LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
[First Reprint]
SENATE, No. 3187
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: JULY 24, 2025
SUMMARY
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Synopsis: |
Establishes criminal penalties for certain violations of the "New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act." |
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Type of Impact: |
Annual expenditure and revenue increase; annual local expenditure increase. |
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Agencies Affected: |
Department of Law and Public Safety; County Prosecutors; Department of Labor and Workforce Development; the Judiciary; Office of the Public Defender; Department of Corrections; State Parole Board. |
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Office of Legislative Services Estimate |
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Fiscal Impact |
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Annual |
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State Cost Increase |
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Indeterminate |
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State Revenue Increase |
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Indeterminate |
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Local Cost Increase |
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Indeterminate |
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· The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) finds that the bill will result in an indeterminate increase in annual State and local expenditures. The OLS lacks sufficient information to quantify the fiscal impact, as it is not possible to know how many individuals will be prosecuted, tried, and sentenced for crimes under the bill.
· The bill’s establishment of a crime of the fourth degree would result in the following State and local agencies incurring caseload and expenditure increases: a) the Department of Law and Public Safety would prosecute cases or provide guidance and other information to the county prosecutors; b) county prosecutors would have to prosecute additional cases; c) the Judiciary would have to adjudicate additional complaints and monitor additional probationers; d) the Office of the Public Defender would have to represent additional low-income criminal defendants; e) the Department of Corrections may have to house and care for more individuals in cases where the sentencing involves incarceration; and f) the State Parole Board may have to supervise the return to society of additional offenders.
· The OLS also notes that the State may receive indeterminate revenue from fines imposed on individuals convicted of the new crime; however, the State’s ability to collect fines has historically been limited.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill establishes criminal penalties for certain violations of the New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act.
The New Jersey Prevailing Wage Act, P.L.1963, c.150, establishes penalties for certain fraudulent acts of an employer who is subject to the provisions of the act, including knowingly falsifying a record required under the provisions of the prevailing wage law; or knowingly making, or causing to be made, a false, deceptive or fraudulent statement on the public works contractor registration form required under the Public Works Contractor Registration Act, P.L.1999, c.238. The bill provides that a person who commits a violation indicated in the bill is guilty of a crime of the fourth degree, which is punishable by a fine of up to $10,000, a term of imprisonment of up to 18 months, or both.
The prevailing wage law currently makes a violator of that law guilty of a disorderly person offense, subject to penalties of $100 to $1,000 and jail time of between 10 and 90 days. The public works contractor registration law currently makes a violator of that law also guilty of a disorderly persons offense, subject to fines of between $2,500 and $25,000, and disqualification from bidding on or engaging in public work for a period of up to three years. The current provisions are not repealed by the bill, permitting actions to be taken under either the existing law or the bill.
The bill further provides that a county prosecutor or the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development, as appropriate, is required to notify the Attorney General that a violation under the bill has occurred so that the Attorney General may make a determination regarding whether to exercise the authority granted to the Attorney General pursuant to the Criminal Justice Act of 1970 to supersede a county prosecutor for the purpose of prosecuting or investigating the violation or, if appropriate, to refer the case to the county prosecutor for investigation and prosecution or other appropriate legal action.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS finds that the bill will result in an indeterminate increase in annual State and local expenditures. The OLS lacks sufficient information to quantify the fiscal impact, as it is not possible to estimate the number of individuals likely to be prosecuted, tried, and sentenced for crimes under the bill.
The bill’s establishment of a crime of the fourth degree would result in the following State and local agencies incurring caseload and expenditure increases: a) the Department of Law and Public Safety would prosecute cases or provide guidance and other information to the county prosecutors; b) county prosecutors would have to prosecute additional cases; c) the Judiciary would have to adjudicate additional complaints and monitor additional probationers; d) the Office of the Public Defender would have to represent additional low-income criminal defendants; e) the Department of Corrections may have to house and care for more individuals in cases where the sentencing involves incarceration; and f) the State Parole Board may have to supervise the return to society of additional offenders. The State may receive indeterminate revenues from fines imposed; however, the State’s ability to collect fines has historically been limited.
Generally, a presumption of non-incarceration applies to first-time offenders of crimes of the fourth degree. The OLS notes that to the extent the bill results in additional incarcerations, the Department of Corrections would incur those costs. Based on information provided by the department, the FY 2024 average annual cost for housing, ensuring security, and providing services to an incarcerated individual was $75,254, with an average marginal cost of housing one additional incarcerated person, accounting for food, clothes and wages, of $11.39.
County prosecutors would likely see an increase in workload to the extent there are additional cases. However, to the extent the Office of the Attorney General in the Department of Law and Public Safety accepts the prosecution of some of these cases, there will potentially be an increase in workload in the Office of the Attorney General.
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Section: |
Judiciary |
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Analyst: |
Senior Fiscal Analyst |
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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.).