LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE

[First Reprint]

SENATE, No. 2922

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

221st LEGISLATURE

 

DATED: NOVEMBER 25, 2025

 

 

SUMMARY

 

Synopsis:

Requires development of universal financial disclosure form for persons required to file financial disclosure statements with multiple public bodies; authorizes Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards to accept form; codifies financial disclosure requirement for municipal prosecutors.

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; Division of Criminal Justice in the Department of Law and Public Safety; Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards.

 

 

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, the Local Finance Board, the Division of Criminal Justice, or the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards (subject to the committee’s discretion) 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, Local Finance Board, and Office of the Attorney General 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, the Local Finance Board, and the Office of the Attorney General. 

      The bill also permits the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards to adopt the universal form at its discretion.  If the committee adopts the universal form, the form will also be made available on its official website.

      Currently, municipal prosecutors are required to file annual financial disclosure statements by directive of the Attorney General.  The bill codifies the requirement that municipal prosecutors file annual financial disclosure statements with the Division of Criminal Justice in the Department of Law and Public Safety.

      Current law and regulations require certain government officers and employees to file annual financial disclosure statements.  The required disclosures may vary by applicable law, regulation, directive 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, while also allowing for the submission of additional information required by specific government entities through the use of addenda to the universal form. Standardizing the financial disclosure statement process will enable affected persons to submit the required financial disclosure statements through a single form.

      Under the bill, personal identifying information required to be submitted on a financial disclosure statement will not be disclosed publicly.

 

 

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, the Local Finance Board,  the Division of Criminal Justice, or the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards (subject to the committee’s discretion) 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, the commissions, the board, and the division currently require users to submit financial disclosure statements electronically.  The 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 the bundling of services or vendor discounts. 

      Currently, the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards’ financial disclosure process does not require financial disclosure statements to be submitted electronically and does not rely on the use of any internal or external technology platform. 

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

      The OLS does not know whether the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards will adopt the universal form established by the bill but notes that any cost increase due to adoption may be tempered by cost savings for service bundling or vendor discounts and work efficiencies.

      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 makes various data storage, 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 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

Associate 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.).