Bill > S3286

Introduced Session

This bill amends the "Agriculture Retention and Development Act" by creating alternate members on County Agriculture Development Boards (CADB) who are able to vote in the absence or disqualification of a voting member, enabling a CADB to increasingly reach quorum and help reduce or eliminate the conflict of interest between members, and allowing a CADB to move forward with its duties. This bill would require each CADB to have two alternate members, one of whom represents the general public and one of whom is actively engaged in farming. These alternate members would each serve for a term of four years and may vote in place of an appointed voting member of their respective appointment background, should a voting member be absent or disqualified. The alternate voting member may participate in discussions of the proceedings when not voting. The alternate member with a farming background would be appointed in the same manner as the four members actively engaged in farming, and the alternate member representing the general public would be appointed in the same manner as the three members representing the general public. The agricultural community in New Jersey is relatively small in comparison to the State's population and, as such, conflicts of interest often arise among CADB members, thereby impacting the ability of a CADB to obtain a quorum and inhibiting the ability of the CADB to continue the mission and work assigned to it by the "Agricultural Retention and Development Act."

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Robert Andrews (D)*,  Jeff Van Drew (R)*, 

Introduced in the Senate, Referred to Senate Economic Growth Committee (on 06/12/2017)