SENATE STATE GOVERNMENT, WAGERING, TOURISM & HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 2922

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 17, 2024

      The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee reports favorably Senate Bill No. 2922.

Under current law, requirements to file annual financial disclosure statements are prescribed for certain government officers and employees at all levels of government. At the State level, State officers and employees and special State officers and employees are required to file financial disclosure statements with the State Ethics Commission. At the local government level, local government officers are required to file financial disclosure statements with the Local Finance Board in the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs. School officials are required to file such statements with the School Ethics Commission. The contents of these statements may vary by the applicable law, regulation, or executive order. Therefore, persons who hold multiple government offices or positions, including as volunteers on public boards and commissions, are subject to the respective disclosure requirements for each office or position held, thereby having to file multiple separate financial disclosure statements each year.

     This bill requires the development of a single form for use by persons required to file multiple financial disclosure statements with various public bodies. Under the bill, the State Ethics Commission, in consultation with the School Ethics Commission and the Local Finance Board, would develop a universal financial disclosure form within 90 days of the bill’s effective date. The universal form would be designed to enable any person who is required by law, regulation, or executive order to file a financial disclosure statement with more than one government entity to do so by completing and submitting that single form, including any additional addenda that may be required. Under the bill, the universal form would meet all content requirements for disclosure as stipulated by any applicable law, regulation, or executive order. Furthermore, the bill directs the State Ethics Commission, School Ethics Commission, and Local Finance Board to make the form available on their respective official websites.