Sponsored by:
Assemblyman ALEX SAUICKIE
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Requires public institutions of higher education to enroll certain students impacted by automation in job training courses without payment of tuition.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning unemployment tuition waivers for displaced workers and amending P.L.1983, c.469 and P.L.1983, c.470.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.1983, c.469 (C.18A:64-13.2) is amended to read as follows:
2. Each public institution of higher education shall permit a person who has been in the labor market for at least two years and is unemployed or has received a layoff notice as a result of a factory or plant closing or automation to enroll without payment of tuition in a job training course, provided that the person is not eligible for any available State or federal student financial aid and that available classroom space permits and that tuition paying students constitute the minimum number required for the course. Nothing herein shall preclude a public institution of higher education from requiring a registration fee not to exceed $20.00 per academic term.
(cf: P.L.1992, c.45, s.2)
2. Section 2 of P.L.1983, c.470 (C.18A:64A-23.2) is amended to read as follows:
2. Each county college shall permit a person who has been in the labor market for at least two years and is unemployed or has received a layoff notice as a result of a factory or plant closing or automation to enroll without payment of tuition in a job training course, provided that the person is not eligible for any available State or federal student financial aid and that available classroom space permits and that tuition paying students constitute the minimum number required for the course. Nothing herein shall preclude a county college from requiring a registration fee not to exceed $20.00 per academic term.
(cf: P.L.1992, c.45, s.4)
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires public institutions of higher education to enroll certain students impacted by automation in job training courses without payment of tuition.
Under current law, each public institution of higher education is required to permit a person who has been in the labor market for at least two years and is unemployed or has received a layoff notice as a result of a factory or plant closing to enroll without payment of tuition in a job training course, provided that the person is not eligible for any available State or federal student financial aid and that available classroom space permits and that tuition paying students constitute the minimum number required for the course. This bill extends this benefit to individuals who lost employment due to automation.
According to a 2020 ALICE report from United Way of New Jersey, 84 percent of jobs paying less than $20 per hour and 42 percent of jobs paying more than $20 per hour in the State are at high risk of becoming automated, based on data from 2018. The sponsor notes that Ocean County is among the State’s counties with the highest rates of these types of jobs, leaving many of the county’s residents and families vulnerable to the impact of job loss due to automation.