Bill Text: NJ AJR175 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Urges Chief Innovation Officer to prioritize enhancement of NJOneApp to include all State anti-hunger programs.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-1)
Status: (Passed) 2019-05-09 - Approved P.L.2019, JR-8. [AJR175 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-AJR175-Amended.html
ASSEMBLY JOINT RESOLUTION
No. 175
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
218th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED OCTOBER 29, 2018
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman NICHOLAS CHIARAVALLOTI
District 31 (Hudson)
Assemblyman WILLIAM W. SPEARMAN
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman GABRIELA M. MOSQUERA
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Benson, Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle, Assemblymen DeAngelo, Verrelli and Assemblywoman Murphy
SYNOPSIS
Urges Chief Innovation Officer to prioritize enhancement of NJOneApp to include all State anti-hunger programs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Human Services Committee on December 3, 2018, with amendments.
A Joint Resolution urging the Chief Innovation Officer of New Jersey to prioritize the enhancement of the NJOneApp to include all State anti-hunger programs.
Whereas, The NJOneApp is operated by the Department of Human Services as a consolidated website for individuals to see if they qualify for certain health and social services and to apply for those assistance programs; and
Whereas, Currently, the NJOneApp allows New Jersey residents to apply for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF), and General Assistance through Work First New Jersey; and
Whereas, Improving the NJOneApp to include all State anti-hunger programs, in addition to the other programs currently available on the website, would provide a streamlined way by which disadvantaged individuals can address their food insecurity needs as well as their overall health and social service needs; and
Whereas, Such an enhancement would also help individuals and households access assistance programs that they otherwise may not have known they were eligible for; and
Whereas, In August 2018, the State's first Chief Innovation Officer was appointed to, among several other things, improve the lives of New Jersey residents by designing and deploying more effective government services; and
Whereas, Enhancing the NJOneApp to include all anti-hunger programs aligns with the responsibilities and goals of the Chief Innovation Officer and such action would help streamline State government assistance services, improving the lives of many of the most vulnerable in this State; and
Whereas, According to Feeding America's report entitled "Map the Meal Gap 2018", over 10 percent of New Jersey residents and 13.5 percent of children in the State under the age of 18 are food insecure, meaning those residents do not have an adequate, consistent supply of food; and
Whereas, It is important and in the best interests of the State to prioritize better access to anti-hunger programs and streamline screening and application services through the NJOneApp so that more qualifying residents can receive the food assistance and other government support they urgently need; and
Whereas,
All State anti-hunger programs administered by the Department of Agriculture,
Department of Health, or Department of Human Services, that provide needy or
vulnerable populations greater access to food, should be made available within
the NJOneApp; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. 1[This resolution urges the] The1 Chief Innovation Officer of New Jersey 1is respectfully urged1 to prioritize the enhancement of the NJOneApp to include all State anti-hunger programs so that residents of this State can more effectively be screened and apply for these anti-hunger programs, in addition to the other government assistance programs 1[that can currently be applied for],1 through the NJOneApp.
2. Copies of this resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the Clerk of the General Assembly to the Chief Innovation Officer of New Jersey.
3. This joint resolution shall take effect immediately.