Bill Text: NJ A4632 | 2024-2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Revises definition of persons engaging in investment activities in Iran to reduce threshold from $20 million to $10 million.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-06-25 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee [A4632 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2024-A4632-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman MICHAEL INGANAMORT
District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Scharfenberger
SYNOPSIS
Revises definition of persons engaging in investment activities in Iran to reduce threshold from $20 million to $10 million.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning public contracts and amending P.L.2012, c.25.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Section 2 of P.L.2012, c.25 (C.52:32-56) is amended to read as follows:
2. As used in this act:
a. "State agency" means any of the principal departments in the Executive Branch of the State government, and any division, board, bureau, office, commission or other instrumentality within or created by such department, the Legislature of the State and any office, board, bureau or commission within or created by the Legislative Branch, and any independent State authority, commission, instrumentality or agency which is authorized by law to award public contracts.
b. "Energy sector" of Iran means activities to develop, invest in, explore for, refine, transfer, purchase or sell petroleum, gasoline, or other refined petroleum products, or natural gas, liquefied natural gas resources or nuclear power in Iran.
c. "Financial institution" means the term as used in Section 14 of the Iran Sanctions Act of 1996, Section 14 of Pub.L.104-172 (50 U.S.C. 1701 note).
d. "Iran" means the government of Iran, and includes the territory of Iran and any other territory or marine area, including the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf, over which the government of Iran claims sovereignty, sovereign rights, or jurisdiction, provided that the government of Iran exercises partial or total control over the area or derives a benefit from economic activity in the area pursuant to international arrangements.
e. "Person or entity" means any of the following:
(1) A natural person, corporation, company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, business association, sole proprietorship, joint venture, partnership, society, trust, or any other nongovernmental entity, organization, or group.
(2) Any governmental entity or instrumentality of a government, including a multilateral development institution, as defined in Section 1701(c)(3) of the International Financial Institutions Act, 22 U.S.C. 262r(c)(3).
(3) Any parent, successor, subunit, direct or indirect subsidiary, or any entity under common ownership or control with, any entity described in paragraph (1) or (2).
f. For the purposes of this act, a person engages in investment activities in Iran, if:
the person provides goods or services of [$20,000,000] $10,000,000 or more in the energy sector of Iran, including a person that provides oil or liquefied natural gas tankers, or products used to construct or maintain pipelines used to transport oil or liquefied natural gas, for the energy sector of Iran; or
the person is a financial institution that extends [$20,000,000] $10,000,000 or more in credit to another person, for 45 days or more, if that person will use the credit to provide goods or services in the energy sector in Iran and is identified on a list created pursuant to subsection b. of section 3 of this act as a person engaging in investment activities in Iran as described in subsection a. of section 3 of this act.
The State Treasurer shall adopt regulations that reduce the amounts provided for in this subsection if the State Treasurer determines that such change is permitted or required under Section 202 of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010.
(cf: P.L.2012, c.25, s.2)
2. This act shall take effect immediately but shall apply to contracts awarded or renewed commencing 30 days after the effective date of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill amends the definition of persons engaging in investment activities in Iran to include persons providing goods or services, or financial institutions extending credit to persons for the provision of goods or services, in the amount of $10 million or more in the energy sector of Iran. Current law defines such persons as those providing $20 million or more of goods or services or credit for goods or services in the energy sector in Iran.
The bill amends a law that prohibits public contracts by a State agency, local contracting unit, board of education, or county college with persons or entities engaged in certain investment activities in the energy and financial sectors of Iran. The purpose of the law is to support the federal sanctions policy of the United States to deny Iran the ability to support acts of international terrorism or to fund the development and acquisition of weapons of mass destruction through its energy sector.
Iran supports acts of international terrorism and military conflict through funds and technology connected to its energy sector. Iran-supported groups are attacking commercial ships and United States Navy vessels in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. Iran is supplying weapons to Russia for its war against Ukraine according to the United States Department of State. The United States Treasury Secretary has stated that Iran's attacks on United States allies in the Middle East and its financing of military organizations threaten to destabilize the region and could have broader economic consequences.
Other states have recently expanded restrictions on companies that do business with Iran. United Against Nuclear Iran, a United States based nonprofit formed to combat the threats posed by the Islamic Republic of Iran, has stated that $10 million is an appropriate threshold for restricting persons engaged in investment activities in Iran's energy sector from securing State or local government contracts.
