Bill > A3213

Introduced Session

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.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Aura Dunn (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly State and Local Government Committee (on 01/09/2024)

Official Document