Bill Text: NJ S1907 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates the Office on Women's Research and Policy and appropriates $150,000.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-24 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee [S1907 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-S1907-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator NILSA CRUZ-PEREZ
District 5 (Camden and Gloucester)
Senator NELLIE POU
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
SYNOPSIS
Creates the Office on Women's Research and Policy and appropriates $150,000.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act creating the Office on Women's Research and Policy, P.L.1974, c.87 (C.52:27D-43.8 et seq.) and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. There is established the Office of Women's Research and Policy in the Division on Women in the Department of Children and Families. The purpose of the office shall be to stimulate and encourage throughout the State the study and review of the status of women, and to strengthen family life by directing attention to critical problems confronting women as homemakers, mothers, spouses and workers.
2. The Office of Women's Research and Policy shall perform the following functions:
a. Collaborate with other State agencies and affiliated groups, including but not limited to the New Jersey Advisory Commission on the Status of Women, established pursuant to P.L.1974, c.87 (C.52:27D-43.8 et seq.), and the Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education, established pursuant to P.L.1999, c.223 (C.34:15C-21 et seq.), to address issues that disproportionately or especially affect women;
b. Identify gaps in existing data on women, request particular analyses of data on women and disseminate this research to New Jersey policy makers, including government officials and legislators;
c. Conduct research by surveys, generate original research by using quantitative and qualitative methods as needed and collect existing data;
d. Disseminate information to New Jersey policy makers on a spectrum of issues relevant to women's lives, including but not limited to women's status in the workforce, access to child care and other resources, education equity, violence against women and economic self-sufficiency; and
e. Discharge its duties in partnership with the Institute for Women's Leadership at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey.
3. The Office of Women's Research and Policy shall be entitled to call upon the services and assistance of State agencies and affiliated groups, and shall have access to all historical records and files, for the proper execution of its duties.
4. On the effective date of
this act, all of the historical records and files of the Commission to Study
Sex Discrimination in the
Statutes, established pursuant to P.L.1978, c.68, shall be transferred to the
Office on Women's Research and Policy.
5. There shall be established a dedicated and revolving fund called the "Women's Research and Policy Fund" in the Department of the Treasury, and any funds appropriated to or otherwise received by the Office of Women's Research and Policy shall be deposited into that fund. The fund shall be used only for expenses of the Office of Women's Research and Policy. The Director of the Office of Management and Budget shall report to the Office of Women's Research and Policy all transactions involving the fund. There shall be annually appropriated to the fund an amount necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.
6. The Office of Women's Research and Policy shall be authorized to accept federal funds for any of its purposes, provided the acceptance of those funds commits no State funds and places no additional obligations on the Legislature of this State. The Office of Women's Research and Policy may apply for and accept foundation grants for specific purposes, and may accept gifts, donations and benefits from individuals and philanthropic organizations.
7. There is appropriated from the General Fund $150,000 as initial funding for the Office of Women's Research and Policy.
8. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill creates the Office of Women's Research and Policy in the Division on Women in the Department of Children and Families. The purpose of the office is to stimulate and encourage throughout the State the study and review of the status of women, and to strengthen family life by directing attention to critical problems confronting women as homemakers, mothers, spouses and workers.
The office will perform the following functions: collaborate with other State agencies and affiliated groups, including but not limited to the New Jersey Advisory Commission on the Status of Women and the Council on Gender Parity in Labor and Education, to address issues that disproportionately or especially affect women; identify gaps in existing data on women, request particular analyses of data on women and disseminate this research to New Jersey policy makers, including government officials and legislators; conduct research by surveys, generate original research by using quantitative and qualitative methods as needed and collect existing data; disseminate information to New Jersey policy makers on a spectrum of issues relevant to women's lives, including but not limited to women's status in the workforce, access to child care and other resources, education equity, violence against women and economic self-sufficiency; and discharge its duties in partnership with the Institute for Women's Leadership at Rutgers University.
The Office of Women's Research and Policy will be entitled to call upon the services and assistance of State agencies and affiliated groups, and will have access to all their historical records and files. Additionally, all of the historical records and files of the Commission to Study Sex Discrimination in the Statutes will be transferred to the Office on Women's Research and Policy.
The bill also creates the "Women's Research and Policy Fund" in the Department of the Treasury, to receive all funding for the Office of Women's Research and Policy from the State and other sources. The bill authorizes the office to apply for and collect funds from the federal government and other sources in certain cases, and directs that an annual appropriation be made to the fund in an amount necessary to effectuate the purposes of the bill. Finally, the bill makes an initial appropriation of $150,000.
