S2793

An Act concerning the membership of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and amending P.L.1966, c.214.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. Section 1 of P.L.1966, c.214 (C.52:16A-25) is amended to read as follows:

1. There is hereby established in the Department of State the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, to be referred to hereinafter as the council.

a. The council shall consist of [17] 21 public members, to be appointed by the Governor with the advice and consent of the Senate from among [citizens] residents of New Jersey [or persons otherwise associated with the State], who are known for their competence and experience in connection with the performing, visual and creative arts. A public member appointed or reappointed on or after the effective date of P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be a resident of one of the counties of this State of which no other public member of the council is a resident.

b. There shall be three nonvoting, ex officio members of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, in addition to the [17] 21 public members.

(1) The Secretary of State or his designee shall serve as a nonvoting, ex officio member for a term coextensive with the secretary's term of office or until such time as the Secretary of State appoints another designee, whichever occurs first.

(2) One member of the Senate, appointed by the President of the Senate, and one member of the General Assembly, appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly, shall be appointed as nonvoting, ex officio members of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, not both of the same political party. Both Senate and General Assembly nonvoting, ex officio members shall be designated members to the National Conference of State Legislatures' Committee on the Arts. The legislative members shall serve for terms coextensive with the legislative terms for which they were elected, subject to reappointment after the expiration of the legislative year.

c. The term of office of each member shall be three years, except that the present 15 members of the council shall continue in office for the terms to which they were appointed; provided that the two additional public members first appointed under this amendatory and supplementary act shall be appointed for initial terms ending on December 12, 1984, and provided that two of the four additional public members first appointed under P.L. , c. (pending before the Legislature as this bill) shall be appointed for initial terms ending December 12, 2018 and two shall be appointed for initial terms ending December 12, 2019.

All vacancies shall be filled for the balance of the unexpired term only, in the same manner as original appointments. The members of the council shall not receive any compensation for their services, but shall be reimbursed for their actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their duties as members of the council. The non-voting, ex officio members shall not receive any compensation for services or reimbursement for expenses.

(cf: P.L.1983, c.42, s.2)

2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

This bill increases from 17 to 21 the number of public members serving on the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, and requires that each public member of the council reside in one of the State’s 21 counties, but not in a county in which another public member of the council is a resident. The residency requirement will result in each county of the State having a resident on the council to represent its interests when and as appropriate. The residency requirement is imposed only on public members appointed or reappointed after the bill’s effective date; public members serving on the council as of the bill’s effective date would continue to serve without having to meet the residency requirement.