S 1731 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Renames Blue Star Memorial Highway Council as Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway Council; renames Blue Star Memorial Highway system as Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway system.

S 1731 renames New Jersey's "Blue Star Memorial Highway Council" to "Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway Council" and updates the "Blue Star Memorial Highway system" to "Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway system." The bill specifically aims to honor Gold Star families (those who lost members in military service) by including "Gold Star" in the official names. It requires the Department of Transportation to update all state highway signage within 90 days of the bill's effective date to reflect these new names. This is a procedural renaming bill with no new funding or policy changes beyond the name updates and signage correction.

Issues: ✓ Veterans

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 2, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Reprint · 3 edits

MINOR

The First Reprint of S 1731 reflects two substantive amendments from the Senate Transportation Committee: the department name was updated from 'Military and Veterans' Affairs' to 'Veterans Affairs' (reflecting a real-world agency rename), and the requirement for the Department of Transportation to update all highway signage within 90 days was removed entirely. A co-sponsor (Senator McKnight) was also added.

Scope change

The bill's scope narrowed slightly: while it still renames the council and highway system, it no longer imposes a specific deadline or obligation on the Department of Transportation to physically update signage statewide. The remaining provisions (council establishment, membership, and advisory role) are unchanged in substance.

DEFINITION

References to the 'Department of Military and Veterans' Affairs' were changed to 'Department of Veterans Affairs' in both the legislative findings and the council membership provisions, aligning the bill with the department's current name.

REQUIREMENT

Section 2, which required the Department of Transportation to update all signage statewide within 90 days of the effective date to reflect the new 'Blue and Gold Star Memorial Highway system' name, was deleted in its entirety.

TECHNICAL

Senator McKnight was added as a co-sponsor of the bill.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 2, 2026

Committee

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Transportation Committee

upper

2 primary · 1 co-sponsor