Bill Text: NJ S925 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires vendor on public contract to disclose governmental affairs agent used by vendor for contract.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-16 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [S925 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2018-S925-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH P. CRYAN
District 20 (Union)
SYNOPSIS
Requires vendor on public contract to disclose governmental affairs agent used by vendor for contract.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning vendor disclosure on public contracts and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. A State agency shall require a person or entity that submits a bid or proposal for, or otherwise proposes to enter into or renew, a contract to disclose by certification at the time the bid or proposal is submitted or the contract is renewed, any governmental affairs agent, as defined in subsection g. of section 3 of P.L.1971, c.183 (C.52:13C-20), retained by the person or entity for the purpose of influencing the governmental processes related to that contract. The certification required shall be executed on behalf of the applicable person or entity by an authorized officer of representative of the person or entity and shall be disclosed to the public.
"State agency" means the legislative or executive branch of the State, including, but not limited to, any department, board, bureau, commission, division, office, council, agency, or instrumentality thereof, or independent agency, public authority or public benefit corporation.
b. If the State agency determines that the person or entity has submitted a false certification, the State agency shall provide 90 days' written notice and an opportunity to comment in writing to the person or entity to demonstrate that it has not failed to disclose a governmental affairs agent it retained.
A person or entity whom the agency determines has violated the provisions of this section shall be subject, in addition to any other penalties that may be prescribed by law, to a civil penalty of not more than $2,500 for each such violation, or a civil penalty of not more than $10,000, if the agency finds that these violations have occurred with such frequency as to constitute a general practice.
The penalty shall be sued for and collected in the name of the agency in a summary proceeding in accordance with the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999," P.L.1999, c.274 (C.2A:58-10 et seq.).
A civil action to collect such penalty shall commence within three years from the date the certification is made.
2. This act shall take
effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, except a
State agency may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall
be necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
This bill would require all vendors entering into public contracts with State agencies, to disclose, by certification, any governmental affairs agent retained by the vendor for the purpose of influencing the governmental processes related to that contract. The vendor would be required to make the disclosure at the time of bidding on the contract or submitting the proposal.
Under this bill, a false certification would result in a civil penalty in accordance with the "Penalty Enforcement Law of 1999.
