Sponsored by:
Assemblyman JOSEPH R. MALONE, III
District 30 (Burlington, Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean)
Assemblyman DECLAN J. O'SCANLON, JR.
District 12 (Mercer and Monmouth)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Addiego
SYNOPSIS
Freezes expenditures by public entities on salaries and benefits for period of three years and limits such expenditures thereafter.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act freezing expenditures by public entities on salaries and benefits for a period of three years and limiting such expenditures thereafter and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law to the contrary, the amount expended by a public entity on employee salaries and benefits in the three fiscal years following the effective date of this act shall not be increased above the amount provided for salaries and benefits in the budget for the fiscal year during which this act takes effect. Thereafter, the amount expended by a public entity on employee salaries and benefits shall not increase in any fiscal year above the preceding year’s level by more than the CPI.
For the purposes of this section, employee salaries and benefits shall include any expenditure for the purpose of hiring a contractor to perform any duty previously performed by an employee of the public entity.
Nothing contained in this section shall be construed in a manner that impairs the obligation of any public entity under a collective negotiations agreement or an individual contract of employment that is in effect on the effective date of this act, except that such obligations shall not constitute an exception to the requirements of this section limiting overall increases in expenditures on employee salaries and benefits.
As used in this section,
“CPI” means the increase, expressed as a decimal, in the average annualized consumer price index for the New York City and Philadelphia areas during the preceding fiscal year relative to the previous fiscal year as reported by the United States Department of Labor; and
“public entity” means any of the principal departments in the Executive Branch of State government, and any division, board, bureau, office, commission or other instrumentality within or created by such department; the Legislative Branch, and any office, board, bureau or commission within or created by the Legislative Branch; the Judicial Branch and any office, board, bureau or commission within or created by the Judicial Branch; any independent authority, commission, instrumentality or agency of the State; any public institution of higher education; any interstate agency to which New Jersey is a party to the extent permitted by law; a county, municipality or school district, and any board, authority, commission or other instrumentality created by one or more counties, municipalities or school districts; and any other State or local public body or quasi-public body the creation of which is authorized or directed by statute.
2. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill would freeze expenditures on employee salaries and benefits by public entities at all levels of government for a period of three years and allow subsequent increases only to the extent that those increases do not exceed any increase in the CPI (consumer price index). In order to prevent a public entity from compensating for the freeze on salary and benefit increases by “contracting out”, employee salaries and benefits will be deemed to include any expenditure for the purpose of hiring a contractor to perform any duty previously performed by an employee of the public entity. The bill provides that it will not be construed in a manner that impairs the obligation of any public entity under a collective negotiations agreement or an individual contract of employment that is in effect on the bill’s effective date, except that such obligations will not constitute an exception to the requirements of this section limiting overall increases in expenditures on employee salaries and benefits.