ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1792

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  DECEMBER 18, 2025

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1792 (1R).

      As reported, this bill requires the Attorney General, in consultation with the New Jersey Education and Law Enforcement Working Group, to establish a program that provides a means for the public to anonymously report information concerning unsafe, potentially harmful, dangerous, violent, or criminal activities in schools or the threat of those activities.  The program will allow students, parents, school staff, and other community members to anonymously report information through readily accessible methods such as a telephone tip line, that is staffed by trained individuals at reasonable hours each day of the week, and a mobile application.  The program is to ensure that the identity of the reporting party remains unknown, except in instances where the reporting party voluntarily discloses his or her identity and verifies that his or her identity may be shared with law enforcement officers, school officials, and employees operating the program.  The bill requires that information received through the program be promptly shared with the appropriate law enforcement agencies or school officials. 

     Under the bill, training will be provided to law enforcement dispatch centers, all public and nonpublic schools, and other entities determined by the Attorney General on awareness of the program and appropriate response to tips received through the program.  Proper guidelines will be provided to students regarding the procedures for reporting potential threats to school safety.  In addition, program awareness and education materials will be provided to all public and nonpublic schools in the State. 

     This bill also requires the Attorney General to annually prepare a report on the program that includes the following: (1) the total number of reports made to the program, disaggregated by subgroups to be determined by the Attorney General; (2) the dates, times, and means of reporting; (3) the total number of instances of misuse of the program; and (4) a summary of the outcomes and actions taken on reports made to the program.  The Attorney General is required to submit the report to the Governor and the Education Committees of the Senate and General Assembly and post the report on the Internet website of the Department of Law and Public Safety by January 1 of the year immediately following issuance of the report.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) notes that, according to the Department of Law and Public Safety, there are currently two programs offered by the Division of State Police that serve the same purpose as the anonymous reporting program contemplated by the bill. Specifically, the Division of State Police currently maintains the School Safety Hotline and Text to 9-1-1. The OLS concludes that the department will have to dedicate resources of no more than a 1.0 full-time equivalent employee to meet the requirements of the bill, and as such estimates a maximum annual State expenditure increase of $100,000.

      The OLS estimates that any State cost increases would be related to the bill’s requirements to: 1) establish a program for anonymously reporting certain information; 2) establish training for certain parties on how to appropriately collect and respond to the reported information; 3) establish an awareness campaign for the program, including education materials, for public and non-public schools Statewide; and 4) establish and publish an annual report of the data collected.