Bill Text: NJ A2066 | 2010-2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Requires all elected or appointed local government officers to receive ethics training.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-02-08 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Housing and Local Government Committee [A2066 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2010-A2066-Introduced.html
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman CONNIE WAGNER
District 38 (Bergen)
SYNOPSIS
Requires all elected or appointed local government officers to receive ethics training.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning local government ethics and supplementing P.L.1991, c.29 (C.40A:9-22.1 et seq.).
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. Each local government officer shall complete a training program regarding the requirements of the "Local Government Ethics Law," P.L.1991, c.29 (C.40A:9-22.1 et seq.), and any additional requirements of an applicable municipal or county code of ethics adopted pursuant thereto. A local government officer who is first elected or appointed after the promulgation of rules and regulations required under section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) shall complete the training program required under this section during the first six months of the officer's first term. If a local government officer is first elected or appointed prior to the promulgation of the ethics training program pursuant to section 2 of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), he or she shall complete the training program required under this section within nine months following the promulgation of the ethics program. Once a local government officer completes the training program required by this subsection, that officer shall not be required to repeat the training when subsequently elected or appointed to any other local governing body or local government agency, except for updates as may be required under subsection b. of this section. Each governing body clerk shall, not later than May 31st annually, provide to the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs a list of the names of all of the local government officers subject to the requirements of this section for the preceding 12 month period, and information about whether the training requirement of this section was completed, as required, by each of those persons.
b. The director shall develop the training program required under subsection a. of this section. The training program shall not be limited to live training venues, but may instead be delivered through online or video technology when practicable. The training may be provided by employees of the department or by any person, agency, organization, or entity contracted by the department for that purpose, and shall be offered at least twice per calendar year at locations easily accessible to those receiving the training. The training program shall include a requirement that local government officers complete update sessions when there is a significant change to the ethics laws or regulations, as determined by the director.
c. Upon completion of the training required pursuant to this section, each local government officer shall sign a statement asserting that he or she has received the training and understands the requirements of the "Local Government Ethics Law," P.L.1991, c.29 (C.40A:9-22.1 et seq.), and any additional requirements of an applicable municipal or county code of ethics adopted pursuant thereto. The statement shall be certified by the municipal or county clerk, as appropriate, and forwarded, within three business days, to the director, who shall then issue a certificate of completion to the local government officer. The director may, when practicable, institute an electronic certification system in lieu of the requirements of this section.
d. The director shall maintain a list of each governing body, and each local government officer thereof, subject to the training requirements of subsection a. of this section. Not later than June 30th annually, the director shall provide to the State Treasurer a list of each municipality wherein a local government officer has not complied with the training requirement set forth in subsection a. of this section.
e. The State Treasurer shall not make any State aid payments to a municipality after July 1st of each year if the director has reported to the treasurer, pursuant to subsection e. of this section, that a local government officer of the municipality has not complied with the ethics training required in subsection a. of this section.
2. Within 90 days of the effective date of this act and pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), the director shall develop and promulgate by regulation the training program required under subsection a. of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and any other rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the provisions of P.L. , c. (C. ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
3. This act shall take effect immediately, except that section 1 shall remain inoperable until the promulgation of the training program as required in section 2.
STATEMENT
This bill would supplement the "Local Government Ethics Law," P.L.1991, c.29 (C.40A:9-22.1 et seq.), to require all local government officers to complete training concerning the requirements of that law and any applicable municipal or county code of ethics adopted pursuant thereto. Section 3 (N.J.S.A.40A:9-22.3) of the "Local Government Ethics Law" currently defines a "local government officer" as:
any person whether compensated or not, whether part-time or full-time: (1) elected to any office of a local government agency; (2) serving on a local government agency which has the authority to enact ordinances, approve development applications or grant zoning variances; (3) who is a member of an independent municipal, county or regional authority; or (4) who is a managerial executive or confidential employee of a local government agency, as defined in section 3 of the "New Jersey Employer-Employee Relations Act," P.L.1941, c.100 (C.34:13A-3), but shall not mean any employee of a school district or member of a school board.
The training would be developed by the Director of the Division of Local Government Services in the Department of Community Affairs and promulgated by regulation, and would be administered at least twice per year by employees of that department or by an individual, agency, organization or entity contracted by the department to do so. Also, the bill would require that the State Treasurer not make any State aid payments to a municipality after July 1st of each year if a local government officer of the municipality has not complied with the ethics training required by the bill.
Over the last several years, widely publicized violations of law, at the local level, and the prosecutions thereof, underscore the need for legislative measures such as this bill. The education and training of all local government officers in the requirements of the "Local Government Ethics Law" and of any local code of ethics adopted pursuant to that law, as this bill would require, represent an important step towards greater integrity at all levels of government and a greater confidence by New Jersey residents that their government officials represent the public interest, not their own.
