S 1837 New Jersey Senate · 2026-2027 Regular Session

Establishes child care contribution tax credit to employers subject to CBT or GIT for certain child care expenses for children of employees.

This bill creates a 50% tax credit for New Jersey employers subject to Corporate Business Tax (CBT) or General Income Tax (GIT) who pay for certain child care expenses related to their employees' children. It covers costs for building/maintaining on-site child care centers, contracting external providers, or subsidizing employees' child care payments, with a $100,000 annual limit per employer. Employers must apply for the credit through the state, submit documentation, and agree to use the funds for eligible child care services. The total credit pool across all employers is capped at $10 million yearly. The bill does not change existing tax rates but reduces tax liability for qualifying employers.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Feb 12, 2026

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What changed between versions

Introduced → Reprint · 5 edits

MODERATE

The bill passed the Senate Economic Growth Committee with amendments on February 12, 2026. The most substantive change removes an exception that had protected home-based childcare facilities from being disqualified when their principal use was something other than childcare. Several minor technical corrections were also made, and the legislative statement section was removed as is standard upon committee reprint.

Scope change

Eligibility for the child care tax credit is slightly narrowed. Home-based childcare providers whose facility's principal use is other than childcare can no longer claim the exception based on the facility being their principal residence.

ELIGIBILITY

Removed the exception that allowed a facility to still qualify as a 'qualified child care center' even if its principal use was other than childcare, as long as it was the principal residence of the owner/operator. This change appears in two places in the bill and narrows eligibility by eliminating the home-based provider carve-out.

TECHNICAL

Fixed a cross-reference from 'the section' to 'this section' in subsection e(2).

Added a comma after 'director' in the application and agreement language for clarity.

Corrected a plural/singular typo: 'taxable years following the taxable years' changed to 'taxable years following the taxable year.'

The entire Statement section (a summary of the bill's provisions) was removed, which is standard practice when a bill is reprinted after committee action.

Floor votes

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Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Feb 12, 2026

Committee

Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee

upper

2 primary · 1 co-sponsor