Current Issues in Legislation

NJSHA’s Legislative Committee works hand-in-hand with our governmental affairs consultants, Lynn Nowak and Jacy Lance at Porzio Governmental Affairs.

New Jersey’s two-year legislative session began on January, 2024 and will conclude on January, 2026. Log into the Member Portal to continue reading this in the Committee Resources section.

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Action in Trenton

By Lynn Nowak and Jacy Lance, NJSHA Lobbyists

NJSHA continues to be engaged on a variety of issues under consideration by both the Legislature, the State Board of Education and the New Jersey Speech-Language Audiology Advisory Committee. Please read below to see all the work that we have been doing to advance the profession and protect the interests of the NJSHA membership!

Virtual Related Services

In May 2023, the State Board of Education introduced a proposal to amend the Code to allow for the provision of related services through telemedicine

or telehealth, or through electronic communications, which include virtual, remote or other online platforms, as appropriate and as required by the student’s IEP. The proposed regulation sets forth conditions for when the related services can be provided:

  1. A student with a disability is unable to attend school due to a temporary or chronic medical condition;
  2. A school building or school district is closed, and the school district has implemented its program of virtual or remote instruction; or
  3. The student requires a mandatory period of isolation/quarantine for at least five days because the student has contracted a communicable disease or has been exposed to a communicable disease.

After extended research by Robin Kanis and upon discussion with Education Law Center (ELC) and the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network (SPAN), the NJSHA School Affairs Committee (SAC) became concerned about the lack of specificity and guardrails/ protections in the proposed regulations. On June 7, 2023, Sue Goldman and Robynne Kratchman had the opportunity to present testimony to the State Board regarding these concerns and suggested recommendations to improve the proposal. The board listened intently, and the testimony provided by SAC was supported by the other commenters including ELC, SPAN and The Arc. We will learn at the July meeting whether any of our recommendations were added to the proposal.

Teacher Shortage Legislative Package

In early May, Assembly Education Chairwoman Pam Lampitt introduced a package of bills intended to  address the teacher shortage. The package totaled 12 bills, seven of which were heard in the Assembly Education Committee on May 11. Jacy worked with SAC to determine which bills were of interest to NJSHA, and we settled on the following three:

  • A2227 (Lampitt, D-Camden) / S1980 (Beach, D-Camden): provides gross income tax deduction to eligible educators and paraprofessionals for expense of classroom supplies.
  • A5418 (Atkins, D-Union) / S3891 (Gopal, D-Monmouth): establishes Teacher Certification Reimbursement Fund in DOE to reimburse certain teachers for costs associated with certification.
  • A5422 (Jasey, D-Essex) / S3798 (Ruiz, D-Essex): permits teacher and professional staff member who provides special services, who retired from TPAF to return to employment for up to two years without reenrollment in TPAF if employment commences during the 2023-2024 school year.

Per SAC’s recommendation, Porzio has undertaken the following efforts:

  • A2227: Successfully secured an amendment to include speech-language specialists (SLS) employed by a public or private school in the state. As such, district employed SLSs are now eligible to deduct $250 per year for non-reimbursable expenses incurred for the purchase of classroom supplies. As drafted, the bill originally included only K-12 teachers, instructors, counselors, principals, aides and paraprofessionals.
  • A5418: Porzio continues to work with the sponsors of this legislation to again secure the inclusion of district-employed SLSs. This bill would provide for reimbursement of the costs associated with certification, including fingerprinting, testing requirements and certificate fees. This is a retroactive program, meaning once the fees are incurred, individuals can apply for reimbursement. While originally drafted to only include teachers, the inclusion of SLSs would require additional documentation demonstrating that the SLSs is employed by a school district – the SLS would have to wait until they have a signed contract with a district before they can apply for the reimbursement of their licensure/certification fees.
  • A5422: Porzio secured the inclusion of “professional staff member providing special services, including but not limited to a speech- language specialist or therapist,” in this bill when it was originally drafted in 2021. We supported the bill as it moved through the legislative process again this past month, to extend the program which originally applied to the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years, to now apply to the 2023-2024 school year, as well.

In early 2023, NJSHA shared their White Paper on the benefits of expanding access to fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) with the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Committee and requested to make a presentation to the committee about the findings in the paper. This request was honored at the January 2023 meeting. The committee allowed Kathy Palatucci and Barbara Schwerin Bohus to make remarks and share some comments. It was clear from the questions that were asked, that committee members had taken the time to review the paper. It was also revealed at this meeting that the committee is forming a Rules and Regulations Subcommittee to review the Code in its entirety and determine where amendments are needed. We plan to encourage the subcommittee to follow the recommendations in the White Paper to allow SLPs to practice to the full extent of their licensure and training to perform FEES without a physician on-site and make this change one of the proposed amendments.

Expansion of Grace’s Law

In May 2022, Senator Vince Polistina (R-Atlantic) introduced a bill which would expand Grace’s Law to include cochlear implants and remove the biennial $1,000 coverage limit. The out-of-network cost- sharing provision was also removed. Grace’s Law currently mandates coverage of hearing aids for individuals 15 years of age or younger and the bill also raises this age limit to 21. The bill moved through the Senate Commerce Committee and Senate Budget Committee, ultimately receiving unanimous passage in the full Senate on March 20, 2023. Members of the Audiology Committee met with Lynn and Jacy to synthesize the information and input that had been shared by various NJSHA Audiology Committee members throughout the process. NJSHA decided on two specific recommendations to the legislation. Jacy shared them with the appropriate individuals in the Senate and ultimately coordinated a meeting with Senator Polistina’s chief of staff, and the Senate Republican Office staffer who was taking the lead on this bill. Jacy was joined by Dr. Eric Sandler during the meeting. Our recommendations were well-received, and we feel that an important groundwork was laid.

We plan to revisit our request for amendments in July once the budget is passed and things slow down a bit for both legislators, staff and lobbyists.

Police Training for Interactions With Individuals With Disabilities

A bill which NJSHA has supported since last legislative session, which would allow motor vehicle commission (MVC) to provide notation on a driver’s license (DL) or identification card of a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder or a communication disorder, has finally passed both houses of the Legislature and is currently on the Governor’s Desk! In addition to this notation on the DL or ID card, there is a provision of this bill which calls for the development of guidance to be distributed to each police department in the state to assist law enforcement officers in effectively communicating with an individual who has been diagnosed with autism or a communication disorder. This guidance will be developed jointly between the Commissioner of Human Services, the Attorney General, in consultation with the Division of State Police and at least one organization which advocates on behalf of persons who have autism or communication disorders. Through NJSHA’s advocacy, including Robynne

and Donna coming to Trenton to testify on this bill, NJSHA is positioning themselves to be named as the organization mentioned in the legislation. The Governor signed this bill on May 15, 2023! Since that time, Porzio has initiated conversations with the Attorney General’s office to advocate for NJSHA to be named as the community organization participating in  the development of the guidance. Similar efforts will also be undertaken with staff at the Department of Human Services. Initial feedback from the Attorney General’s Office was that the requirement of “consultation” with “at least one organization” would likely lead to outreach to many organizations, not just one in particular.

Appointments to Hearing Aid Dispensers Examining Committee (HADEC)

NJSHA has submitted three recommendations for nominees to the HADEC board – Anne Eckert would be reappointed, along with new nominees MaryAnn Pladdys and Ken Bodkin. In early June, Lynn was notified by Sam Parker, head of the Governor’s Appointment Office, that the Governor has approved all three appointments. Appointments to this Committee require the approval of the Senate (formally called “advise and consent”). MaryAnn was formally approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee and full Senate on June 15. Lynn has asked Ms. Parker to provide information on the status of Anne and Ken regarding Senate approval.

On May 12, 2021 a critical meeting was held with key decision-makers in the Department of Law and Public Safety: Howard Pine, deputy director of the Division of Consumer Affairs and Sharon Joyce, Assistant Attorney General. NJSHA was represented by our lobbyists Lynn Nowak and Jacy Lance, as well as Robynne Kratchman, Mary Faella, Marykate Vaughn, Donna Merchant and Robin Kanis. The meeting addressed important issues, including the growing number of Registered Dental Hygienists (RDHs) in New Jersey providing and publicly advertising a variety of myofunctional therapy services (swallowing/oral therapy services) without having the appropriate license to do so. Log into the Member Portal to continue reading this in the Committee Resources section.

The New Jersey Department of Education: On April 7, 2021, members of the State Board of Education approved a resolution designating May as Better Hearing and Speech Month. Log into the Member Portal to continuing reading this in the Committee Resources section.

The Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Advisory Committee regulates the profession of audiology and speech-language pathology in New Jersey. The committee licenses audiologists and speech-language pathologists. NJSHA actively monitors this committee to stay aware of new information and provides comment/input on issues affecting the profession. The following are current issues we are tracking: Log into the Member Portal to continue reading this in the Committee Resources section.

Horizon Update – April 12, 2021

NJSHA has established a relationship with executives at Horizon. As a consequence, and benefit, NJSHA and Horizon has been meeting regularly with executives at Horizon to address a variety of issues brought to our attention by members. Several of these issues have been resolved. This ongoing open dialogue between NJSHA and Horizon will allow us to continue to work together on concerns as they arise in the future. Log into the Member Portal to continue reading this in the Committee Resources section.