---
type: "Bill"
title: "\"Charlie's Law\"; Establishes civil penalties for persons who interfere with or deny persons with disabilities accompanied by service or guide dogs access to places of public accommodation."
description: "\"Charlie's Law\"; Establishes civil penalties for persons who interfere with or deny persons with disabilities accompanied by service or guide dogs access to places of public accommodation."
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "217"
identifier: "A 4081"
citation: "New Jersey A 4081 (217)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["ANIMALS", "CIVIL ACTION", "DISABLED"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Allen, Diane B.", "Benson, Daniel R.", "Greenwald, Louis D.", "Lampitt, Pamela R.", "Sweeney, Stephen M.", "Vainieri Huttle, Valerie", "Wimberly, Benjie E."]
version_count: 2
action_count: 11
vote_count: 1
first_action: "2016-09-15T04:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2017-07-21T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ae377ed6-8e33-4201-bc38-25c90834040c"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "5a65cdde6c705c0c190865b73af090e8f9788909734b65215a213b01bdc84341"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-nj"]
---

# New Jersey A 4081 (217) — "Charlie's Law"; Establishes civil penalties for persons who interfere with or deny persons with disabilities accompanied by service or guide dogs access to places of public accommodation.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced Version** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/A4500/4081_I1.HTM)
2. **Reprint** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2016/Bills/A4500/4081_R1.HTM)

## Votes

- Reported out of Assembly committee with amendments — **8–0** (pass) · legislature

## Sponsors

- Allen, Diane B. — primary (person)
- Benson, Daniel R. — primary (person)
- Greenwald, Louis D. — primary (person)
- Lampitt, Pamela R. — primary (person)
- Sweeney, Stephen M. — primary (person)
- Vainieri Huttle, Valerie — primary (person)
- Wimberly, Benjie E. — primary (person)
- Beck, Jennifer — cosponsor (person)
- Bucco, Anthony R. — cosponsor (person)
- Danielsen, Joe — cosponsor (person)
- Pou, Nellie — cosponsor (person)
- Quijano, Annette — cosponsor (person)
- Tucker, Cleopatra G. — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2016-09-15T04:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2017-01-12T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee with Amendments, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2017-01-23T05:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (69-0-0) `passage`
- **2017-01-30T05:00:00+00:00** Received in the Senate without Reference, 2nd Reading
- **2017-05-25T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for S2662
- **2017-05-25T04:00:00+00:00** Rescind Vote Sub for S2662 (38-0) (Allen)
- **2017-05-25T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (39-0) `passage`
- **2017-05-25T04:00:00+00:00** Rescind Vote (38-0) (Allen)
- **2017-06-19T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for S2662 (1R)
- **2017-06-19T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (Passed Both Houses) (38-0) `passage`
- **2017-07-21T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2017, c.169. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ae377ed6-8e33-4201-bc38-25c90834040c`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).