LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE TO

[First Reprint]

ASSEMBLY, No. 1263

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: May 15, 1996

      Assembly Bill No. 1263(1R) of 1996 reduces the maximum amount of public funds available to a candidate for the office of Governor under the gubernatorial campaign financing provisions of "The New Jersey Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Reporting Act" to a maximum amount of $1,000,000 in the primary election and $2,000,000 in the general election, effective January 1, 1998. These amounts would be adjusted for inflation for the primary and general elections held in 2001, since current law provides for such adjustments of each gubernatorial election for a four-year term.

      In the 1993 gubernatorial election, the maximum amount of public funds so available was $1,600,000 per candidate in the primary election and $3,900,000 per candidate in the general election.

      During the previous legislative session, the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) provided fiscal information on Assembly, No. 1874 of 1994, which is an earlier version of A-1263(1R). Under A-1874, the reduction in the maximum amount of public funds available to a gubernatorial candidate would take effect upon enactment of the bill and the new maximum amount was to be used as the basis for determining the inflation-adjusted amount available to each candidate after the 1997 gubernatorial elections. ELEC estimated that there would be no fiscal impact on the commission if this bill becomes law, although there would be an impact on the Gubernatorial Elections Fund because the bill reduced by approximately one-half the maximum amount of public money from the fund for each such candidate for the primary and general elections.

      The Office of Legislative Services concurred with the assessment of A-1874 and believes that even with the changes contained in the current version of the bill, there would be no fiscal impact on the commission if A-1263(1R) became law.

      The 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.