Bill Text: NJ A2450 | 2014-2015 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires Local Finance Board in DCA to exercise oversight of certain local authority employment contracts and approve, when applicable, employee and board member travel expenses in excess of $250.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-06 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A2450 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2014-A2450-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman AMY H. HANDLIN
District 13 (Monmouth)
SYNOPSIS
Requires Local Finance Board in DCA to exercise oversight of certain local authority employment contracts and approve, when applicable, employee and board member travel expenses in excess of $250.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning fiscal oversight of local authorities and supplementing P.L.1983, c.313 (C.40A:5A-1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Legislature finds and declares that:
a. Ensuring fiscal responsibility is among the highest priorities of this Legislature, and in times of unprecedented economic distress it is important that local authorities employ the same safeguards that have become standard practice for other parts of local and State fiscal oversight;
b. Governor Christie's Executive Order No. 15 of 2010 identified specific instances of excessive and wasteful spending at certain State authorities; specifically, the practice of State authorities hiring lobbyists and legislative agents at taxpayer and ratepayer expense to lobby the Executive Branch, this Legislature, and the federal government; excessive and wasteful spending for out-of-State travel; and lucrative termination clauses, often referred to as "golden parachutes," that are especially abusive of the public trust during this period of economic difficulty;
c. These types of wasteful and extravagant uses of taxpayer and ratepayer funds only instill and reinforce the public's mistrust of the manner in which limited and precious dollars are spent;
d. As a result of the wasteful spending identified by Governor Christie, Executive Order No. 15 ordered and directed, among other things, that the Governor's Office exercise oversight over certain State authorities' employee contracts, travel expenses, and termination contracts for the purpose of providing much needed scrutiny of such arrangements and wasteful spending; and
e. Therefore, it is in the public interest to also institute a system of oversight of certain local authority employment arrangements and spending in an effort to avoid potentially wasteful and excessive spending at the local level during a time when financial resources are most sparse.
2. a. An authority subject to the provisions of the "Local Authorities Fiscal Control Law," P.L.1983, c.313 (C.40A:5A-1 et seq.), referred to as a local authority, shall be prohibited from hiring, entering into, or renewing any contract with any lobbyist or legislative agent, unless expressly authorized in writing in advance thereof, by the Local Finance Board in the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs.
b. All existing contracts between a local authority and a lobbyist or legislative agent shall be terminated as soon as is legally permissible following enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The local authority shall be prohibited from renewing or renegotiating such contract upon the termination or expiration of the current contractual terms.
3. a. No local authority employment contract shall include any financial incentive relating to the termination or separation from employment with an employee unless expressly authorized in writing by the Local Finance Board in advance of entering into the contract.
b. All existing contracts between a local authority and an employee that provides financial compensation to an employee upon termination of the employment contract before the stated end date of such contract shall be terminated as soon as is legally permissible following enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). The local authority shall be prohibited from renewing or renegotiating such contract upon the termination or expiration of the current contractual terms.
4. A local authority shall not approve any travel expense for any employee or authority board member in excess of $250 that is paid from local authority funds unless approval is obtained in writing in advance thereof, from the Local Finance Board. Any travel costs incurred in excess of $250 that is not approved as provided herein shall be borne by the employee or authority board member personally and shall not be eligible for reimbursement.
5. A local authority shall, not later than 30 days immediately following enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), submit to the Local Finance Board copies of all current contracts that contain provisions for financial compensation upon early termination or separation from employment, for informational purposes.
6. A local authority shall, not later than 30 days immediately following enactment of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), submit to the Local Finance Board a list and copies of all current contracts between the local authority and any lobbyists or legislative agents, for review by the Local Finance Board.
7. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Local Finance Board of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs to exercise oversight over certain local authority employment contracts and approve, when applicable, employee and authority board member travel expenses in excess of $250. In 2010, Governor Christie issued Executive Order No. 15 which identified specific instances of excessive and wasteful spending at certain State authorities. Specifically, Executive Order No. 15 identified a practice of State authorities hiring lobbyists and legislative agents, at taxpayer and ratepayer expense, to lobby the Executive Branch, the Legislature, and the federal government.
Executive Order No. 15 also highlighted excessive and wasteful State Authority spending for out-of-State travel and lucrative termination clauses, often referred to as "golden parachutes." Such examples of fiduciary mismanagement are especially abusive of the public trust during this period of economic difficulty and have the negative effect of instilling and reinforcing the public's mistrust of the manner in which limited and precious dollars are managed by government. As a result of the Governor's findings, Executive Order No. 15 ordered and directed, among other things, that the Governor's Office exercise oversight over certain State authorities' employee contracts, travel expenses, and termination contracts for the purpose of providing much needed scrutiny.
Given the necessity for oversight at the State authorities level, it is in the public interest to also institute a system of oversight of certain local authority spending in an attempt to avoid potentially wasteful and excessive spending at the local level during a time when financial resources are most sparse.
