Possible August session for Senate would force Gov. Murphy to act on some bills

Gov. Phil Murphy addressing the Legislature during his annual State of the State address on Jan. 9, 2024. (Hal Brown for New Jersey Monitor)

Nearly five dozen bills await Gov. Phil Murphy’s signature after hectic voting sessions in late June, and a possible Senate session in August could set a speedier deadline for the governor to act on some pieces of legislation.

Fifty-seven bills passed in late June and a single piece of legislation approved in mid-May are on the governor’s desk after clearing votes in both chambers, starting the clock on a procedural deadline in New Jersey’s constitution.

The list of bills on the governor’s desk is varied and includes some high-profile items. Among them is legislation that would bar the reporting of medical debt to credit agencies and cap interest on medical debt to 3%.

Among numerous others, there are bills that would create a new tax incentive program for artificial intelligence development firms, impose new regulations on non-marijuana cannabinoids like Delta-8, and bar discrimination in real estate appraisals.

In New Jersey, bills that sit unsigned on the governor’s desk for 45 days become law at noon on the day their legislative chamber of origin next meets for a quorum (if he takes no action during that time period, the bills become law without his signature). Because New Jersey’s legislators do not typically meet in July or August, the 45-day rule rarely comes into play following the marathon voting sessions that typically cap June’s budget season.

But the Senate may return to Trenton this August to consider former New Jersey Attorney General John Jay Hoffman’s nomination to the state Supreme Court. The governor has announced his intent to nominate Hoffman to the seat held by Justice Lee Solomon, who will reach the mandatory retirement age of 70 on Aug. 17.

It’s not clear when, exactly, the Senate plans to convene to consider Hoffman’s nomination, though senators may want Hoffman in before the high court’s new term begins on Sept. 1.

Upper chamber lawmakers were still negotiating a date for a summer session, Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) told reporters following the chamber’s June 28 voting session. But he guessed the chamber would meet to advance Hoffman sometime in early August. That voting session would necessitate a Senate quorum.

Murphy is expected to sign bills in batches throughout the summer, as he has done in past years, though it’s likely some number of the 33 bills on his desk that originated in the Senate will remain unsigned at the start of August.

The deadline doesn’t guarantee bills will become law absent Murphy’s signature. In past years, the governor has made a flurry of bill actions before noon on days when a chamber’s quorum would make the 45-day rule take effect.

The governor will likely have substantially more time to review the 24 bills on his desk that started in the Assembly. The lower chamber plays no formal role in the confirmation of judges and is not expected to meet until after the summer recess ends in September.

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