Bill Text: NJ A616 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires independent State authority member to disclose contractual relationship between authority and authority member's relatives.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-01-16 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee [A616 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A616-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
216th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2014 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman PAUL D. MORIARTY
District 4 (Camden and Gloucester)
Assemblywoman CELESTE M. RILEY
District 3 (Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywomen McHose, Mosquera, Handlin, Assemblymen Rumana, Johnson and Space
SYNOPSIS
Requires independent State authority member to disclose contractual relationship between authority and authority member's relatives.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning disclosure by independent State authority members of certain information and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
"Independent State authority" means a public authority, board, commission, corporation, or other agency or instrumentality of the State allocated, in but not of, a principal department of State government pursuant to Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, or which is not subject to supervision or control by the department in which it is allocated, and a regional authority, but shall not include a college or university.
"Member" means the member of an independent State authority or board thereof.
"Regional authority" means and includes the Passaic Valley sewerage commissioners or any successor entity and the North Jersey district water supply commission or any successor entity.
"Relative" means the spouse, domestic partner as defined in section 3 of P.L.2003, c.246 (C.26:8A-3), parent, grandparent, child, foster-child, grandchild, brother, sister, stepparent, cousin, stepchild, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, or half-sister, aunt, or uncle of any current authority member whether related by blood, marriage, or adoption.
2. a. A person serving as a member of an independent State authority shall report to the State Ethics Commission the existence of a contractual relationship between a relative of the member and the authority.
b. (1) A member shall report to the State Ethics Commission, pursuant to subsection a. of this section, within 30 days of: (a) the appointment of the member if, upon such appointment, a relative of the member has a contractual relationship with the authority, or (b) the creation of a contractual relationship between the authority and the member's relative, as appropriate.
(2) If, upon or prior to the date of the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), a contractual relationship exists between the authority and the member's relative, as of the date of enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ), the member shall report such contractual relationship within 30 days of the enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ).
c. A member who violates the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) shall be subject to removal from office and shall be liable to a penalty of up to $5,000, unless the member knew or reasonably should have known the member was in violation of P.L. , c. (C. ), in which case the penalty shall be no less than $5,000 and no more than $10,000 for each violation. Any penalty imposed pursuant to P.L. , c. (C. ) shall be collected or enforced, with costs, in a summary proceeding pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
3. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires that members of independent State authorities make certain disclosures concerning certain relationships between the members' relatives, as defined in the bill, and the authorities upon which the members serve. Specifically, a member must report to the State Ethics Commission: the existence of a contractual relationship between a relative of the member and the authority. "Independent State authority" is defined as a public authority, board, commission, corporation, or other agency or instrumentality of the State allocated, in but not of, a principal department of State government pursuant to Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, or which is not subject to supervision or control by the department in which it is allocated, and a regional authority, but shall not include a college or university.
A member shall make the report to the State Ethics Commission within 30 days of the hiring by the authority of the member's relative, the creation of a contractual relationship between the authority and the member's relative, or the member's appointment, or the creation of a contractural relationship as appropriate. If, upon or prior to the date of the bill's enactment, a contractual relationship exists between the authority upon which the member serves and the member's relative, then the member shall report that information to the Attorney General within 30 days of the bill's enactment.
A member who violates the requirements of the bill is subject to removal from office and liable to a penalty of up to $5,000, unless the member knew or reasonably should have known the member was in violation, in which case the penalty shall be no less than $5,000 and no more than $10,000 for each violation.
