A4335

An Act requiring the publication of certain financial information on the State’s government transparency website, supplementing P.L.2017, c.2 (C.52:18A-234.1 et seq.).

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

1. a. The State Treasurer, in consultation with the Chief Technology Officer, shall make available to the public without charge a searchable Internet government transparency website that shall retain and display data and other information concerning State expenditures and revenues and State contracts, for the purpose of providing fiscal transparency to the public.

b. In addition to any other data and information required by law, rule, regulation, or executive order, the government transparency website shall include:

(1) the following data, reports, and other information described in Executive Order No. 8 of 2010:

(a) quarterly reports on all State expenditures,

(b) monthly revenue report,

(c) compensation paid to public employees of the State and independent State agencies, including but not limited to current contracts pursuant to which compensation is determined,

(d) information related to debt, including but not limited to amounts of bond debt or interest paid and sources of funds for bond issues, and

(e) State liabilities for pension and post-retirement medical benefits;

(2) a statement describing the specific types of transactions, government entities, or both, for which financial information has been excluded from the government transparency website, and the reason for the exclusion;

(3) detailed descriptions of amounts spent by or on behalf of the Office of the Governor on travel, to the extent permitted by law, including but not limited to costs associated with hotel and lodging, airfare, meals, whether the travel was in-State or out-of-State, and whether the travel included overnight or non-overnight lodging;

(4) detailed descriptions of amounts spent by the Office of the Attorney General on external contracted legal services, to the extent permitted by law;

(5) detailed descriptions of amounts spent by the Division of Travel and Tourism in the Department of State on advertising, including but not limited to marketing, publicity, promotion, and amounts paid to advertising agencies;

(6) detailed descriptions of amounts spent by the Department of Corrections on electricity;

(7) detailed descriptions of amounts spent by the Division of Pension and Benefits in the Department of the Treasury on postage, shipping, and other mail services;

(8) detailed descriptions of amounts spent by the State Department of Agriculture on fuel for motor vehicles;

(9) analysis of government finances based on the most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, or other similar financial information, presented in a format that:

(a) itemizes expenditures into no fewer than five categories,

(b) includes graphs or other visual aids,

(d) does not exceed 35 pages in length; and

(10) analysis of State economic development programs that provide, or offer to provide, gross income tax or corporation business tax credits to qualifying businesses that meet certain statutory criteria and benchmarks for the purpose of expanding, locating, or relocating industry and improving commerce and trade in the State. The information included shall:

(a) identify the program awarding, or offering to award, economic development subsidies to qualifying recipients,

(b) identify the businesses that receive subsidies through the program,

(d) identify the amount of subsidies recaptured from recipients that failed to meet program requirements,

(e) describe the public benefits, including but not limited to the number of jobs and capital investment, projected to be produced by recipients of subsidies made available through the program,

(f) describe the public benefits, including but not limited to the number of jobs and capital investment, actually created by the recipients of subsidies made available through the program, and

(g) provide any other data and information that the State Treasurer, in consultation with the Executive Director of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, determines to be relevant.

The analysis shall be made available in a format that can be downloaded by the public for comparative purposes using commonly-used software.

c. The government transparency website shall not retain or display data or information deemed private or confidential by State or federal law, rule, or regulation.

d. The State Treasurer shall ensure that the government transparency website is updated regularly so as to contain the most current data and information.

2. The State Treasurer shall develop rules and regulations,
pursuant to the provisions of the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

3. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires the State Treasurer to publish certain State financial information on an Internet State government transparency website.

The State Treasurer, in consultation with the Chief Technology Officer, must make information concerning State expenditures and revenue and State contracts available to the public, at no charge, in a format that is searchable and archivable. The State Treasurer is also required to ensure that this information is kept current.

Specifically, this website must publish the following information: (1) amounts spent the Governor’s Office on travel, including hotel and lodging, airfare, meals, whether in-State or out-of-State, and whether overnight or non-overnight; (2) amounts spent by the Attorney General’s Office on external contracted legal services; (3) amounts spent by the Division of Travel and Tourism on advertising, including marketing, publicity, promotion, and amounts paid to advertising agencies; (4) amounts spent by the Department of Corrections on electricity; (5) amounts spent by the Division of Pension and Benefits on postage, shipping, and other mail services; (6) amounts spent by the Department of Agriculture on motor vehicle fuel; (7) analysis of government finances based on the most recent Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, which itemizes expenditures into at least five categories, includes graphs or visual aids, written in plain language that is understandable to the average taxpayer, and not more than 35 pages in length; (8) analysis of State economic development programs, including businesses that receive subsidies, the amount of subsidies received, the amount of subsidies recaptured from recipients, and public benefits (e.g., jobs and capital investment) projected to be attributable to the program; (9) the specific types of transactions and government entities for which financial information has been excluded from the government transparency website, and the reason therefor, and (10) quarterly expenditure reports, monthly revenue reports, budget information, compensation paid to public employees, bonded debt and related information, and State liabilities for pension and post-retirement medical benefits, as reflected in Executive Order No. 8 of 2010. Moreover, the State Treasurer may make available other information deemed relevant. Any information that falls within one
of the aforementioned categories but is deemed private or confidential by federal or State law is prohibited from being published on the website.

Pursuant to Executive Order No. 8 of 2010, the Department of the Treasury is already required to publish certain State fiscal information in a format that is easily-understandable to the average taxpayer and allows opportunity to download and meaningfully compare data, available at http://www.yourmoney.nj.gov. Evaluations of state transparency websites, such as the April 2018 “Following the Money 2018” report compiled by the Frontier Group and U.S. PIRG Education Fund, highlight areas for improvement in the state provision of online access to governing spending data. This bill is intended to implement recommendations contained in the report, in particular recommendations pertaining to the State government transparency website.