Bill Text: NJ S656 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes "Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund."
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee [S656 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S656-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
214th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2010 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ANDREW R. CIESLA
District 10 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator CHRISTOPHER "KIP" BATEMAN
District 16 (Morris and Somerset)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes "Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning volunteer emergency services, supplementing Title 27 of the Revised Statutes and amending N.J.S.22A:3-4.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. (New section) As used in this act:
"Fund" means the Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund established pursuant to this act;
"Interstate highway" means a highway within this State to which title is vested in the United States and has been approved by the Secretary of Transportation of the United States as an official portion of the national System of Interstate and Defense Highways, pursuant to the provisions of Title 23 of the United States Code;
"Volunteer emergency service organization" means any volunteer non-profit corporation, association or organization located in this State that is regularly engaged in providing emergency medical care, rescue services, the transport of patients or fire services, and that does not bill for its services.
2. (New section) There is created in the Office of Highway Traffic Safety in the Department of Law and Public Safety a special nonlapsing fund to be known as the "Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund." The fund shall be credited with monies received pursuant to subsection b. of N.J.S.22A:3-4, in addition to all interest received from the investment of monies in the fund and any monies which, from time to time, may otherwise become available for the purposes of the fund. Of the monies credited pursuant to subsection b. of N.J.S.22A:3-4, $0.25 shall be distributed pursuant to section 3 of this act and $0.25 shall be distributed pursuant to section 4 of this act, except that no more than 5 percent of monies deposited in this fund per year shall be used to reimburse the Office of Highway Traffic Safety for administering the fund pursuant to this act. The monies deposited in the fund shall be held in interest-bearing accounts in public depositories, as defined pursuant to section 1 of P.L.1970, c.236 (C.17:9-41), and may be invested or reinvested in such securities as are approved by the State Treasurer. Interest or other income earned on monies deposited into the fund shall be credited to the fund.
3. (New section) a. A volunteer emergency service organization that provides emergency services on or along any interstate or other federal highway shall be eligible for reimbursement from the Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund created pursuant to section 2 of this act, within limitations of resources available to the fund.
b. A volunteer emergency service organization providing services on or along any interstate or other federal highway shall be eligible to annually apply for a grant from the fund to reimburse the organization for providing these services. The Office of Highway Traffic Safety shall be responsible for allocating grant funds among volunteer emergency service organizations providing such services in compliance with regulations established by the Department of Law and Public Safety pursuant to this act.
c. The Department of Law and Public Safety shall promulgate regulations governing the provision of grants to eligible volunteer emergency service organizations. Allocations shall be based on the number of incidents per year in which a volunteer emergency service organization provides services qualified for reimbursement under this act on interstate or federal highways, and the type of services provided. The regulations shall provide for the submission of annual reports by volunteer emergency service organizations. These reports shall include, but not be limited to, documentation of the incidents and the nature and location of emergency services for which reimbursement is provided. The Office of Highway Traffic Safety shall be authorized to audit or review these reports as necessary so as to ensure their accuracy. Prior to the end of the State fiscal year, the department shall report to the Governor and the Legislature on the operation of the grant program, including a summary of grant allocations and the number of incidents for which the organization is reimbursed.
d. A volunteer emergency service organization shall not be reimbursed from the Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund if there exists an alternative source of federal, State or local funding available to reimburse the volunteer emergency service organization for providing services pursuant to this act.
4. (New section) A volunteer emergency service organization shall be eligible to apply to the Office of Highway Traffic Safety for a grant from the fund to further, directly or indirectly, the recruitment or retention of trained volunteer emergency service personnel. Application for this grant shall include a statement describing how the emergency service organization will use funds granted for these purposes. Grants shall be allocated to volunteer emergency service organizations on an annual basis through a competitive process, within limitations of resources available to the fund. The Office of Highway Traffic Safety also may use funds to establish a resource center or program to assist volunteer emergency service organizations with the recruitment and retention of volunteers.
5. (New section) A volunteer emergency service organization that knowingly includes false information or knowingly makes a false statement in any application or report required in connection with a grant or reimbursement for services, or that knowingly collects any grant or reimbursement to which it is not entitled, shall be required to repay any funds to which it was not entitled and shall thereafter be permanently disqualified from securing further payments from the fund.
6. (New section) The Department of Law and Public Safety shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), such rules and regulations as may be necessary to implement this act.
7. N.J.S.22A:3-4 is amended to read as follows:
22A:3-4. The fees provided in the following schedule, and no other charges whatsoever, shall be allowed for court costs in any proceedings of a criminal nature in the municipal courts but no charge shall be made for the services of any salaried police officer of the State, county or municipal police.
For violations of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes, or of traffic ordinances, at the discretion of the court, up to but not exceeding $30.00.
For all other cases, at the discretion of the court, up to but not exceeding $30.00.
In municipal court proceedings, the court shall impose court costs within the maximum limits authorized by this section, as follows:
a. For every violation of any statute or ordinance the sum of $2.00. The court shall not suspend the collection of this $2.00 court cost assessment. These court cost assessments shall be collected by the municipal court administrator for deposit into the Automated Traffic System Fund, created pursuant to N.J.S.2B:12-30.
b. For each fine, penalty and forfeiture imposed and collected under authority of law for any violation of the provisions of Title 39 of the Revised Statutes or any other motor vehicle or traffic violation in this State the sum of [$.50] $1.00. The court shall not suspend the collection of this [$.50] $1.00 court cost assessment. [These] Of this court cost [assessments] assessment, $.50 shall be collected by the municipal court administrator for deposit into the "Emergency Medical Technician Training Fund" established pursuant to P.L.1992, c.143 (C.26:2K-54 et al). The remaining $.50 of this assessment shall be deposited into the "Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund" established pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (now pending before the Legislature as this bill).
The provisions of this act shall not prohibit the taxing of additional costs when authorized by R.S.39:5-39.
For certificate of judgment ......... $4.00
For certified copy of paper filed with the court as a public record:
First page ......... $4.00
Each additional page or part thereof ......... $1.00
For copy of paper filed with the court as a public record:
First page ......... $2.00
Each additional page or part thereof ......... $1.00
In addition to any fine imposed, when a supplemental notice is sent for failure to appear on a return date the cost shall be $10.00 per notice, unless satisfactory evidence is presented to the court that the notice was not received.
CONSTABLES OR OTHER OFFICERS
From the fees allowed for court costs in the foregoing schedule, the clerk of the court shall pay the following fees to constables or other officers:
Serving warrant or summons, $1.50.
Serving every subpoena, $0.70.
Serving every execution, $1.50.
Advertising property under execution, $0.70.
Sale of property under execution, $1.00.
Serving every commitment, $1.50.
Transport of defendant, actual cost.
Mileage, for every mile of travel in serving any warrant, summons, commitment, subpoena or other process, computed by counting the number of miles in and out, by the most direct route from the place where such process is returnable, exclusive of the first mile, $0.20.
If defendant is found guilty of the charge laid against him, he shall pay the costs herein provided, but if, on appeal, the judgment is reversed, the costs shall be repaid to defendant. If defendant is found not guilty of the charge laid against him, the costs shall be paid by the prosecutor, except when the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles, a peace officer, or a police officer shall have been prosecutor.
(cf: P.L.1993, c.293, s.4)
8. This act shall take effect on the first day of the 13th month after enactment, except that sections 2 and 7 shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would establish a Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund in the Office of Highway Traffic Safety (OHTS) in the Department of Law and Public Safety to reimburse volunteer emergency service organizations for expenses incurred in providing emergency services on interstate highways or other federal highways not classified as interstates, such as U.S. Route 22 and U.S. Route 9. The bill also would provide grants for recruiting or retaining volunteer emergency service personnel and to establish resource centers or programs to assist volunteer emergency service organizations in their recruitment efforts.
The bill defines a "volunteer emergency service organization" as any volunteer non-profit corporation, association or organization in New Jersey regularly engaged in providing emergency medical care, rescue, patient transport or fire protection services and that does not bill for its services.
The fund would be supported by an additional $0.50 surcharge on traffic violation fines. Of this surcharge, $0.25 would be used to provide grants to volunteer emergency service organizations to recruit or retain trained volunteer emergency service personnel. The remaining $0.25 would be used to provide annual grants to qualified volunteer emergency service organizations to reimburse these organizations for their services. Reimbursements would be based on the number of incidents per year that such organizations provide emergency medical services on interstate highways and the type of services provided. The OHTS would be authorized to use up to five percent of the fund each year for costs incurred in administering the fund.
Volunteer emergency service organizations would be ineligible for reimbursement if there exists an alternative source of federal, state or local funding available for providing such services. Volunteer emergency service organizations that knowingly submit false information in order to secure reimbursement would be required to repay those funds and would be permanently disqualified from receiving further reimbursement from the fund.
The additional surcharge imposed on motor vehicle offenses and creation of the Volunteer Emergency Services Highway Reimbursement Fund would take effect immediately under the bill. However, the office would not be authorized to allocate grants until a year after the bill's enactment, so that the amount of reimbursements and grants allocated to qualified volunteer emergency service organizations would be based on actual penalty receipts.
