Statement to Senate, No. 942 - Senate Commerce Committee (New Jersey, 2020)

Summary

A Senate Commerce Committee Statement to Senate for Senate Bill No. 942, State of New Jersey, dated January 27, 2020, reporting the bill favorably. The statement says the bill requires boards in the Division of Consumer Affairs to consider whether a prior conviction has a direct or substantial relationship to the activity regulated by the board, and deletes the reference to a crime involving moral turpitude. It says a board must give written notice and an opportunity to be heard no later than 30 days after the notice, and that a prior conviction for murder or a sex offense qualifying for registration under "Megan's Law" creates a rebuttable presumption of a substantial relationship. It also says the division must submit an annual report to the Legislature.

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     SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE

                     STATEMENT TO

                    SENATE, No. 942

 STATE OF NEW JERSEY
                    DATED: JANUARY 27, 2020

   The Senate Commerce Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No.
942.
    This bill requires professional and occupational boards in the
Division of Consumer Affairs, when determining whether a person is
disqualified from certification, registration or licensure because of a
prior conviction of a crime or offense, to consider whether the crime or
offense has a direct or substantial relationship to the activity regulated
by the board or is of a nature such that certification, registration or
licensure of the person would be inconsistent with the public’s safety.
    Current law permits a board to suspend or revoke, refuse to issue,
or refuse to admit a person to an examination for any certificate,
registration or license issued by the board upon proof that the applicant
or holder of such certificate, registration or license has been convicted
of, or engaged in acts constituting, any crime or offense involving
moral turpitude or relating adversely to the activity regulated by the
board. The bill amends this standard of proof in current law to delete
the reference to a crime or offense involving moral turpitude, and
requires that the crime or offense have a direct or substantial
relationship to the activity regulated by the board, or to be of a nature
such that certification, registration or licensure of the person would be
inconsistent with the public’s safety.
    In addition, the bill supplements current law to provide that no
person will be disqualified from obtaining or holding any certificate,
registration or license issued by a board solely because of a prior
conviction of a crime or offense, unless the crime or offense has a
direct or substantial relationship to the activity regulated by the board,
or is of a nature such that certification, registration or licensure of the
person would be inconsistent with the public’s safety. In determining
whether a crime or offense directly or substantially relates to the
activity regulated by the board, a board must consider the following:
    (1) the nature and seriousness of the crime or offense and the
passage of time since its commission;
    (2) the relationship of the crime or offense to the purposes of
regulating the profession or occupation regulated by the board;
    (3) any evidence of rehabilitation of the person in the period of
time following the prior conviction that may be made available to the
board; and
                                  2

    (4) the relationship of the crime or offense to the ability, capacity,
and fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the
responsibilities of the profession or occupation regulated by the board.
    The bill provides that a board shall not disqualify a person from
obtaining or holding a certificate, registration or license issued by the
board because of a person’s prior conviction of a crime or offense
unless it provides the person with a written notice that the board has
determined that the conviction may disqualify the person and an
explanation for the preliminary determination that the crime or offense
has a direct or substantial relationship to the activity regulated by the
board or is of a nature such that certification, registration or licensure
of the person would be inconsistent with the public’s safety.
    The board must also afford the person an opportunity to be heard
before the board prior to the board making a final decision on whether
to disqualify the person. The person shall be afforded an opportunity
to be heard before the board no later than 30 days after receiving the
written notice of potential disqualification. If the board’s final
decision is to disqualify the person, the board must notify the person,
no later than 30 days after the hearing, in writing as to the grounds and
reasons for the disqualification, the earliest date upon which the person
may reapply, and that additional evidence of rehabilitation may be
considered upon reapplication.
    The bill also provides that a person’s prior conviction for murder,
or an equivalent statute of another state or jurisdiction, or any sex
offense that would qualify the person for registration under “Megan’s
Law,” or under an equivalent statute of another state or jurisdiction,
creates a rebuttable presumption that a substantial relationship exists
between the prior conviction and the profession or occupation
regulated by the board.
    The bill requires the division to obtain data concerning the number
of, and reasons for, disqualification by any board pursuant to the
provisions of the bill, and annually submit a report to the Legislature
that provides the disqualification data for each board.


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