---
type: "Bill"
title: "\"Laura Wooten's Law\"; Requires civics instruction in middle school; authorizes New Jersey Center for Civic Education to provide curricula, professional development and technical assistance for middle and high school civics.*"
description: "\"Laura Wooten's Law\"; Requires civics instruction in middle school; authorizes New Jersey Center for Civic Education to provide curricula, professional development and technical assistance for middle and high school civics.*"
jurisdiction: "us/states/nj"
legislature: "New Jersey Legislature"
session: "219"
identifier: "S 854"
citation: "New Jersey S 854 (219)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: ["CURRICULA"]
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Carter, Linda S.", "Greenstein, Linda R.", "Jasey, Mila M.", "Kean, Thomas H.", "Reynolds-Jackson, Verlina", "Ruiz, M. Teresa", "Singleton, Troy", "Turner, Shirley K."]
version_count: 2
action_count: 11
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2020-01-14T05:00:00+00:00"
last_action: "2021-07-23T04:00:00+00:00"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/ea88ab81-ca67-4efe-8e2b-bf602ea9638d"
source_url: "http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/downloads.asp"
source_hash: "8f8259f94c3a739e33dca055527d1dee3de305d8824635b69c5b609d1224440f"
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 S 854 (219) — "Laura Wooten's Law"; Requires civics instruction in middle school; authorizes New Jersey Center for Civic Education to provide curricula, professional development and technical assistance for middle and high school civics.*

## 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/2020/Bills/S1000/854_I1.HTM)
2. **Senate Committee Substitute S237** (committee substitute) — [source](http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/S1000/854_U1.HTM)

## Votes

- Reported favorably out of committee — **6–0** (pass) · lower
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **76–0** (pass) · lower
- 3RDG FINAL PASSAGE — **33–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported favorably out of committee — **12–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported favorably out of committee — **10–0** (pass) · lower
- Reported out of Senate committee as a substitute — **5–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Carter, Linda S. — primary (person)
- Greenstein, Linda R. — primary (person)
- Jasey, Mila M. — primary (person)
- Kean, Thomas H. — primary (person)
- Reynolds-Jackson, Verlina — primary (person)
- Ruiz, M. Teresa — primary (person)
- Singleton, Troy — primary (person)
- Turner, Shirley K. — primary (person)
- Calabrese, Clinton — cosponsor (person)
- Catalano, John — cosponsor (person)
- Chaparro, Annette — cosponsor (person)
- Conaway, Herb — cosponsor (person)
- DiMaso, Serena — cosponsor (person)
- Diegnan, Patrick J. — cosponsor (person)
- Doherty, Michael J. — cosponsor (person)
- Dunn, Aura K. — cosponsor (person)
- Giblin, Thomas P. — cosponsor (person)
- Holzapfel, James W. — cosponsor (person)
- Johnson, Gordon M. — cosponsor (person)
- McGuckin, Gregory P. — cosponsor (person)
- McKeon, John F. — cosponsor (person)
- Moen, William F. — cosponsor (person)
- Murphy, Carol A. — cosponsor (person)
- Pou, Nellie — cosponsor (person)
- Rice, Ronald L. — cosponsor (person)
- Scutari, Nicholas P. — cosponsor (person)
- Swain, Lisa — cosponsor (person)
- Thompson, Samuel D. — cosponsor (person)
- Timberlake, Britnee N. — cosponsor (person)
- Vainieri Huttle, Valerie — cosponsor (person)
- Weinberg, Loretta — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2020-01-14T05:00:00+00:00** Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Education Committee `introduction, referral-committee`
- **2020-02-13T05:00:00+00:00** Reported from Senate Committee as a Substitute, 2nd Reading
- **2020-02-13T05:00:00+00:00** Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-21T05:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Senate Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-28T05:00:00+00:00** Passed Senate (33-0) `passage`
- **2021-01-29T05:00:00+00:00** Received in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Education Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-03-17T04:00:00+00:00** Reported and Referred to Assembly Appropriations Committee `referral-committee`
- **2021-05-18T04:00:00+00:00** Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading `committee-passage`
- **2021-05-20T04:00:00+00:00** Substituted for A3394 (1R)
- **2021-05-20T04:00:00+00:00** Passed Assembly (Passed Both Houses) (76-0-0) `passage`
- **2021-07-23T04:00:00+00:00** Approved P.L.2021, c.185. `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/ea88ab81-ca67-4efe-8e2b-bf602ea9638d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official New Jersey legislature records).