By Margie Donlon and Luanne Peterpaul

Depending on where you plant your umbrella in the sand this summer, a seasonal beach badge could cost you up to $200.

Most New Jersey beaches require paid badges or tags, with prices ranging from $3.50 for a daily pass to $200 for a season pass.

Last year, towns along the Jersey Shore’s 130-mile Atlantic Coast collected more than $52 million from beach badge sales, according to financial records obtained by NJ Advance Media. We appreciate that coastal towns are dealing with rising costs of operating beaches. Many towns have had to raise salaries for lifeguards and other staff members in order to find people willing to take summer beach jobs.

We also believe that the people paying for those beach badges have a right to see how their money is being used. That’s why we have sponsored legislation to improve transparency by requiring that municipalities include information concerning beach costs and revenues in their Public Access Plans. 

The state Municipal Land Use Law requires towns that have municipally owned beaches to file a Public Access Plan. Our legislation would require that Public Access Plans include an itemized budget of the actual costs for beach operations and maintenance for the previous beach season. The bill calls for including beach revenues generated in the Public Access Plan, along with an itemized projection of costs for the upcoming beach season. If the revenues exceed the costs, towns would be required to include an explanation of how they will expend the excess revenue.

We also want to make sure our beaches are as safe as possible and that starts with preparing swimmers to be ready to safely go in the water.

The Assembly has passed several pieces of our sponsored legislation to enhance water safety, starting at birth. We have cosponsored a bill that would require hospitals and birthing facilities to provide new parents with access to a water safety video prior to being discharged.

The Assembly also passed our bill to designate May of each year as "Water Safety Month" in New Jersey, and to encourage the Department of Education to provide resources for water safety. A third bill requires the DOE to develop an educational fact sheet on water safety for public and nonpublic schools, and to maintain a list of locations providing swim lessons.

Making sure that residents and visitors understand the water and what to do if they get caught in a rip current or get a cramp is the best way to reduce preventable water safety injuries.

New Jersey’s beaches are one of the state’s greatest natural resources. Making water and beach safety a priority starting at an early age is the best way to ensure that families enjoy the beach.  

On another note, June is National Pride Month, when we join our friends and neighbors to celebrate LGBTQIA+ history, culture, and resilience. Too often in America today, people focus on their differences. National Pride Month is an opportunity to focus on the things we have in common: a desire for equity, safety, and community. 

That’s why we sponsored legislation to designate June 2025 as LGBTQIA+ Pride Month in New Jersey. Some of our other bills include legislation to establish an Advisory Commission on Advancing LGBTQIA+ Youth Equity and Inclusion in Schools; establish procedures for certification of LGBTQ+ business, which has been signed into law; remove exclusion of affectional or sexual orientation and gender identity or expression from affirmative action programs under public works contracts.

When we make the playing field level for all residents, we create safer, better communities that everyone can enjoy.

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