Bill Text: NJ S84 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: "Employment and Training Opportunity Act"; requires housing projects receiving public funds to give hiring, training and purchasing preferences benefitting low-income and severely handicapped residents.
Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-01-12 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee [S84 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-S84-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator RONALD L. RICE
District 28 (Essex)
SYNOPSIS
"Employment and Training Opportunity Act"; requires housing projects receiving public funds to give hiring, training and purchasing preferences benefitting low-income and severely handicapped residents.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning the provision of employment opportunities for low-income and severely disabled persons in connection with housing projects constructed with State assistance and supplementing Title 40A of the New Jersey Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. This act shall be known and may be referred to as the "Employment and Training Opportunity Act."
2. The Legislature finds and declares:
It is a public purpose to provide affordable housing opportunities for low-and very low-income persons and persons working in rehabilitation facilities through State funding, loan guarantees and tax credits for housing projects that include units for low-income households.
Residents of low-income households and severely handicapped persons working in rehabilitation facilities generally suffer from a paucity of employment opportunities due to a lack of training and job skills, and their distance from possible employers.
Residents of low-income households and severely handicapped persons working in rehabilitation facilities who are not provided with opportunities to acquire new job skills and training are unlikely to achieve upward economic mobility, remaining trapped in a cycle of poverty that consumes high levels of public resources.
The State's participation in the financing of housing projects through direct funding, loans, loan guarantees, and tax credits represents a particular opportunity to "leverage" State funds, loan guarantees and tax credits. This can be done by encouraging local suppliers of materials, equipment and services to employ residents of low-income households, and by requiring business entities taking advantage of project opportunities generated by State financial involvement to make a good faith effort to hire and train residents of low-income households who are to be benefitted by the project and to utilize rehabilitation facilities in some of their purchases of commodities and services.
Therefore, it is a proper public purpose and in the public interest to enact a State program, with goals similar to Section 3 of the federal Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12U.S.C. 1701u), to encourage the provision of employment and training opportunities for residents of low-income households and severely handicapped persons working in rehabilitation facilities through housing projects promoted by State financial assistance, loan guarantees or tax credits.
3. As used in this act:
"Business entity" means any individual or business firm, whether a corporation, partnership, association, company, or other business organization, which is authorized to conduct or operate a trade or business in the State and is subject to taxes on business-related income.
"Rehabilitation facility" means a "rehabilitation facility" as defined under section 2 of P.L.1981, c.488 (C.30:6-24).
"Employment and training opportunity project" or "project" means a "housing project" or "redevelopment project," as defined pursuant to section 3 of P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-3), or a "qualified project" pursuant to section 2 of P.L.2001, c.415 (C.52:27D-491), that receives funding, loan guarantees, or tax credits from a public entity.
"Financial institution" means a State or federally chartered bank, savings bank or savings and loan association or any other financial services company or provider, including, but not limited to, broker-dealers, investment companies, money market and mutual funds, credit unions and insurers.
"Local residents" means residents of low-income households who reside within a contiguous area to the project that is within a municipality that is either eligible to receive aid under the "Special Municipal Aid Act," P.L.1987, c.75 (C.52:27D-118.24 et seq.) or coextensive with a school district which qualified for designation as an "Abbott district" pursuant to the "Comprehensive Educational Improvement and Financing Act of 1996," P.L.1996, c.138 (C.18A:7F-1 et seq.). For the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill) a person shall continue to be deemed a "local resident" if that person's residence qualified as a "low-income household" at the time of the person's hire.
"Local supplier" means a supplier of goods, services, supplies, or equipment that employs local residents and also means a rehabilitation facility.
"Low-income household" means a household whose gross household income is less than 50 percent of the median gross household income for the region in which the neighborhood is located for households of similar size as determined by the Department of Community Affairs.
"Public entity" means the State, its political subdivisions or any agency thereof.
4. a. (1) Every contract between a business entity and a public entity, or between a financial institution and a public entity, for the financing of, or a loan guarantee for, all or part of an employment and training opportunity project shall contain clauses substantially similar to model clauses promulgated by the Commissioner of Community Affairs pursuant to section 5 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), requiring the business entity working on the project, and any of its subcontractors, to agree to use their best efforts to give preference in training and hiring to local residents of low-income households and to give preference to local suppliers as suppliers for the project.
(2) Every tax credit granted pursuant to the "Neighborhood Revitalization State Tax Credit Act," P.L.2001, c.415 (C.52:27D-490 et seq.) shall be conditioned on the recipient of the tax credit agreeing to use its best efforts to give preference in training and hiring to local residents of low-income households and to give preference to local suppliers as suppliers for the project.
b. The Commissioner of Community Affairs shall establish the position of "Coordinator for Neighborhood Opportunity" within the Department of Community Affairs to assist business entities in locating local suppliers and to also assist business entities in locating residents of low-income households for employment or training opportunities.
c. The Commissioner of Community Affairs, or the commissioner's designee, shall investigate complaints filed by any person that a business entity is not meetings its obligations under a preference clause pursuant to subsection a. of this section. If the commissioner, or the commissioner's designee, determines that the business entity has failed, or is failing, to comply in good faith with a preference clause, then the business entity may be required, through a summary proceeding in the name of the department pursuant to the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.), to return a certain percentage of the public funds received, not to exceed 10 percent, to the public entity that provided the funds and any loan guarantee provided by a public entity for the project may be withdrawn and rescinded. In addition, the business entity may be disqualified from the receipt of public funds, loan guarantees or tax credits for similar purposes for a period of time not to exceed four years.
d. No sanction pursuant to subsection c. of this section shall be imposed if the business entity demonstrates that it used its best efforts to comply with the preference clauses, but that it was not feasible to comply because no local suppliers of the needed goods, services, supplies, or equipment could be located in the project area, considering (1) the cost of goods, services, supplies, or equipment; (2) the quantity needed; (3) the schedule for the construction, rehabilitation, renovation, or redevelopment; (4) the quality of the goods, services, supplies, or equipment to be provided; (5) needed goods, services, supplies, and equipment already owned or immediately available to the business entity; and (6) any other factors that are particular to the business entity and the project.
5. The Commissioner of Community Affairs in consultation with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development with regard to utilizing One Stop Career Centers pursuant to the "1992 New Jersey Employment and Workforce Development Act," P.L.1992, C.43 (C.34:15D-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and regulations effectuating the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill). To the greatest extent possible and consistent with the purposes of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this act), these rules and regulations shall be modeled on the requirements of Section 3 of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u), as amended, and the regulations issued pursuant thereto at 24 CFR Part 135, and any applicable rules and orders issued thereunder by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development.
6. This act shall take effect immediately but shall remain inoperative until the promulgation of rules and regulations pursuant to section 5 of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require a business entity that receives any amount of public funds, loan guarantees (directly or indirectly), or tax credits from the State, its political subdivisions or any agency thereof, for the construction, rehabilitation, renovation, or redevelopment of residential property that includes units for low-income households, to grant priority in the purchase of goods, services, supplies, and equipment to those suppliers that are located within the project area and that employ local residents of low-income households and to those suppliers that are "rehabilitation facilities" pursuant to the "Rehabilitation Facilities Set-Aside Act," P.L.1981, c. 488 (C.30:6-23 et seq.).
This bill is intended to leverage the effect of the monies used in the State's various affordable housing programs, and housing related monies controlled by public agencies, to provide training and employment to members of the low-income group who are intended to be aided by the housing programs and to the severely handicapped who work at rehabilitation facilities. The leveraging is best accomplished by requiring business entities making use of State funds, loan guarantees and tax credits for the construction, rehabilitation, renovation, or redevelopment of residential property to use their best efforts to give preference to local residents in their hiring and training of employees, and to give preference in the purchase of supplies, services and equipment to local business that employ local residents of low-income households and to rehabilitation facilities employing the severely handicapped.
The concept behind this bill is based upon the federal Section 3 clause of the Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 (12 U.S.C. 1701u), as amended, which requires that in the construction of housing for low- and very low-income persons using HUD funds, preferences in employment and training be given to local residents who are to benefit from the housing project and preferences in the purchase of supplies be given to businesses employing such residents.
Business entities that do not comply with preference rules and regulations to be issued by the Department of Community Affairs pursuant to the bill could face such sanctions as withdrawal of State loan guarantees, return of up to 10% of public funding received for a project, and disqualification from the receipt of public funds, loan guarantees or tax credits for up to four years.
In order to assist business entities in complying with preference requirements, the bill requires the Commissioner of Community Affairs to establish the position of "Coordinator for Neighborhood Opportunity" to work with business entities in identifying local suppliers, including rehabilitation facilities, and residents of low-income households. A business entity would be able to avoid sanctions by demonstrating that it was not feasible to comply with the preference clauses because no local suppliers of the needed goods, services, supplies, or equipment could be located in the project area, considering the cost of goods, services, supplies, or equipment; the quantity needed; the schedule for the construction, rehabilitation, renovation or redevelopment; the quality of the goods, services, supplies or equipment to be provided; needed goods, services, supplies and equipment already owned or immediately available to the recipient; and any other factors that are particular to the business entity and the project.
In the promulgation of rules and regulations the Commissioner of Community Affairs would be required to consult with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development with regard to utilizing the State's One Stop Career Centers to effectuate the purposes of the bill.
