Worried about NJ's air quality, antisemitism? These bills are for you
Worried about NJ's air quality, antisemitism? These bills are for you
Katie Sobko, NorthJersey.comMon, May 11, 2026 at 8:31 AM UTC
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Legislation is a negotiation process, and while some bills make it from introduction to the governor’s desk in a matter of weeks in New Jersey, others take months or even years to fine-tune.
And those are just the bills that do make it. Hundreds of topics in every legislative session end up collecting dust on a shelf.
Although some notable bills didn’t quite make it across the finish line during the last legislative session in Trenton, advocates for causes from the environment to a ban on smoking in casinos and a definition for antisemitism in the state are still pushing to raise awareness about the bills they care about.
One such activist is Matt Smith, state director for Food & Water Watch, who has been speaking out about the Climate Superfund Act, or, as he puts it, the “make polluters pay” bill.
Story continues below photo gallery.
Smith said advocates still have “incredible momentum” and that though they lost a few sponsorships from people no longer in the Legislature, they are gaining new support.
He also noted that when the question came up on “Ask the Governor” in April, Gov. Mikie Sherrill said the bill is one she has discussed with her staff because she supports the concept.
That bill isn’t the only one that stalled out last session, even with significant support. As it stands, the Legislature has a Democratic majority in both chambers. There are 25 Democrats and 15 Republicans in the state Senate and 57 Democrats and 23 Republicans in the Assembly.
It remains to be seen whether Sherrill will champion any of these pending pieces of legislation specifically.
Climate Superfund Act
This bill would require certain companies to make payments to the state based on the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions they were responsible for.
It had 19 sponsors in the state Senate and 46 in the Assembly last session and has been reintroduced with 19 and 44 sponsors, respectively.
The New Jersey Climate Superfund Act would require certain companies to make payments to the state based on the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions they were responsible for.
The measure would require fossil fuel companies to pay $50 billion over 20 years to pay for flood protection, infrastructure and disaster response. The uptick in cost of those services currently gets passed on to New Jersey residents in the form of higher taxes, insurance payments and utility bills.
“We need to commit to making polluters pay their share of these rapidly rising costs in our state,” Smith said.
Gender affirming health care
A bill that would shield patients and doctors from criminal or civil liability for treatment related to gender dysphoria did not appear in a committee hearing. It had 39 sponsors in the Assembly and 19 sponsors in the Senate.
The bill would codify protections Gov. Phil Murphy established in an executive order signed in 2023.
It’s already been reintroduced in each chamber and has 35 sponsors in the Assembly and 19 sponsors in the Senate. It was scheduled to appear in committee on May 11.
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Senate Majority Leader Teresa Ruiz is one of the prime sponsors of the bill.
Senator Teresa Ruiz walks on stage to speak during a voter rally for Democratic candidate for governor, Mikie Sherrill, at Essex County College in Newark on Saturday, Nov. 1, 2025.
"Across the country, patients and providers who seek and deliver reproductive health care services have faced fear, intimidation and uncertainty," she said. "This bill sends a clear message that in New Jersey, patients deserve access to the care they need, and no provider should face punishment or harassment for offering lawful services they are trained to administer."
This legislation is at odds with the stance of the Trump administration. Among the first executive orders signed by President Donald Trump after he took office for a second term was one declaring that his administration would acknowledge only two genders.
Smoking in casinos
A bill to ban smoking on Atlantic City casino floors made it through one committee in the state Senate but was never heard in the lower chamber.
That vote was in January 2024, and since then the bill has faded into the background — but it is unlikely to go away for good.
This session, it has 18 sponsors in the state Senate and 40 in the Assembly. It also has been introduced in every legislative session since 2006 but has stalled out year after year.
The proposed legislation was introduced in response to a 2006 state law that guaranteed smoke-free workplaces but gave casinos an exemption.
In Atlantic City casinos, smoking is permitted in only about 20% of public spaces. A temporary ban was implemented at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, but smoking returned when Murphy lifted it.
A report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health said casino workers are exposed to "hazardous levels of toxic secondhand smoke at work" that "increased in the body as the shift went on," and it recommended "making all casinos 100% smoke-free to ensure indoor air within casinos is safe to breathe."
The report also said workers are at "great risk to the health hazards caused by secondhand smoke, including heart disease, lung cancer, and acute and chronic respiratory illnesses."
Antisemitism definition law
A bill that would create an official definition of antisemitism in the state garnered significant support last session, when it had 59 sponsors in the Assembly and 17 in the Senate.
Although it got out of committee, the bill never received a floor vote in either chamber.
It didn’t necessarily pick up where it left off this session.
The bill has been reintroduced in the Assembly with 49 sponsors, but there is no identical bill in the upper chamber.
The bill would endorse the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s description of antisemitism, which includes hatred and discrimination against Jews, Holocaust denial and certain criticisms of Israel such as saying its existence is a "racist endeavor."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Worried about NJ's air quality, antisemitism? These bills are for you
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