Bill Text: NJ A5460 | 2026-2027 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: "Practice What We Preach Act"; prohibits use of internet-enabled devices by legislators during voting sessions and committee meetings; requires installation of secure device lockers in certain locations; designates violations as disorderly persons offense.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 1)
Status: (Introduced) 2026-09-14 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A5460 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2026-A5460-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BRIAN BERGEN
District 26 (Morris and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
"Practice What We Preach Act"; prohibits use of internet-enabled devices by legislators during voting sessions and committee meetings; requires installation of secure device lockers in certain locations; designates violations as disorderly persons offense.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the use of internet-enabled devices by legislators at certain times, designated as the Practice What We Preach Act, and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Practice What We Preach Act."
2. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. A 2025 law concerning internet-enabled devices in schools can be interpreted as determining that children cannot be trusted with personal internet-enabled devices between the first and last bells of the school day on the grounds that those devices are distracting, corrosive to attention spans, and harmful to the engagement of the people physically present in the classroom.
b. A student in an algebra class may be distracted from learning a formula, but a legislator's use of a personal internet-enabled device during a voting session can result in spending billions of New Jersey residents' tax dollars, thereby proving that these arguments can apply to adults, including members of the New Jersey Legislature.
c. Any member of the public who observes a legislative session or committee meeting from the gallery can witness members of this Legislature completing personal tasks on internet-enabled devices, including watching videos, scrolling social media, playing games, and online shopping, all while nominally engaging in the solemn constitutional duty of representative government.
d. If the children of this State are required to surrender their internet-enabled devices to learn in school, then it is fair, just, and consistent that the adults who supported that requirement do the same while discharging their legislative duties in this State.
e. The State has banned the use of electronic devices in the past through laws that are still in effect despite such devices becoming obsolete, an example of which is the current law making it a disorderly persons offense for an elementary or secondary school student to bring or possess any remotely activated paging device on property used for school purposes.
f. If the Legislature finds it appropriate to prohibit students from using personal internet-enabled devices during school hours, then it is appropriate for members of the New Jersey Legislature to be prohibited from using such devices during legislative sessions and committee meetings.
3. As used in this act:
"Internet-enabled device" means a cell phone, smartphone, tablet, smartwatch, or any other device capable of connecting to the internet and enabling the user to access content on the internet, including, but not limited to, social media platforms, mobile games, fantasy sports, or online shopping.
"Legislative bell-to-bell period" means the entire duration, from the moment the presiding officer calls the body to order until the moment of adjournment of any quorum call, voting session, or committee proceeding of the Legislature.
"Non-legislative use" means any use of an internet-enabled device that is not directly related to the pending business of the Legislature, which shall include, but not be limited to, the viewing, posting, or creation of content on social media platforms; the checking of personal social media engagement metrics; the taking of photographs; and the playing of any mobile game.
4. a. A member of the Legislature shall not possess or engage in non-legislative use of an internet-enabled device during any legislative bell-to-bell period.
b. Upon completion of the locker installation required pursuant to section 5 of this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and prior to entering a committee room of which the member is part of the committee membership or a chamber for a legislative bell-to-bell period, each member of the Legislature shall deposit every internet-enabled device in the member's possession into an assigned locker.
5. a. No later than 60 days after the effective date of this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), there shall be installed outside each entrance to the Assembly and Senate chambers in the State House and outside each committee room in the State House Annex secure device storage lockers.
b. The use of the lockers shall be monitored by security personnel in the State House and the State House Annex. A member's locker shall be locked by the security personnel upon the deposit of the member's internet-enabled devices prior to a legislative bell-to-bell period and shall not be reopened until the end of the legislative bell-to-bell period.
6. a. A member of the Legislature who violates the provisions of this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), shall be guilty of a disorderly persons offense.
b. Any member who violates the provisions of this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), shall also serve a period of in-chamber or in-committee detention, depending on where the violation occurs. Such detention shall consist of the member remaining in the member's seat for not less than one hour following adjournment to quietly reflect on the pending business of the State. Any subsequent violation of the provisions of this act, P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall result in in-State-House suspension, during which the member shall report to the State House daily but shall not be permitted to speak on the floor.
7. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill, to be known as the "Practice What We Preach Act," prohibits the use of internet-enabled devices by legislators during voting sessions and committee meetings and requires the installation of secure device lockers outside each entrance to the Assembly and Senate chambers in the State House and outside each committee room in the State House Annex.
Current law provides that, beginning with the 2026 school year, every public-school student in New Jersey is prohibited from using a cell phone from the first bell to the last bell of the school day. It has been determined that children cannot learn, focus, or socialize while in possession of these devices. Students who violate their district's policy face consequences up to and including detention and in-school suspension.
This bill prohibits a member of the Legislature from possessing or engaging in non-legislative use of an internet-enabled device during any legislative bell-to-bell period.
This bill also requires the installation of secure device storage lockers outside each entrance to the Assembly and Senate chambers in the State House and outside each committee room in the State House Annex. The lockers will be monitored by security personnel in the State House and the State House Annex.
This bill provides that, upon completion of the locker installation and prior to entering a committee room of which the member is part of the committee membership or a chamber for a legislative bell-to-bell period, each member of the Legislature must deposit every internet-enabled device in the member's possession into an assigned locker. Members who violate the provisions of this bill will be guilty of a disorderly persons offense and be subject to certain additional penalties.
While the inability to access personal internet-enabled devices may be seen as inconvenient, paternalistic, heavy-handed, and insulting to their ability to manage one's own attention, it is important to model the same requirements being enforced for 1.3 million New Jersey students.
