ASSEMBLY APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

ASSEMBLY, No. 1264

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED: FEBRUARY 22, 1996

      The Assembly Appropriations Committee reports favorably Assembly Bill No. 1264.

      Assembly Bill No. 1264 decreases the rate at which public financing is available to candidates for the office of Governor in the general election. Under current law, gubernatorial general election candidates who qualify for and accept such financing receive public funds at the rate of twice the contributions received from private sources. Under the bill, the rate at which these public funds would be payable would be reduced to an amount equal to those private source contributions.

      This legislation implements a May 18, 1994 recommendation of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

FISCAL IMPACT:

      This bill might impact expenditure from the Gubernatorial Elections Fund. The bill lowers the "matching ratio," the rate at which public funds are distributed to gubernatorial candidates in the general election in proportion to the amount candidates raise themselves, from 2:1 to 1:1. This requires candidates to raise twice as much from private sources to qualify for the same amount of State matching funds, and might reduce the payout of money from the fund.