NJ A4512

Establishes five centers and programs at Rutgers University - Newark: the Sheila Y. Oliver Center for Politics and Race, the Center on Law, Inequality and Metropolitan Equity (CLiME), the Center for Local Supply Chain Resiliency (CLSCR), the Re-Entry Opportunity Program for Entrepreneurship in Newark (RE-OPEN), and the New Jersey Scholarship and Transformative Education in Prisons (NJSTEP)

Appropriates $6.5 million from the General Fund, with $1 million annually allocated to each of the four centers and $2.5 million annually to the NJSTEP prison education initiative

The Sheila Y. Oliver Center will serve as a nonpartisan research center investigating race and politics, producing data resources, training in data analysis, and operating a paid internship program for students pursuing public service careers

CLiME will conduct research on structural inequality and systemic racism, focusing on local government policymaking, affordable housing gaps, and reducing disparities across municipalities

RE-OPEN will support justice-impacted youth and individuals re-entering from incarceration through education, workforce development, and business support, while NJSTEP provides college courses and degree credits to incarcerated students