New Jersey-2010-A4376-Introduced

An Act concerning reports and publications produced by the State and its agencies, amending various parts of the statutory law, supplementing chapter 14 of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes, and repealing R.S.52:14-21, R.S.52:14-22, R.S.52:14-25 and R.S.52:14-25.2.

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

1. (New section) All reports and publications produced by the State, or any agency of the State, that are to be submitted to the governor or the Legislature, or made available to the public, shall be posted on the Internet in lieu of printing. A notice of availability of the report or publication shall be distributed to the governor or the Legislature, as the case may be. In the case of a report or publication to be made available to the public, an electronic copy and a print copy shall be submitted to the State Librarian. If such reports or publications are printed, six copies shall be submitted to the State Librarian in addition to the one electronic copy.

Upon receiving notice of availability of a report or publication, an individual who is unable to access the document on the Internet may request a printed copy.

The provisions of this section shall not apply to publications produced pursuant to section 7 of P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-7).

2. R.S.52:14-18 is amended to read as follows:

52:14-18. Except as otherwise expressly provided by law, all boards, commissions, institutions, departments, state officers and other persons required by law to present an annual report to the governor or to the legislature, shall make report as of the thirtieth day of June annually, and shall [present the same in writing] complete the report and provide notice that it is available to the governor on or before the thirtieth day of November [, to the end that the same may be examined by the state librarian and speedily prepared for printing if approved for that purpose when so required by section 52:14-20 of this title].

Any officer, commissioner or other person who shall fail to deliver his report on or before the thirtieth day of November shall, as a penalty, forfeit one-half his salary or compensation from the thirtieth day of November until the time when such report shall be so presented, and such forfeited compensation shall be withheld by the comptroller and treasurer.

(cf: R.S.52:14-18)

3. R.S.52:14-19 is amended to read as follows:

52:14-19. Reports other than annual reports; time for making. All boards, commissions and officers of the State required by law, joint resolution, or otherwise to report to the Governor or Legislature upon any matter whatever, shall, unless otherwise specially directed, [make and deliver] complete the report at least 10 days previous to the first day of January next following the date of their appointment, and [if printed, it] notice of the availability of the report shall be delivered to the Legislature on the first day of the session.

This section shall not apply to the annual reports of State boards, commissions, institutions, departments or officers.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.164, s.1)

4. Section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1) is amended to read as follows:

2. Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, all boards, commissions, institutions, departments, agencies, State officers and employees and other persons required by law to make available, submit, forward, or otherwise transmit to the Legislature or to the members of the Legislature a report, study, survey, publication or other document shall, in lieu of distributing a copy thereof to each member, meet this requirement of law by: a. preparing the document for examination and approval in the manner provided by law; and, b. submitting [one copy] notice of availability of the approved document to the President of the Senate, [one copy to the] Speaker of the General Assembly and [five copies to] the Director of Public Information in the Office of Legislative Services. The Director of Public Information shall submit to the Secretary of the Senate, the Clerk of the General Assembly and the members of the Legislature a notice containing the title of the document and the name of the agency issuing the document, that notice to be distributed to the members in the same manner as provided for the distribution of transcripts of public hearings. A copy of any such document shall be made available to any member of the Legislature upon request, or pursuant to such procedures as may be provided by the respective Houses of the Legislature.

This section shall not apply to any reporting requirements or procedures specified in the State Constitution, nor to any information required by law to be submitted to the Legislative Counsel, State Auditor, Legislative Budget and Finance Officer, the Joint Budget Oversight Committee, or the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards.

(cf: P.L.1991, c.164, s.2)

5. R.S.52:14-24 is amended to read as follows:

52:14-24. The custodian of the state house shall, under the direction and control of the state house commission, cause to be [bound in plain and substantial binding so many of the printed copies of] made available on the Internet the various official reports and legislative documents as the state house commission shall direct [, which bound copies shall be distributed by the custodian as follows:

a. To the librarian of the congressional library at Washington, four copies.

b. To the librarians of the theological seminaries at Princeton and New Brunswick, each one copy.

c. To the state librarian, twenty copies.

d. The remainder shall be distributed as the state house commission shall direct]. If such reports and documents are printed, six copies shall be submitted to the State Librarian in addition to an electronic copy for the Internet.

(cf: R.S.52:14-24)

6. R.S.52:14-25.1 is amended to read as follows:

52:14-25.1. All State officers, departments [and] , commissions [or] , committees, or agencies issuing annual reports or special reports required by law to be submitted to the Governor or to the Legislature of this State, [where such reports are printed, mimeographed or otherwise mechanically reproduced, shall file with the New Jersey State Library for general reference use in said library and for exchange purposes at least 75 copies of each of such printed, mimeographed or otherwise mechanically reproduced reports, and in those cases where such reports are made in typewritten form and not subsequently printed, mimeographed or otherwise mechanically reproduced shall file in the State Library for general reference use at least one each of such typewritten reports] and other State publications of a general informational character, where such reports are printed and electronically produced, shall file with the New Jersey State Library for purposes of permanent public access and distribution one electronic copy and six printed copies. In cases where such reports are made in electronic form only, one electronic copy and one printed copy shall be submitted to the State Library for preservation and permanent reference use. State officers, departments, commissions. committees and agencies shall designate an individual to act as a liaison to the State Library.

(cf: P.L.1967, c.162, s.1)

7. R.S.52:14-21, 52:14-22, 52:14-25 and 52:14-25.2 are repealed.

8. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

The bill requires reports and publications that are produced by the State or its agencies and submitted to the Governor, the Legislature, or the public to be made available electronically on the Internet instead of being printed in hard copy. Under the bill, individuals who are unable to access reports or publications on the Internet may request a printed copy of the documents.

The bill provides that notice of the availability of the report or publication will be distributed to the Governor or the Legislature, as the case may be. In the case of reports and publications made available to the public, an electronic copy and a print copy will be submitted to the State Librarian. If such reports or publications are printed, six copies will be submitted to the State Librarian in addition to the one electronic copy.

These provisions of the bill would not apply to the publication and distribution of the New Jersey Administrative Code and the New Jersey Register.

The bill further provide that all State offices, departments, commissions, committees or agencies issuing annual reports or special reports required by law to be submitted to the Governor and the Legislature, and other State publications of a general informational character, where such reports are printed and electronically produced, must file with the New Jersey State Library for purposes of permanent public access and distribution one electronic copy and six printed copies. In cases where such reports are made in electronic form only, one electronic copy and one printed copy must be submitted to the State Library for preservation and permanent reference use. The bill also requires that State officers, departments, commissions, committees and agencies must designate an individual to act as a liaison with the State Library.

The bill repeals sections of current law that: 1) require State departments to submit print publications to the State Librarian for editing and printing; 2) provide for a free copy of every publication produced by the State to be distributed to each free library and each incorporated historical society in the State; 3) require that all official reports must be printed in the same compact style as the annual report of the State geologist for the year 1893, and 4) require the printing of all annual reports be completed in time to lay before the Legislature at its meeting in the January following the submission of such reports.