Bill > S1708

Introduced Session

The "Zero-Based Budget Act" requires the State Treasurer to develop and integrate certain zero-based budgeting practices and procedures in the preparation and submission of the Governor's annual budget message. Under the provisions of the bill, the State Treasurer, in consultation with the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting, is required to design and develop a zero-based budget process on or before July 1, 2011 for State fiscal years commencing on and after July 1, 2012. While the bill grants the Treasurer considerable latitude in creating a budget process tailored to meet the individual needs of various departments and divisions, bureaus and agencies within each branch of State government, the budget process developed in accordance with this bill requires State spending agencies to justify their request for appropriation or permission to spend, in whole or in part, utilizing the practices and procedures of a zero-based budget. As defined by the bill, a zero based-budget process is a process of budgeting in which a spending agency's request for appropriation or permission to spend is evaluated and justified, in whole or in part, based upon the cost-effective achievement of the tasks, goals, and objectives of a particular spending agency without regard to prior appropriations or spending permissions, adjusted for inflation or otherwise. To facilitate the evaluation and justification of each spending request, the bill stipulates that, at a minimum, State spending agencies must submit to the State Treasurer and the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting: (1) a statement outlining the goals and objectives intended to be accomplished as a result of the spending agency's request; (2) a statement delineating each of the various activities, programs, and services to be performed as a result of the request; (3) a compilation of the statutory and regulatory provisions which comprise the spending agency's legal authority, if any, to perform each activity, program, or service; (4) a description of the methodology and approach used to carry out each activity, program, or service; (5) an itemized estimate of spending required to maintain each activity, program, or service at its current level of performance, together with an evaluation of the quality and quantity of services provided; (6) a projected estimate of spending required to maintain each activity, program, or service at the minimum level of service required by statutory or regulatory authority, together with an evaluation of the quality and quantity of services required at that level; (7) a statement identifying each group, stakeholder, or community affected or intended to be affected by each activity, program, or service, and a quantitative estimate of any potential consequences that may result if the spending agency's activities, programs, and services are eliminated;(8) a statement detailing any other State, federal, or local units of government which administer a similar activity, program, or service and an outline describing the interaction, if any, among such departments and agencies; (9) a statement prioritizing by numerical ranking, the activities, programs, or services carried-out by a spending agency with respect to each activity's, program's, or service's capacity to fulfill the spending agency's stated goals and objectives during the current and ensuing fiscal years; and (10) any additional data or information deemed necessary or appropriate by the State Treasurer or the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting to justify a spending agency's request for appropriation or permission to spend. Under the bill, any zero-based budget data and information submitted as part of a spending agency's request for appropriations or permissions to spend is required to be incorporated into the final request transmitted to the Governor and submitted to the Legislature as part of the Governor's annual budget message. As part of the budget message, the zero-based budget data and information would become part of the public document and would be available to assist the Legislature and ultimately the residents of the State of New Jersey in reviewing and scrutinizing the Governor's spending plan for the ensuing fiscal year.

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Parker Space (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee (on 01/13/2026)

Official Document