Sponsored by:
Assemblyman BENJIE E. WIMBERLY
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Assemblywoman ANNETTE QUIJANO
District 20 (Union)
Assemblywoman ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Reynolds-Jackson
SYNOPSIS
Requires Director of Division of Housing and Community Resources in DCA to establish grant program to encourage municipalities to develop recreational sports and STEM programs for children; appropriates $10 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a grant program to promote municipal recreational sports and STEM programs for children, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. recreational sports and athletics programs often serve an integral role in the development of children. In addition to providing healthy forms of exercise, recreational sports and athletics foster friendships and camaraderie while promoting teamwork, resiliency, and fair play, and instill the value of competition. The benefits and values of participating in recreational sports and athletics programs should be actively promoted by local governments and made available to all children;
b. the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) field has become extremely important for the success of the innovation economy both in New Jersey and the United States, and STEM education is critical in developing a globally competitive workforce in the 21st century. Providing children with local opportunities to participate in youth-focused recreational STEM programs provides a creative outlet for children, encourages children to pursue degrees and careers in STEM fields, and is critical for realizing greater economic innovation, success, and equality; and
c. recreational sports and athletics programs, and youth-focused recreational STEM programs, are critical to the physical and mental health of children. The programs provide children with opportunities to interact socially with other children, form friendships and build trusting relationships, and are an effective means to combat feelings of depression, loneliness, and isolation.
2. a. The Director of the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs shall establish a competitive matching grant program to encourage municipalities to develop and administer recreational sports and athletics programs, and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) programs for local children. The STEM programs shall be youth-based, recreational programs and shall focus on creative, age-appropriate and entertaining activities, including but not limited to, robot-building, 3D printing toys, and Lego programs. The purpose of the matching grant program shall be to provide a dollar-for-dollar match in grant funding to local governments which develop and administer municipal-based recreational sports and athletics programs or STEM programs for municipal children.
b. To participate in the grant program established pursuant to subsection a. of this section, the governing body of a municipality shall submit an application to the division in a manner and on such forms as determined by the director. An application shall include information detailing the municipalitys proposed plans for the grant funding, including, but not limited to:
(1) identifying the specific recreational sports and athletic programs or STEM programs that the municipality intends to develop and administer;
(2) the amount of the grant funding being sought by the municipality;
(3) the proposed sources of matching funding to be used by the municipality to offer the recreational sports and athletic programs or STEM programs; and
(4) a description of how the grant funding will be used to develop and administer the recreational sports and athletic programs and STEM programs, including: the specific locations the municipality plans to implement the programs, including any public libraries, recreation departments, or other public buildings; the anticipated number, if determinable, of participants each program will generate; specific measures the municipality will take to maximize promotion and awareness of the programs; any amounts necessary to compensate a program supervisor and to train non-paid volunteers; and measures the municipality intends to take to ensure the programs are offered for free or for reduced prices.
c. After reviewing the applications submitted pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the director shall select municipalities in each of the northern, southern, and central regions of the State, to participate in the program and shall seek a cross section of programs from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State. In making the determination, the director shall designate factors concerning the selection of grant recipients including, but not limited to, the municipal contribution to the development and administration of the programs, the cost effectiveness of the programs, and the municipalitys efforts to develop and administer the programs to as many local children as possible.
d. The director shall develop a list of municipal costs that are eligible for matching grant funds including, but not limited to, sports and athletics equipment, field and equipment maintenance, insurance, lighting, salary for the program supervisor, volunteer training, and any other costs the director deems appropriate.
3. a. Within one year of receiving a grant pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), each participating municipality shall submit a report to the Director of the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs, in a manner and on such forms as determined by the director, detailing:
(1) the expenditures of the grant funds under the program;
(2) the total number of recreational sports and athletics programs and STEM programs that h