Bill Text: NJ S169 | 2012-2013 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Establishes the "Study Commission on the Cost-Effectiveness of Contracting with Nonprofit Organizations."
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-10 - Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation Committee [S169 Detail]
Download: New_Jersey-2012-S169-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
215th LEGISLATURE
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2012 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Senator ROBERT W. SINGER
District 30 (Monmouth and Ocean)
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
SYNOPSIS
Establishes the "Study Commission on the Cost-Effectiveness of Contracting with Nonprofit Organizations."
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act establishing the "Study Commission on the Cost-Effectiveness of Contracting with Nonprofit Organizations."
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. A temporary commission to be known as the "Study Commission on the Cost-Effectiveness of Contracting with Nonprofit Organizations" is established. It shall be the duty of the commission to review and analyze the rules and procedures guiding the selection by the State of nonprofit organizations for the provision of services, and the use of State funds by nonprofit organizations. The commission shall also make recommendations intended to ensure that nonprofit organizations deliver services in a cost-effective manner to the State.
The review and analysis shall consider, but shall not be limited to, the rules and procedures governing the selection by the State of nonprofit organizations for the provision of services; the roles and the interplay of the State Treasurer and the contracting departments in selecting nonprofit organizations and in overseeing the execution of the contracts; the metrics a contracting State department uses to assess the efficiency, efficacy, and performance of a contracted nonprofit organization; the amounts each nonprofit organization received from the State in the two most recently completed fiscal years and the amounts they are projected to receive in the current fiscal year; the portion of the State funding that each nonprofit organization uses to defray its administrative and fundraising expenses; and the extent to which nonprofit organizations are duplicating services that the State or any other nonprofit organization acting on its behalf provides.
In conducting its business, the commission shall review each State department and agency separately and shall begin its review with the Department of Health and Senior Services.
2. The commission shall consist of seven voting members, to be appointed as follows: two members of the Senate to be appointed by the President of the Senate, one member of the majority party and one member of the minority party; two members of the General Assembly to be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, one member of the majority party and one member of the minority party; and three members to be appointed by the Governor. Any vacancy in the membership of the commission shall be filled in the same manner provided for the original appointments.
The members of the commission shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
The Office of Legislative Services shall provide the commission with staff and related support services. The commission shall also be entitled to avail itself of the assistance of the employees of any State department, board, bureau, commission or agency as it may require and as may be available to it for its purposes.
3. Members of the commission shall be appointed within 30 days after the effective date of this act, P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill), and shall hold their initial organizational meeting as soon as practicable, but no later than 30 days following the appointment of the commission's members. The Governor shall select a chairperson and vice-chairperson, who shall be of different political parties. The chairperson shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the commission.
4. The commission may meet and hold hearings at the places it designates throughout the State during the sessions or recesses of the Legislature. The commission shall meet at the call of the chairperson. A meeting of the commission shall be called upon the request of five of the commission's members, and the presence of five members of the commission shall constitute a quorum at any meeting thereof.
5. Within 180 days from the date of its organization, the commission shall submit its findings, along with any recommendations and legislative proposals it may make, in a final report to the Governor, and the Legislature pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1). The commission shall expire upon issuance of its final report.
6. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire upon the commission's issuance of its final report.
STATEMENT
This bill establishes the temporary seven-member "Study Commission on the Cost-Effectiveness of Contracting with Nonprofit Organizations," which will be composed of two Senators, two members of the General Assembly, and three appointees of the Governor.
The commission is to review and analyze the rules and procedures guiding the selection by the State of nonprofit organizations for the provision of services, and the use of State funds by nonprofit organizations. Focal points of the review will be the portion of the State funding that nonprofits use to defray their administrative and fundraising expenses, and the extent to which nonprofits duplicate services that the State or any other nonprofit organization acting on its behalf provides. The commission is also charged with making recommendations so as to ensure that nonprofits deliver services in a cost-effective manner to the State.
The commission will issue a final report with its findings and recommendations within 180 days from the date of its organization and will expire upon the final report's issuance.
Austere times call for a probing look at the efficacy and efficiency of all State spending. The amounts the State expends on the provision of services through nonprofit organizations cannot be exempt from such scrutiny, especially considering that recent news reports have exposed that executives of many nonprofits receive six-digit compensation packages and that some nonprofits spend a significant share of their budgets on fundraising activities. The large number of nonprofit providers of State services elicits additional concerns that some nonprofits are duplicating services provided by the State or other nonprofits acting on its behalf. For all these reasons it is appropriate for the State to ascertain whether it is cost-effective and defensible to rely on a flock of nonprofit organizations for the provision of services.
