SENATE, No. 955

 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

 

INTRODUCED MARCH 14, 1996

 

 

By Senators MATHEUSSEN, BENNETT and Kyrillos

 

 

An Act authorizing the creation of a State-sponsored affinity card and allocating fees collected therefrom for use by the State to acquire lands for recreation and conservation purposes, and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

 

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

 

    1. As used in this act:

    "Affinity card" means a credit or debit card bearing the name of the sponsoring entity and whose credit or deposit account is held and managed by the credit or debit card issuer.

    "Credit" means the right to defer payment of debt or the right to incur debt and defer its payment.

    "Credit card" means any instrument or device, whether known as a credit card, credit plate, or by any other name, issued by an issuer for the use of the cardholder in obtaining money, goods, services, or anything else of value on credit.

    "Debit card" means any card or devices which access a cardholder deposit account with or without a line of credit.

    "Financial institution" means a State or federally chartered bank, savings bank or savings and loan association with its headquarters and card processing unit located in this State and which is directly licensed by VISA or Mastercard for processing credit transactions and a direct member of the MAC and NYCE networks for processing debit transactions.

    "Issuer" means the financial institution which issues a credit or debit card or its duly authorized agent.

    "Sponsoring entity" means an entity that contracts with a particular financial institution whereby the financial institution agrees to be an issuer of an affinity card bearing the sponsoring entity's name in exchange for a fee.

 

    2. a. The Department of the Treasury is authorized to participate in an affinity card program for the benefit of the State. Within six months after the date of enactment of this act, the State Treasurer shall determine which financial institutions in the State issue or are able to issue affinity cards and develop and submit to these financial institutions a request for proposal for a New Jersey affinity card program.

    b. Based on responses by financial institutions to its request for proposal, if the State Treasurer determines that it is feasible for the State to be a sponsoring entity for an affinity card, the State Treasurer is authorized to enter into a contract with a financial institution to be the issuer of the New Jersey affinity card and to negotiate with the financial institution the most favorable rate for the State's fee.

    c. Upon entering into a contract with a financial institution pursuant to subsection b. of this section, the department shall notify all State agencies possessing any credit or debit card to replace any such cards with the State-sponsored affinity card as soon as is reasonably practicable and to use the affinity card for all new orders for which an agency normally uses a credit or debit card.

 

    3. The moneys received from any fees collected pursuant to this act shall be deposited with the State Treasurer for use by the State to acquire lands for recreation and conservation purposes under the State Green Acres program in the Department of Environmental Protection.

 

    4. The State Treasurer shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this act.

 

    5. This act shall take effect immediately.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

    The bill authorizes the Department of the Treasury to establish a State-sponsored affinity card program. It requires the State Treasurer, within six months after the date of enactment of the act, to determine which financial institutions could participate as an issuer of affinity cards and to send to them a request for proposal regarding a New Jersey affinity card program. Based on responses to the State Treasurer's request for proposal, if the State Treasurer determines that it is feasible for the State to sponsor an affinity card, the State Treasurer is authorized to enter into a contract with a financial institution to be the issuer of the State-sponsored affinity card and to negotiate the most favorable rate for the State's fees. The bill also requires that fees raised by the State through its participation in a State-sponsored card program are to be deposited with the State Treasurer for use by the State to acquire lands for recreation and conservation purposes under the State Green Acres program in the Department of Environmental Protection.

 

 

Authorizes creation of a State-sponsored affinity card and allocates fees collected therefrom for State Green Acres land acquisition.