Committee backs plan to let voters decide on expanding civil service preference for New Jersey veterans
TRENTON, N.J. — A legislative committee on Thursday advanced a bipartisan proposal that would allow New Jersey voters to decide whether the state should eliminate the wartime service requirement for veterans to receive hiring preference for civil service jobs.
The Assembly Military and Veterans Affairs Committee approved a constitutional amendment sponsored by Assemblywoman Dawn Fantasia that would place the question on a future general-election ballot.
“All New Jersey veterans deserve better access to civilian career opportunities, regardless of where or when they served. This is the first step in furthering New Jersey’s support of all veterans,” Fantasia (R-Sussex, Morris, Warren) said. “Allowing voters to decide whether to broaden the civil service hiring preference is a must, not only because the change would amend the New Jersey Constitution, but also because it gives current veterans and their families an opportunity to weigh in on an issue that directly affects them.”
Under Article VII of the New Jersey Constitution, only veterans who served during designated periods of war or conflict qualify for civil service hiring preference. Fantasia’s resolution (ACR98) would ask voters whether that requirement should be removed.
If approved by voters, lawmakers would then be required to pass legislation extending civil service hiring preference to all New Jersey veterans, regardless of when they served.
