Bill > A4726

Introduced Session

This bill requires publicly held domestic and foreign corporations based in New Jersey to appoint women to their boards of directors, in order to increase gender diversity in corporate governing roles. Research indicates that women serving on boards of directors of publicly held corporations will boost the economy, improve opportunities for women in the workplace, and improve the performance and protect the value of corporations for shareholders and stockholders, including retirees. Under the bill, a publicly held domestic or foreign corporation whose principal executive office is located in this State would be required to have a minimum of one female director on its board by December 31, 2019. Additionally, by December 31, 2021 a publicly held domestic or foreign corporation located in this State would be required to have a minimum of: one female director if the corporation has four or fewer directors; two female directors if the corporation has five directors; and at least three female directors if the corporation has six or more directors. To determine compliance with this requirement, the bill requires a corporation to file with the Secretary of State a list of all of its directors and their terms of service and identify the number of directors that are female. The bill provides that a corporation that violates the bill is subject to the following penalties: $100,000 for a first violation and $300,000 for a subsequent violation for each director seat required to be held by a female which is not held by a female during at least a portion of a calendar year; and $100,000 for failure to file board member information with the Secretary of State in a timely manner. Any fine collected would be used by the Secretary of State to offset the cost of administering the bill's provisions. Additionally, the bill requires the Secretary of State to report, by July 1, 2019, the number of publicly held domestic and foreign corporations in this State and the number of female directors on each corporation's board. By March 1, 2020, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of State would report: (1) a list of corporations subject to, and in compliance with, the requirements of this bill; (2) the number of publicly held domestic and foreign corporations that moved their United States headquarters to New Jersey from another state or from New Jersey to another state; and (3) the number of corporations that were subject to the bill's provisions during the preceding year, but are no longer publicly traded. This bill is similar to a California law to increase the gender diversity of corporate leadership, by requiring California-based publicly held corporations to appoint women to their boards of directors. Other countries have also addressed the lack of gender diversity on corporate boards by instituting quotas mandating 30 to 40 percent of seats to be held by women directors, including in Norway, which since 2003 requires 40 percent female representation on corporate boards, and many other European nations, such as France, Germany, Iceland, the Netherlands, and Spain.

AI Summary

Committee Categories

Angela Mcknight (D)*,  Nancy Pinkin (D)*,  Verlina Reynolds-Jackson (D)*,  Linda Carter (D),  Herbert Conaway (D),  Joe Danielsen (D),  Mila Jasey (D),  Jim Kennedy (D),  Yvonne Lopez (D),  John McKeon (D),  Raj Mukherji (D),  Eliana Pintor Marin (D),  Shavonda Sumter (D),  Lisa Swain (D),  Cleopatra Tucker (D),  Chris Tully (D),  Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D),  Andrew Zwicker (D), 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Women and Children Committee (on 11/26/2018)