Bill Text: NJ A2543 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires DCA to verify income of low-income home energy assistance benefit applicants.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-05-07 - Reported out of Assembly Committee, 2nd Reading [A2543 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-A2543-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Requires DCA to verify income of low-income home energy assistance benefit applicants.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act requiring income verification for low-income home energy assistance benefits and supplementing chapter 27D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Community Affairs shall verify that applicants for benefits under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, established by 42 U.S.C. s.8621 et seq., meet the applicable income requirements prior to awarding benefits under the program, using appropriate data supplied by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury.
b. The requirements of subsection a. of this section may be satisfied by verifying the income of a portion of all applicants for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program benefits on a random or risk basis; provided, however, that the Department of Community Affairs shall conduct an income verification review of each applicant claiming to have no income.
c. The Department of Community Affairs may utilize a third-party commercial consumer reporting agency, in accordance with the federal "Fair Credit Reporting Act," 15 U.S.C. s.1681 et seq., for the purpose of acquiring an applicant's necessary income information, required pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
d. The Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development and the Director of the Division of Taxation, shall promulgate rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), in order to effectuate the provisions of this section.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, except the commissioner may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to verify the income of applicants for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) benefits before awarding benefits under LIHEAP. The bill requires the DCA to cross-check applicants with income data supplied by both the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury before awarding LIHEAP benefits. This bill also permits the DCA to utilize a third-party commercial consumer reporting agency, in accordance with the federal "Fair Credit Reporting Act," for the purpose of acquiring an applicant's necessary income information. The cross-check required by this bill may be made on a random or risk basis, except that every applicant claiming to have no income is to be subjected to an income verification review.
