Bill > S895

Introduced Session

This bill is being introduced in response to recent charges, indictments, and convictions of local public officials, including a Newark City councilman and deputy mayor, in which local officials were involved with important development, redevelopment, and housing projects. Despite a pattern of corruption in that city and elsewhere, the State has failed to exercise meaningful development oversight of local government officials whose development offices are in desperate need of improvement. This bill provides for State oversight and control of municipal development programs that experience incidents of corruption by certain public officials. The bill defines the term municipal development program to mean a municipal economic development, housing, or community development program, including but not limited to a program operated by a municipality, or by an authority or a nonprofit corporation, including programs operated by a housing authority, redeveloper, redevelopment agency, or redevelopment entity under the "Local Redevelopment and Housing Law," P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-1 et al.). The bill would empower the New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) to subject a municipal development program to EDA review and supervision if a municipal officer or program official is convicted of, or indicted or charged for, a crime or offense involving public corruption under federal or State law. The bill requires EDA to develop and promulgate rules and regulations to implement the provisions of the bill. Under the bill, the rules and regulations are required to: establish a reporting system through which the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey, the Division of Criminal Justice in the Department of Law and Public Safety, and each county prosecutor would annually be requested to notify EDA of an applicable charge, indictment, or conviction; provide for the selection and appointment of economic and community development monitors to oversee applicable municipal development programs; establish criteria governing the length and terms of EDA review, supervision, and control over a municipal development program. The bill specifies that: if EDA is notified of a single applicable conviction, indictment, or charge pertaining to a municipality, EDA may appoint an economic and community development monitor to oversee that municipality's municipal development programs for a period of three years from the date of the last conviction, indictment, or charge; and if EDA is notified of three or more applicable convictions, indictments, or charges pertaining to a municipality within a three-year period, EDA is required to immediately appoint an economic and community development monitor to oversee that municipality's municipal development programs for a period of three years from the date of the last conviction, indictment, or charge. The bill authorizes the chief executive officer of the EDA to implement the requirements of the bill without securing approval of the authority.

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Mike Testa (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document