A5161

An Act establishing a grant program to promote New Jersey as an innovation hub, supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. a. The Director of the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, shall establish a grant program to encourage local governments to develop and install, in accordance with federal law, street pole banners promoting New Jersey as an innovation hub in various fields of science, technology, and engineering. The purpose of the program shall be to provide grants to local governments which develop and install street pole banners promoting local and regional achievements in fields such as bioscience, telecommunications, and clean energy, and which promote the local or regional area as part of an innovation hub.

b. To participate in the grant program established pursuant to subsection a. of this section, a municipality shall submit an application to the division in a manner and on such forms as determined by the director. An application shall include information detailing the municipality’s proposed plans for the grant funding, including, but not limited to:

(1) identifying the specific achievements in the various fields provided for in subsection a. of this section that the municipality intends to promote, including a determination as to whether those innovative achievements are specific to the municipality or are part of a regional innovation hub;

(2) the amount of the grant funding being sought by the municipality; and

(3) a description of how the grant funding will be used to develop and install the street pole banners, including the specific locations the municipality plans to post the banners to maximize promotion and awareness.

c. After reviewing the applications submitted pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the director, in consultation with the commissioner, shall select a total of nine municipalities, including three municipalities in each of the northern, southern, and central regions of the State, to participate in the program and shall seek a cross section from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State.

2. a. Within one year of receiving a grant pursuant to section 1 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), each participating municipality shall submit a report to the Director of the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs, in a manner and on such forms as determined by the director, detailing:

(1) the expenditures of the grant funds under the program;

(2) the total number of banners that have been: developed and installed; developed, but not yet installed; and the total number of additional banners the municipality intends to develop and install; and

(3) the impact, if determinable, that the installation of the banners has had in increasing the awareness of the local or regional area as an innovation hub.

b. The director shall compile the reports submitted pursuant to subsection a. of this section for inclusion in a comparative profile of the participating municipalities and shall post the profile for public inspection on the division’s Internet website in an easily accessible location.

c. Within one year of posting the comparative profile required pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the director shall submit a report to the Governor, and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). The report shall contain information on the implementation of the grant program, including the director’s recommendation on the feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis, and a list of best practices concerning the promotion of local and regional achievements in various fields of science, technology, and engineering such as bioscience, telecommunications, and clean energy The director shall post the report for public inspection on the division’s Internet website in an easily accessible location.

3. There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs, the sum of $100,000 to effectuate the purposes of this act.

4. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the Director of the Division of Housing and Community Resources in the Department of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, to establish a grant program to encourage local governments to develop and install, in accordance with federal law, street pole banners promoting New Jersey as an innovation hub in various fields of science, technology, and engineering. The purpose of the program is to provide grants to local governments which develop and install banners promoting local and regional achievements in fields such as bioscience, telecommunications, and clean energy, and which promote the local or regional area as part of an innovation hub.

Under the bill, a municipality that wants to participate in the grant program will submit an application to the division in a manner and on such forms as determined by the director. The application is required to include information detailing the municipality’s proposed plans for the grant funding, including, but not limited:

· identifying the specific innovative achievements that the municipality intends to promote, including a determination as to whether those innovative achievements are specific to the municipality or are part of a regional innovation hub;

· the amount of the grant funding being sought by the municipality; and

· a description of how the grant funding will be used to develop and install the banners, including the specific locations the municipality plans to post the banners to maximize promotion and awareness.

After reviewing the applications, the director, in consultation with the commissioner, will select a total of nine municipalities -- including three municipalities in each of the northern, southern, and central regions of the State -- to participate in the program and shall seek a cross section from urban, suburban, and rural areas of the State.

Within one year of receiving a grant, each participating municipality is required to submit a report to the director detailing:

· the expenditures of the grant funds under the program;

· the total number of banners that have been: developed and installed; developed, but not yet installed; and the total number of additional banners the municipality intends to develop and install; and

· the impact, if determinable, that the installation of the banners has had in increasing the awareness of the local or regional area as an innovation hub.

The director will compile the reports for inclusion in a comparative profile of the participating municipalities and will post the profile for public inspection on the division’s Internet website in an easily accessible location.

Under the bill, within one year of posting the comparative profile, the director is required to submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature. The report would contain information on the implementation of the grant program, including the director’s recommendation on the feasibility of implementing the program on a Statewide basis, and a list of best practices concerning the promotion of local and regional achievements in fields such as bioscience, telecommunications, and clean energy. The director will post the report for public inspection on the division’s Internet website in an easily accessible location.