New Committee Appointments, Same Priorities and Commitment

By Margie Donjon and Luanne Peterpaul

Assemblywomen Luanne Peterpaul and Margie Donlon

We have new State Assembly committee assignments for the 2026-2027 legislative session that will position us to better pursue our goals of making health care more accessible and more affordable while ensuring our state is safer for children and families.

Assemblywoman Donlon, a physician, will continue to serve on the Assembly Health Committee but has been elevated to vice chair. Assemblywoman Peterpaul, a former municipal judge in Asbury Park and Long Branch and a former Essex County assistant prosecutor for major crimes, joins the Assembly Judiciary Committee as its Vice Chair.

We are excited to take on these new responsibilities and have already prefiled some of our bills from the last legislative session as we pursue our priorities.

On the healthcare side, we refiled legislation requiring Medicaid coverage for fertility preservation services in cases of iatrogenic infertility caused by medically necessary treatments. Treating cancer and other diseases often requires the use of strong drugs that can have serious side effects, including infertility. No woman should have to worry about not being able to have a family while going through debilitating cancer treatments.

Combating mental illness remains a daunting problem in New Jersey and throughout America, especially with the federal cuts to health care and education. We want to ensure that people who need professional help but cannot afford it or don’t have health insurance still have access to treatment.

We also will continue to work to insure residents have access to public health services and are proposing an annual state appropriation of $10 million for Public Health Priority Funding. Since 1966 the state provided funding for local health departments with flexibility to address local needs, emerging threats, and other priorities. But the Public Health Priority Funding Act lapsed under former Gov. Chris Christie. We need to restore a stable source of funding for our local health departments.

Another of our prefiled bills would establish protections for health care professionals who receive behavioral health care and apply for State licensure. The stress of working in the medical field can be enormous. Seeking counseling to deal with that burden should not preclude competent professionals from getting a state licence to practice in their fields.

We also continue to support requiring Medicaid reimbursement of mental health rehabilitation services provided through the Clubhouse program. The Shore House in Long Branch is the only Clubhouse program in New Jersey accredited by Clubhouse International. This non-residential, community-based psychosocial rehabilitation program does great work alleviating their members’ emotional or behavioral disabilities. Shore House is helping people isolated by their disability reintegrate into the community or transition to a less restrictive level of care.

On the judicial side, we prefiled our bill to clarify that consent to being photographed, filmed, or recorded in a sexual manner does not include or imply consent to disclosure or publish the image. Posting intimate photos shared by consulting adults is psychologically devastating.

We also prefiled our legislation to establish a three-year Integrated Domestic Violence Court pilot program in Camden, Essex, Hudson, and Middlesex counties. The pilot program would allow for one judge to handle domestic violence cases, matrimonial cases, and related crimes. The goal is to enhance offender accountability and improve victim safety.

 We need to ensure that a person’s affectional or sexual orientation and gender identity or expression does not exclude them from affirmative action programs under public works contracts. We prefiled our legislation to remove these personal qualities from affirmative action programs under public works contracts.

Our priorities for the new legislative session remain affordability, safety and equity. Your needs and concerns will continue to drive our agenda. Please never hesitate to contact us at   AswDonlon@njleg.org, AswPeterpaul@njleg.org, or (732) 704-3808, to share your ideas as we move forward together in making this the most productive legislative session possible for all residents.