LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
SENATE, No. 1222
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
DATED: MARCH 7, 2023
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Directs Department of Agriculture in consultation with DOE to
establish online applications for National School Lunch Program and
school breakfast programs.
Type of Impact: Annual State expenditure increase from the General Fund.
Agencies Affected: Department of Agriculture, Department of Education, and certain
school districts.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Year 1 Year 2 and Thereafter
State Expenditure Increase $12.8 million $1 million
 The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that this bill would result in State
expenditure increase of $12.8 million in the first year of implementation, and $1.0 million each
year thereafter. This is based on an Executive Branch estimate provided in a previous fiscal
year, adjusted for inflation.
 The OLS generally agrees with the Executive Branch estimate that was provided, but notes the
Executive estimate was not able to determine the precise level of software integration current
schools would need to connect with a Statewide Internet-based online school meal application
system. The OLS considers that with the various software systems currently in place in the
State’s schools and varying levels of software needs, the Executive estimate provided may
have been conservative.
BILL DESCRIPTION
The bill would require the Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Department of
Education, to develop and make available to each school district and nonpublic school
participating in the National School Lunch Program or in a school breakfast program, an Internet-
Office of Legislative Services Legislative Budget and Finance Office
State House Annex Phone (609) 847-3105
P.O. Box 068 Fax (609) 777-2442
Trenton, New Jersey 08625 www.njleg.state.nj.us
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based online school meal application for eligible students to participate in these programs. Schools
participating in the National School Lunch Program or in a school breakfast program would be
encouraged to make the online school meal application available. A participating school district
or nonpublic school that implements the online school meal application would also be required to
continue to make available paper applications.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
The Executive Branch provided a formal fiscal note for a previous version of this bill,
Assembly Bill No. 3501 of the 2018-2019 Session. Using the information provided in 2018 and
adjusting for inflation, the total cost for implementation would be $12.8 million for the first year,
and $1 million for each year thereafter. These expenses would include software costs, as well as
staffing and maintenance costs. The primary driver of the estimate is the software costs.
Administrative costs associated with the bill would include staffing expenses for one project
manager, one business analyst, one quality assurance person, one developer, two help desk support
staff, and three trainers.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS generally agrees with the Executive Branch estimate that was provided, but notes the
Executive estimate was not able to determine the precise level of software integration current
schools would need to connect with a Statewide Internet-based online school meal application
system. The OLS considers that with the various software systems currently in place in the State’s
schools and varying levels of software needs, the Executive estimate provided may have been
conservative.
In order to satisfy the bill’s provisions, each school would need to be connected to several
systems such as a student enrollment database, direct certification database, verification sampling
software, and a meal counting and claiming system in order to provide the full benefits of an
integrated online environment. In addition, the Statewide online system would need to be
connected to a secure school database that would save the information that households submit
through individual applications. Each school would therefore have to have several systems in
place in order to connect with the Statewide online system. The various types of software systems
currently in place in each school varies, and, therefore, the level of software integration needed for
each school to connect to a Statewide online system would also vary, thereby affecting cost
estimates for system integration. A higher level of software integration needed in any given school
would result in additional expenditures. The OLS also notes that each school varies in its access
to information technology resources equipped to establish these new systems and therefore some
schools may need additional resources to support the new systems.
Section: Environment, Agriculture, Energy, and Natural Resources
Analyst: Neha Patel
Senior Fiscal Analyst
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
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This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).


Statutes affected:
Introduced: 18A:33-11