings and recommendations, including any proposals for legislation and other appropriate legislative or regulatory action.
