SENATE, No. 425

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

INTRODUCED JANUARY 18, 1996

By Senator LaROSSA

An Act providing that members of the Legislature shall have access to certain information held by State agencies and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

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

    1. a. As used in this section, "State agency" means any of the principal departments in the Executive Branch of State Government, any division, board, bureau, office, commission or other instrumentality within or created by such department and any independent State authority, commission, instrumentality or agency.

    b. (1) Upon the request of any member of the Legislature, made through the Office of Legislative Services, a State agency shall provide the member with any accounting, fiscal, financial, statistical or demographic facts or data concerning any subject obtained from any source which is held in written, audio, video, electronic or other form or format by the State agency or any officer or employee of the State agency acting on behalf thereof.

    (2) Upon the request of any member of the Legislature, made through the Office of Legislative Services, a State agency having possession of information concerning a current or former State officer or employee shall provide this information to the member provided that this information is already a matter of public record. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall be considered as requiring the disclosure of any information the confidentiality of which is protected by any other law or regulation. Information received pursuant to this paragraph shall not be used for the purpose of making political solicitations.

    c. Any information which a State agency is required to provide to a member of the Legislature pursuant to this section shall be disclosed as promptly as is possible in view of the nature and amount of the information requested and the manner and location of storage. Information shall be provided to the member through the Office of Legislative Services in the form or format in which it is available to State agencies and State officers and employees of the Executive Branch. However, if disclosure in that form or format would result in the disclosure of information the confidentiality of which is protected by law, regulation or policy, the form or format may be modified to prevent disclosure of that portion of the information which is confidential.

    Except as provided in paragraph 2 of subsection b. of this section, if the form or format cannot be readily modified to prevent the disclosure of confidential information, the State agency shall, notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, regulation or policy to the contrary, provide all of the information to the member after clearly indicating which portion of the information is confidential and to be protected from further disclosure. The member and each employee of the Office of Legislative Services who receives confidential information shall be subject to the same duty of confidentiality as the State agency providing the information. Each member or employee of the Office of Legislative Services receiving such information shall certify in writing that the member or employee is aware which portion of the information is confidential and that the member or employee agrees to protect that portion of the information from further disclosure.

    d. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as restraining the manner in which a member of the Legislature may request information from a State agency or allowing a State agency to deny requested information to a member of the Legislature because the information was not requested pursuant to this section.

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    This bill provides that upon the request of any member of the Legislature made through the Office of Legislative Services (OLS), a State agency shall provide the member with accounting, fiscal, statistical or demographic facts or data obtained from any source which is held in written, audio, video, electronic or other form or format by the State agency or any officer or employer of the agency acting on behalf thereof. It also provides that upon the request of a member of the Legislature, made through OLS, a State agency shall provide the member with information concerning a current or former State officer or employee provided that this information is already a matter of public record.

    The bill requires a State agency to promptly comply with a legislator's request. Information would be provided, through OLS, to the legislator who requested it in the form or format in which it is available to State agencies and officers and employees of the Executive Branch. Where disclosure in that form or format would result in the disclosure of confidential information, the form or format may be modified to protect the confidential information. If the form or format cannot be readily modified to prevent the disclosure of confidential information, the State agency shall, nevertheless, provide the information after carefully indicating which portion of the information is confidential. The member and each employee OLS who receives confidential information shall be subject to the same duty of confidentiality as the State agency providing the information. Each member or employee of OLS receiving such information shall certify in writing that the member or employee is aware which portion of the information is confidential and that the member or employee agrees to protect that portion of the information from further disclosure.