TRENTON, N.J. — Assemblyman Brian Bergen has introduced legislation that would impose restrictions on lawmakers’ use of cell phones and other internet-enabled devices during legislative sessions and committee meetings, similar to restrictions placed on New Jersey public school students.
Bergen, R-Morris, introduced the “Practice What We Preach Act” on Thursday. The bill would bar members of the Legislature from possessing or making non-legislative use of an internet-enabled device from the time the presiding officer calls the body to order until the adjournment of a quorum call, voting session or committee meeting.
Under the proposal, secure lockers would be installed outside chamber entrances and committee rooms for lawmakers to store their devices. Security personnel would lock the lockers during proceedings and reopen them after adjournment.
Violations would be a disorderly persons offense. Lawmakers who violate the restrictions would also be required to remain in their seats for an hour after adjournment “to quietly reflect on the pending business of the State.” Repeat offenders would face an in-Statehouse suspension requiring them to report to Trenton daily without the privilege of speaking on the floor.
“The argument for banning phones in schools was that these devices are distracting, corrosive to attention spans and harmful to engaging with the people in the room,” said Bergen. “I sit in that room. I have watched members shop, scroll, post and play games while we spend billions of dollars of other people’s money. A kid on a phone in algebra misses a formula. A legislator on a phone during a vote misses a budget.”
Bergen was among a small number of lawmakers who voted against the state’s school cell phone restrictions, which took effect at the beginning of the 2026-27 school year, according to his office. Bergen also pointed to a 1989 New Jersey law making it a disorderly persons offense for a student to carry a beeper on school property.
“We are still criminalizing beepers,” Bergen said. “That is the record of the body writing technology policy for your children. Every generation panics about the new thing. Calculators were going to end math. VCRs were going to end reading. Now it’s phones.”
Bergen said lawmakers who object to his proposal should reconsider the restrictions imposed on students.
“Any member who finds this bill insulting, paternalistic and heavy-handed should ask why they voted to do it to somebody else’s kid,” he said. “There are two honest positions. Vote for this bill, or repeal the one you passed. What you cannot do is tell a 15-year-old to hand over her phone and then check your fantasy lineup during a roll call.”
The legislation would take effect immediately, with the secure lockers required to be installed within one year.
