SENATE BUDGET AND APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4515

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  JUNE 28, 2026

      The Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 4515.

      As amended, this bill authorizes dual employment by certain employees of Rutgers, The State University and affiliated contracting entities.  Under the bill, if Rutgers University enters into an affiliation agreement with a contracting entity for certain enumerated purposes related to improved health care and associated research in the State, then any employee of Rutgers University, who is a managerial executive and has oversight or supervisory or managerial responsibility for certain areas covered in the affiliation agreement, may be an employee of both Rutgers University and the contracting entity. 

      The “New Jersey Conflicts of Interest Law” was enacted with the purpose of ensuring public employees hold the respect and confidence of the public by avoiding conduct that is in violation of the public trust or which creates a justifiable impression among the public that this trust is being violated.  Rutgers University employees are generally subject to the provisions of the conflicts of interest law. 

      Under the conflicts of interest law, among other requirements, State employees generally cannot receive compensation from any source other than the State of New Jersey, and State employees should not undertake any employment or service, whether compensated or not, that might reasonably be expected to impair the employee’s objectivity and independence of judgment in the exercise of official duties. 

      This bill permits an employee to receive compensation from both Rutgers University and the contracting entity with which the university enters into an affiliation agreement and clarifies that the dual employment permitted under the bill is not subject to these provisions of the conflicts of interest law.

      The bill explicitly provides that it is not to be construed to:

· contravene the rights and obligations of employers or employees under the “New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act;” or

· exempt any subcontracting agreement as required under current law. 

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to:

· clarify that an employee eligible for dual employment pursuant to the provisions of the bill is required to be a managerial executive as defined in the “New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act”;

· remove the provisions permitting a member of the board of governors of Rutgers University who is also a member of a governing board of a contracting entity from participating in any matter before the board of governors that is necessary to implement the affiliation agreement, as determined by any individual designated, or otherwise identified in certain Rutgers University policies; and

· clarify that the provisions of the bill are not to be construed to contravene the rights and obligations of employers or employees under the “New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act” or any subcontracting agreement from requirements established under current law.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill has not been certified as requiring a fiscal note.