Sponsored by:
Senator SANDRA B. CUNNINGHAM
District 31 (Hudson)
SYNOPSIS
Prohibits a public institution of higher education from using State funds to pay a commencement speaker.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning commencement speakers at public institutions of higher education and supplementing chapter 3B of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. A public institution of higher education shall not use State funds to pay an individual to deliver the commencement address at any graduation ceremony conducted by the institution. In the event that an institution violates the provisions of this section, the State Treasurer shall debit from the institution’s State operating aid an amount equal to the amount paid by the institution to the commencement speaker.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill prohibits a public institution of higher education from using State funds to pay an individual to deliver the commencement address at any graduation ceremony conducted by the institution. In the event that an institution violates the provisions of the bill, the State Treasurer will debit from the institution’s State operating aid an amount equal to the amount paid by the institution to the commencement speaker.
Many public institutions of higher education in the State offer honorary degrees to commencement speakers in lieu of monetary compensation. The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the use of State funds to pay these individuals in light of the reduction in State funding to public institutions of higher education and increase in tuition and fees at these institutions in recent years.