"Everyone Counts in New Jersey Act"; establishes "New Jersey Census Complete Count Commission," "New Jersey Office of Census," and "New Jersey Census Complete Count Trust Fund." *

The bill was renamed the 'Everyone Counts in New Jersey Act' and expanded from a single trust fund provision into a multi-section act establishing three distinct entities: the Complete Count Commission, the Office of the Census, and the Trust Fund.

A permanent New Jersey Office of the Census is established within the Department of State with a director and an official State demographer. The office has 19 enumerated responsibilities including preparing annual population estimates, overseeing statewide census program submissions, evaluating demographic impact of policy proposals, implementing evidence-based policymaking, and coordinating Census Day events.

A 29-member New Jersey Complete Count Commission is created with specific composition requirements including legislative leaders, representatives from the Latino, Black, and Asian-American/Pacific Islander caucuses, municipal and county representatives, community organization representatives, business representatives, and non-profit/faith-based organization representatives. No more than 16 members may be of the same political party.

The Commission must develop a census outreach strategy that includes state agency initiatives, school-based programs, non-profit partnerships, a multilingual multimedia campaign, at least three public hearings in northern, central, and southern regions, and a plan specifically targeting hard-to-count populations including African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, Asian Americans, Middle Eastern/North African persons, non-native English speakers, homeless persons, college students, children under five, men ages 18-49, the elderly, disaster-displaced persons, incarcerated persons, LGBTQ+ community members, and immigrant populations.

The Office of the Census must develop a 'New Jersey Census Bill of Rights and Responsibilities' affirming residents' rights to participate free from intimidation, maintain confidentiality, respond by electronic/written/phone means, request language assistance, and verify census worker identity. It must be translated into languages other than English and made publicly available.

The Commission is created within 60 days of the effective date and no later than April 1 of the fourth year preceding each census. It expires December 31 of the census year. An interim report is due within 8 months of the organizational meeting, and a final report is due by June 30 of the second year before the census. A comprehensive timeline must be published by January 15 of the fifth year before the census (February 15, 2027 for the 2030 census).

The $1 million annual trust fund appropriation is retained but renumbered as Section 9 and renamed the 'New Jersey Census Complete Count Trust Fund.' The funding amount and investment provisions remain unchanged from the original bill.

The statutory citation changed from supplementing Title 19 Chapter 4 to supplementing Title 52 Chapter 4 of the Revised Statutes, moving the act under a different code title.