Bill > S1817

Introduced Session

This bill, designated "Steven's Law," prohibits the use of non-wood bats in organized baseball games in which minors are participants. Over the past three to four decades, non-wood bats have almost completely replaced wood bats in youth and scholastic baseball and softball leagues. It is generally accepted that non-wood bats hit the ball with greater force and velocity than wood bats, thereby reducing the amount of time a defender has to perceive and properly react to the ball. Therefore, much concern has been raised over the health and safety risks posed by the widespread use of non-wood bats, particularly for children. Many young athletes have been seriously injured and even killed by batted balls that have been hit with non-wood bats. Steven Domalewski, a 12-year-old pitcher from the Police Athletic League of Wayne, New Jersey, suffered a coma after a batted ball from a non-wood bat struck him in the chest and caused his heart to stop. In the interest of protecting New Jersey's young athletes from the risk of serious injury imposed by the use of non-wood bats, this bill prohibits the use of non-wood bats in any organized game in which minors are participants, excluding those games where one of the participating teams comes from outside of this State. The board of education of a school district, the governing board or chief school administrator of a nonpublic school, the governing body of a municipality, or the governing body of a nonprofit youth serving organization would ensure compliance with the provisions of this bill in any organized game it sponsors or in which its team participates.

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Patrick Diegnan (D)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens Committee (on 02/08/2018)