ASSEMBLY, No. 1719
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
220th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman SHANIQUE SPEIGHT
District 29 (Essex)
Assemblywoman BRITNEE N. TIMBERLAKE
District 34 (Essex and Passaic)
Assemblywoman ANGELA V. MCKNIGHT
District 31 (Hudson)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen Jasey and Lampitt
SYNOPSIS
Requires members, officers, and employees of Legislature to undergo
implicit bias and cultural competency training.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Community Development and Affairs
Committee with technical review.
A1719 SPEIGHT, TIMBERLAKE
2
AN ACT concerning implicit bias and cultural competency training 1
for members, officers, and employees of the Legislature and 2
supplementing chapter 13 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes. 3
4
BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 5
of New Jersey: 6
7
1. The Legislature shall provide an online tutorial on implicit 8
bias and cultural competency for its members and State officers or 9
employees and special State officers or employees in the Legislative 10
Branch of government. Each member of the Legislature and officer 11
or employee in the Legislative Branch shall take the tutorial no later 12
than April 1 of every even-numbered year. Each Executive 13
Director shall submit a certification to the Legislative Counsel for 14
himself or herself and for his or her respective staff members that 15
they have completed the online tutorial. Each member of the 16
Legislature shall submit to the Legislative Counsel a certification 17
that he or she and his or her district office staff members have 18
completed the online tutorial. The certification shall be public 19
information. 20
In addition to the tutorial, all officers and employees in the 21
Legislative Branch shall participate in annual implicit bias and 22
cultural competency training as directed by their Executive 23
Directors and all members of the Legislature shall participate in 24
annual implicit bias and cultural competency training as directed by 25
the President of the Senate for members of the Senate and by the 26
Speaker of the General Assembly for members of the General 27
Assembly. The Executive Directors, the President of the Senate, 28
and the Speaker of the General Assembly shall also direct the 29
process by which completion of the training is verified. Such 30
verification shall be filed with the Legislative Counsel. The 31
verification shall be public information. 32
“Implicit bias” means a bias in judgment or behavior that results 33
from subtle cognitive processes, including implicit prejudice and 34
implicit stereotypes, that often operate at a level below conscious 35
awareness and without intentional control. 36
“Implicit stereotypes” means the unconscious attributions of 37
particular qualities to a member of a certain social group, 38
influenced by experience, and based on learned associations 39
between various qualities and social categories, including race and 40
gender. 41
“Cultural competency” means the ability to understand, 42
appreciate, and interact with people from different cultures or belief 43
systems. 44
45
2. This act shall take effect on the next following enactment, 46
but the Legislature may take any anticipatory action in advance of 47
A1719 SPEIGHT, TIMBERLAKE
3
that date as may be necessary for the timely implementation of this 1
act. 2