Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman LINDA R. GREENSTEIN
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblywoman BONNIE WATSON COLEMAN
District 15 (Mercer)
Assemblywoman PAMELA R. LAMPITT
District 6 (Camden)
Assemblywoman VALERIE VAINIERI HUTTLE
District 37 (Bergen)
Assemblyman HERB CONAWAY, JR.
District 7 (Burlington and Camden)
Assemblyman DANIEL R. BENSON
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblymen Fuentes, Ramos, Coughlin, Milam, Caputo, Johnson, Assemblywoman Quijano, Assemblyman Schaer, Assemblywoman Riley, Assemblyman Greenwald, Assemblywomen Pou, Voss, Spencer, Assemblymen Wisniewski, Chivukula, Giblin, Burzichelli, Assemblywomen Quigley, Wagner, Assemblymen Conners, Diegnan, Senators Greenstein, Beach, Whelan, Gordon and Norcross
SYNOPSIS
Requires State Treasurer to create uniform application form for use by small businesses to apply for certain State financial assistance programs.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act concerning the creation of a uniform application form for small businesses’ eligibility for financial assistance and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
“Department” means the Department of the Treasury.
“Financial assistance program” or “program” means any program offered by a State agency to a small business that allows a small business to be deemed eligible to receive a grant or loan of monies pursuant to State law.
"Small business” or “business” means a business entity that employs not more than 50 full-time employees or the equivalent thereof and qualifies as a small business concern within the meaning of the federal "Small Business Act," Pub.L. 85-536 (15 U.S.C. s.631 et seq.).
“State agency” 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 principal department, and any independent State authority, commission, instrumentality, or agency.
2. The department shall, in consultation with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, create, modify, update, and maintain a uniform application form for the purpose of allowing a small business to apply for eligibility under any financial assistance program offered to any small business by any State agency in a manner that shall be used by every State agency when considering a small business’s eligibility to receive any grant or loan administered by any State agency. The application form shall be created, modified, updated, and maintained in a manner that requires a small business to provide the business’s basic operational and financial information on the form while enabling the small business to apply under more than one program and reducing any redundancies and duplication of effort by those businesses seeking to apply for eligibility to any such financial assistance program.
3. The department shall adopt, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), rules and regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act which shall allow the department to require a small business to provide a minimum amount of basic operational and financial information about the business on the application form and any additional information as deemed necessary by the department.
4. This act shall take effect immediately.
STATEMENT
This bill requires the Department of the Treasury (“department”), in consultation with the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, to create, modify, update, and maintain a uniform application form for the purpose of allowing a small business to apply for eligibility under any financial assistance program offered to any small business by any State agency pursuant to State law in a manner that shall be used by every State agency when considering a small business’s eligibility for any grant or loan administered by any State agency. The application form shall be created, modified, updated, and maintained in a manner that requires a small business to provide the business’s basic operational and financial information on the form while enabling the business to apply under more than one program and reducing any redundancies and duplication of effort by those businesses seeking to apply for eligibility to any program. The bill allows the department to require a small business to provide a minimum amount of basic operational and financial information about the business on the application form and any additional information as deemed necessary by the department.
In creating a “universal” application form for small businesses to apply for eligibility under State financial assistance programs, the bill eliminates a sometimes time-consuming duplicative process those small businesses face when required to complete individual applications for each State financial assistance program that often requires the same information about the small business.