ASSEMBLY, No. 765

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblywoman BUONO

An Act concerning State and local legislation and administrative rules and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes and Titles 40A and 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. Every bill or resolution prepared for introduction in the Legislature shall be written in a reasonably simple, clear, understandable manner which is easily readable and offers the average reader fair notice of its provisions.

    The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to the text of an existing law which is to be amended by a bill or resolution.

    2. a. Every administrative rule adopted by a State agency shall be written in a reasonably simple, clear, understandable manner which is easily readable and offers the average reader fair notice of its provisions.

    b. The Office of Administrative Law shall not accept for publication any proposed rule, any change to a proposed rule or any proposed amendment to an adopted rule which does not comply with subsection a. of this section.

    c. The provisions of this section shall not apply to the repromulgation, without amendment, of any rule adopted prior to the effective date of this act.

    3. Every resolution or ordinance adopted by the governing body of a unit of local government, and every rule or regulation adopted by a local government agency having the authority to adopt rules or regulations, shall be written in a reasonably simple, clear, understandable manner which is easily readable and offers the average reader fair notice of its provisions.

    4. Every resolution adopted by a local board of education shall be written in a reasonably simple, clear, understandable manner which is easily readable and offers the average reader fair notice of its provisions.

    5. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides that every bill or resolution prepared for introduction in the Legislature, every State agency administrative rule and every local government ordinance, resolution and regulation, including a school board resolution, shall be written in a reasonably simple, clear, understandable manner which is easily readable and offers the average reader fair notice of its provisions.

Requires that State and local legislation and administrative rules be written in simple language.