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A 5403

Enacts the "Jack Reid Law: Protect All Students Act"

2025 Regular Session Introduced by Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and 23 co-sponsors

Enables the New Jersey Agriculture Development Committee to provide landowners access to tax and estate planners for negotiating sale or installment easements on farmland.

SUBSTITUTED BY S4544B
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Bill Summary · A 5403

Summary — A5403 (A5403A)

Note: Although the bill header lists the “Jack Reid Law: Protect All Students Act,” the text of A5403/A5403A provided here amends New Jersey farmland preservation law. The substantive provisions in the introduced version amend P.L.1983, c.32 and make related changes affecting the State Agriculture Development Committee’s farmland easement purchase program.

Main purpose

To facilitate farmland preservation transactions by authorizing the Agriculture Development Committee (and the farmland preservation board) to provide landowners with access to qualified tax and estate planners when negotiating the sale or installment sale of development easements on farmland.

Key provisions and changes

  • Amends Section 24 of P.L.1983, c.32 (C.4:1C-31) governing sale and purchase of development easements.
  • Reaffirms existing appraisal and purchase rules for development easements:
    • Two independent appraisals (paid for by the board) to establish nonagricultural and agricultural values; the difference represents the easement value.
    • The State may provide up to 80% of the purchase price from the fund (100% in specified emergency conditions).
    • Municipal average values established by local development transfer banks may be used in lieu of individual appraisals in some jurisdictions (e.g., Burlington County and other authorized banks).
    • Landowners must accept or reject offers within 30 days; rejected applications (except for insufficient funds) cannot be refiled for two years.
    • Appraisal values used for easement purchase shall not be used to increase agricultural assessments under the Farmland Assessment Act of 1964.
  • New subsection (k) (added): authorizes the committee to
    • establish and maintain a list of tax and estate planners in each region, and/or
    • hire a dedicated pool of such planners,
    • who are appropriately licensed or qualified to provide tax and estate guidance to landowners in connection with the development easement transfer (including installment purchases).
    • The committee/board and landowners may select and use any planner on the committee’s list or in the dedicated pool. (Text was truncated in the provided file; the measure focuses on enabling planner selection and use in easement transactions.)

Who is affected

  • Farmland owners applying to sell development easements (especially those considering installment sale structures).
  • New Jersey Agriculture Development Committee and the farmland preservation board (administration and oversight of the list/pool).
  • Municipalities and counties participating in farmland preservation and development transfer bank programs.
  • Tax and estate planning professionals who may be included in the committee list or hired pool.
  • Potential fiscal effects on State/local administrative budgets for maintaining or contracting planner services (not specified in provided text).

Procedural status and timeline

  • Introduced in the Assembly: March 6, 2025.
  • Referred to Assembly Commerce, Economic Development and Agriculture Committee.
  • Reported and printed as A5403A (June 6, 2025).
  • Reported to Rules and ordered to third reading (June 17, 2025).
  • SUBSTITUTED BY S4544B (June 17, 2025) — the Assembly bill was replaced by a companion Senate bill (S4544/S4544B) for further action.

Sponsors and related legislation

  • Primary sponsor: Assembly Member Michaelle C. Solages. Multiple cosponsors from both parties.
  • Related/companion: S4544 (Senate companion), prior-session bills S 6438, S 3696, S 722, A 7399, A 1829.

Potential impacts

  • Practical: Provides landowners with professional tax and estate planning support when structuring easement sales (including installment purchases), which could lower legal/financial barriers to participation in farmland preservation programs and help ensure transactions are tax-efficient and consistent with estate plans.
  • Administrative: May require modest additional administrative resources to create/maintain a list or contract a pool of planners; costs and funding mechanisms are not detailed in the provided text.
  • Fiscal: The bill does not itself change the 80%/100% State share provisions for easement purchases; any broader fiscal impact depends on program uptake and administrative costs.

If you want, I can:
- Compare the Assembly text to the Senate substitute S4544B and summarize any substantive differences, or
- Draft a one-page explainer for landowners describing how access to tax/estate planners would work under the proposal.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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