Bill Text: NJ A4026 | 2020-2021 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Clarifies voting ability of members of State Agriculture Development Committee.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-04 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Agriculture Committee [A4026 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2020-A4026-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman RONALD S. DANCER
District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean)
SYNOPSIS
Clarifies voting ability of members of State Agriculture Development Committee.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the voting ability of members of the State Agriculture Development Committee, and amending P.L.1983, c.31.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 4 of P.L.1983, c.31 (C.4:1C-4) is amended to read as follows:
4. a. In order that the State's regulatory action with respect to agricultural activities may be undertaken with a more complete understanding of the needs and difficulties of agriculture, there is established in the Executive Branch of the State Government a public body corporate and politic, with corporate succession, to be known as the State Agriculture Development Committee. For the purpose of complying with the provisions of Article V, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution, the committee is allocated within the Department of Agriculture, but, notwithstanding that allocation, the committee shall be independent of any supervision or control by the State Board of Agriculture, by the department or by the secretary or any officer or employee thereof, except as otherwise expressly provided in [this act] P.L.1983, c.31 (C.4:1C-1 et al.) . The committee shall constitute an instrumentality of the State, exercising public and essential governmental functions, and the exercise by the committee of the powers conferred by this or any other act shall be held to be an essential governmental function of the State.
b. The committee shall consist of 11 members, five of whom shall be the Secretary of Agriculture, who shall serve as [chairman] chairperson , the Commissioner of Environmental Protection, the Commissioner of Community Affairs, the State Treasurer and the Dean of Cook College, Rutgers University, or their designees, who shall serve ex officio, and six citizens of the State, to be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate, four of whom shall be actively engaged in farming, the majority of whom shall own a portion of the land that they farm, and two of whom shall represent the general public. With respect to the members actively engaged in farming, the State Board of Agriculture shall recommend to the Governor a list of potential candidates and their alternates to be considered for each appointment.
c. (1) Of the six members
first to be appointed, two shall be appointed for terms of two years, two for
terms of three years and two for terms of four years. Thereafter, all
appointments shall be made for terms of four years. Each of these members
shall hold office for the term of the appointment and until a successor shall
have been appointed and qualified. A member shall be eligible for reappointment for no more than two consecutive terms. Any vacancy in the membership occurring other than by expiration of term shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment but for the unexpired term only.
(2) When an appointed member actively engaged in farming notifies the [chairman] chairperson that the member is unable to attend a publicly noticed meeting, an alternate may be chosen to serve for that member at the meeting. The alternate member shall be chosen by the Governor, in consultation with the President and the Vice President of the State Board of Agriculture, with the advice and consent of the Senate. The alternate member shall be a past member of the State Board of Agriculture who served pursuant to R.S.4:1-4, provided, however, that in no case shall the alternate member have been removed from office pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1948, c.447 (C.4:1-4.1), or a past member of the State Agriculture Development Committee.
(3) When an appointed member representing the general public notifies the [chairman] chairperson that the member is unable to attend a publicly noticed meeting, an alternate may be chosen to serve for that member at the meeting. The alternate member shall be chosen by the Governor, with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(4)Notwithstanding any provision of the "New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law," P.L.1971, c.182 (C.52:13D-12 et seq.), or a supplemental code of ethics adopted by the committee pursuant thereto, an appointed member actively engaged in farming shall be prohibited from taking an official action on a matter that the member, as a member of a county agriculture development board or agricultural advisory committee, has discussed or acted upon at a county agriculture development board meeting or municipal agriculture advisory committee meeting, only if the member's county agriculture development board or agricultural advisory committee or an owner of farmland in that county could reasonably be expected to accrue a benefit or detriment to a greater extent than any benefit or detriment could reasonably be expected to accrue to any other county agriculture development board, agricultural advisory committee, or owner of farmland in any other county as a result of the action.
d. Members of the committee shall receive no compensation but the appointed members may, subject to the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available for these purposes, be reimbursed for expenses actually incurred in attending meetings of the committee and in performance of their duties as members thereof.
e. The committee shall meet at the call of the [chairman] chairperson as soon as may be practicable following appointment of its members and shall establish procedures for the conduct of regular and special meetings, including procedures for the notification of departments of State regulating the activities of commercial agriculture, provided that all meetings are conducted in accordance with the provisions of the "Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act," P.L.1975, c.231 (C.10:4-6 et seq.).
f. A true copy of the minutes of every meeting of the committee shall be prepared and forthwith delivered to the Governor. No action taken at such meeting by the committee shall have force or effect until 15 days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, after such copy of the minutes shall have been so delivered. If, in said 15-day period, the Governor returns such copy of the minutes with a veto of any action taken by the committee at such meeting, such action shall be null and void and of no force and effect.
g. The department shall provide any personnel that may be required as staff for the committee.
(cf: P.L.2017, c.385, s.1)
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill clarifies when a member of the State Agriculture Development Committee (SADC) actively engaged in farming must recuse themselves from participating in a matter before the SADC. This bill is in response to advice issued to SADC members at its January 23, 2020 meeting.
The SADC's supplemental code of ethics, adopted pursuant to the "New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law," P.L.1971, c.182 (C.52:13D-12 et seq.), provides that: "A State officer or special State officer is required to recuse him/herself on a matter before the SADC if he or she as a member of a county agriculture development board or agricultural advisory committee has discussed or acted upon that particular matter at a county agriculture development board meeting or municipal agriculture advisory committee meeting."
As a result of the advice and the SADC's supplemental code of ethics, the four members actively engaged in farming were required to recuse themselves from participating in a discussion concerning special occasion events. This policy means that the SADC members actively engaged in farming, who are also members of their county agriculture development board are significantly, unnecessarily, and improperly hampered in their ability to participate in and vote on important matters before the SADC.
Agriculture is an important industry in the State. The law establishing the SADC specifically provides that four of its members are to be actively engaged in farming. The provision currently in the SADC's supplemental code of ethics effectively negates the statutory mandate that the SADC include those who represent agriculture or prohibits members of the SADC from also being on their county agriculture development board. A member who is a farmer cannot properly and fully represent the agricultural industry if that member is prohibited from participating in discussions or voting on agricultural issues before the SADC simply because the issue was the subject of discussion or action by the county agriculture board on which the member also sits.
Under this bill, a member actively engaged in farming would only be prohibited from participating in a matter before the SADC if the member's county agriculture development board or agricultural advisory committee or an owner of farmland in that particular county could reasonably be expected to accrue a benefit or detriment to a greater extent than any benefit or detriment could reasonably be expected to accrue to any other county agriculture development board, agricultural advisory committee, or owner of farmland in any other county as a result of the action.
