Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Assemblywoman LUANNE M. PETERPAUL
District 11 (Monmouth)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Drulis
SYNOPSIS
Provides for voluntary contributions for taxpayers on gross income tax returns to support reproductive health care services.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning voluntary contributions through gross income tax returns to support equitable access to reproductive health care services and supplementing chapter 9 of Title 54A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. There is established in the Department of the Treasury a special fund to be known as the New Jersey Reproductive Health Care Equitable Access Fund.
b. Each taxpayer shall have the opportunity to indicate on the taxpayers New Jersey gross income tax return that a portion of the taxpayers refund or an enclosed contribution shall be deposited into the special fund.
c. Any costs incurred by the Division of Taxation for collection or administration attributable to this section may be deducted from receipts collected pursuant to this section, as determined by the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting. The State Treasurer shall deposit net contributions collected pursuant to this section into the New Jersey Reproductive Health Care Equitable Access Fund.
d. The Legislature shall annually appropriate all monies deposited into the New Jersey Reproductive Health Care Equitable Access Fund established pursuant to this section for distribution, in equal amounts, to the three largest providers of reproductive health care services to Medicaid patients in the State during the prior calendar year, as determined by the Commissioner of Health. The monies distributed to each provider shall be used to provide reproductive health care services to individuals who cannot afford such services.
e. As used in this section, "reproductive health care services" means medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.
2. This act shall take effect immediately and apply to taxable years beginning on or after January 1 next following the date of enactment.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the New Jersey Reproductive Health Care Equitable Access Fund and provides for a designation on the State gross income tax return that will permit taxpayers to make voluntary contributions to the fund to support equitable access to reproductive health care services for individuals who cannot afford them.
Under the bill, the State would be required to annually appropriate the amounts deposited into the New Jersey Reproductive Health Care Equitable Access Fund for distribution, in equal amounts, to the three largest providers of reproductive health care services to Medicaid patients in the State during the previous calendar year, as determined by the Commissioner of Health. The bill requires these monies to be used to provide reproductive health care services to individuals who cannot afford such services.
The bill defines "reproductive health care services" to mean medical, surgical, counseling, or referral services relating to the human reproductive system, including services relating to pregnancy or the termination of a pregnancy.