STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2517

with Assembly Floor Amendments

(Proposed by Assemblyman BENSON)

ADOPTED: SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

      These floor amendments transfer the lead duties of the pilot program to the New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ Transit) rather than the Division of Developmental Disabilities.  Most references to the division in the bill are removed and replaced with reference to the Department of Human Services.  The amendments also remove the appropriations from the bill.

      The amendments provide clarification that the Access Link program is not to serve as a provider of last resort but that the restructured program should use contract providers as a safety net rather than as the primary paratransit providers under the program.  The amendments clarify that certain provisions apply only to corporation paratransit service, as that term is newly defined in the bill.  The amendments remove reference to an “open software platform” and replace it with reference to routing, scheduling, and dispatch software requirements for NJ Transit contract providers.

      As amended, the regional paratransit coordinating councils are no longer located within the Department of Human Services.  Representatives from the New Jersey Council on Special Transportation, Easterseals New Jersey, and transportation providers for senior citizens or for health care services are added to the councils.  The amendments modify one of the county government representatives by requiring that the county representative be from the county office of aging.

      The amendments shift the responsibility of issuing the reports required under the bill from the Division of Developmental Disabilities to NJ Transit.