LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

SENATE, No. 2922

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: NOVEMBER 1, 2024

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Requires development of single form for use by persons required to file financial disclosure statements with multiple public bodies.

Type of Impact:

Potential annual State expenditure increase; potential annual State expenditure decrease.

Agencies Affected:

State Ethics Commission; School Ethics Commission in the Department of Education; Local Finance Board in the Department of Community Affairs.

 

 

Office of Legislative Services Estimate

Fiscal Impact

Annual

 

Potential State Expenditure Increase

$50,000 to $500,000

 

Potential State Expenditure Decrease

Up to $150,000

 

 

 

 

·         The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates that requiring the development of a universal financial disclosure form for use by any person required to file a financial disclosure statement with the State Ethics Commission, the School Ethics Commission, or the Local Finance Board may result in potential annual State expenditure increases ranging from $50,000 to $500,000.

·         The OLS anticipates that replacing the current financial disclosure statement infrastructure on the State Ethics Commission, School Ethics Commission, and Local Finance Board websites with a single universal financial disclosure form may also result in potential annual State expenditure decreases of up to $150,000.

 

 

BILL DESCRIPTION

 

      This bill requires the creation of a single universal financial disclosure form for use by any person required by law, regulation, or executive order to file a financial disclosure statement with various government entities.  Under the bill, the form is to be made available on the official websites of the State Ethics Commission, the School Ethics Commission, and the Local Finance Board. 

      Current law requires certain government officers and employees to file annual financial disclosure statements.  The required disclosures may vary by applicable law, regulation, and executive order, causing persons who hold multiple public positions or carry out responsibilities for multiple public entities to submit separate financial disclosure statements for compliance.

      This bill standardizes the financial disclosure statement process for certain public officers and employees through the creation of a universal form, thereby enabling such persons to submit the required financial disclosure statements through a single form.

 

 

FISCAL ANALYSIS

 

EXECUTIVE BRANCH

 

        None received.

 

OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES

 

      The OLS estimates that requiring the development of a universal financial disclosure form for use by any person required by law, regulation, or executive order to file a financial disclosure statement with the State Ethics Commission, the School Ethics Commission, or the Local Finance Board may result in potential annual State expenditure increases ranging from $50,000 to $500,000 and potential annual State expenditure decreases of up to $150,000.  The magnitude of the expenditure increases and savings will depend on the sophistication of the services required to develop and maintain a universal financial disclosure platform compared to the sophistication of the financial disclosure platforms currently in use.

      While the bill does not require the universal financial disclosure form to be provided in a fillable electronic format or to be submitted in an electronic format, both commissions and the board currently require users to submit financial statement disclosures electronically.  The two commissions and the board each use a separate vendor for this service and in some instances that vendor also provides additional services to the commission or board or its parent department or agency, suggesting that these entities may currently benefit from bundling of services or vendor discounts.

      The OLS assumes that requiring the commissions and the board to develop a universal financial disclosure form may result in similar benefits for service bundling or vendor discounts.

      Additionally, although the OLS was not able to obtain the contracts governing the financial disclosure platforms currently used by the commissions and the board, the OLS assumes that the current software packages make various data storing, automation, security, and analytic capabilities available to front-end users, back-end owners or analysts, and third-party regulators.

      The OLS assumes that the universal financial disclosure form required under the bill will also be provided in an electronic format and will retain similar capabilities for various users and third-party regulators. 

      Although the OLS is unable to determine current State costs for such services, the OLS believes that the cost of different services offered by SimpliGov, the current financial disclosure vendor for the State Ethics Commission, provides a sound proxy for any added State costs or savings that may result from the bill’s implementation.

      The table below details relevant service offerings and costs for SimpliGov in other state and local governments.

 

Service Description

Cost

Time Period

Simplisign (e-sign 1 TB) +90 docs or webforms

$50,000 annually

2024 – 2025

Software licensing and support for business process automation

(remotely route, review, and authorize confidential information using electronic approval)

$100,000 annually

2024 – 2025

Forms/workflow (20 workflows unlimited users)

 

Base platform

 

Analytics

 

Data Storage for each 1 TB of data

 

Additional tenant for additional tenants within a department

$210,000 annually

 

 

$41,000 annually

 

$14,000 annually

 

$6,000 annually

 

 

$6,000 annually

2019 – 2024

Platform (includes one published workflow)

 

Quickflow (online form)

 

Analytics

$500,000 annually

 

 

$170,000 annually

 

$170,000 annually

2020

Platform

 

Quickflow

 

Analytics

 

Workflows (SaaS; 1 – 20)

$425,000 annually

 

$140,000 annually

 

$140,000 annually

 

$100,000 annually

2016 – 2026

 

Section:

State Government

Analyst:

Anna Harris

Assistant Fiscal Analyst

Approved:

Thomas Koenig

Legislative Budget and Finance Officer

 

This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.

 

This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).