ASSEMBLY, No. 4512
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
217th LEGISLATURE
INTRODUCED JANUARY 19, 2017
Sponsored by:
Assemblyman WAYNE P. DEANGELO
District 14 (Mercer and Middlesex)
Assemblyman ERIC HOUGHTALING
District 11 (Monmouth)
Assemblyman ANDREW ZWICKER
District 16 (Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex and Somerset)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman Mosquera, Assemblyman Webber, Assemblywoman Downey and Assemblyman Eustace
SYNOPSIS
Requires DCA to verify income of low-income home energy assistance benefit applicants.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As reported by the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee on May 11, 2017, with amendments.
An Act requiring income verification for low-income home energy assistance benefits and supplementing chapter 27D of Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. a. The Department of Community Affairs shall verify that applicants for benefits under the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, established by 42 U.S.C. s.8621 et seq., meet the applicable income requirements prior to awarding benefits under the program, using appropriate data supplied by the Department of Labor and Workforce Development and the Division of Taxation in the Department of the Treasury.
b. The requirements of subsection a. of this section may be satisfied by verifying the income of a portion of all applicants for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program benefits on a random or risk basis; provided, however, that the 1[department] Department of Community Affairs1 shall 1[verify the] conduct an1 income 1verification review1 of each applicant claiming to have no income.
c. 1The Department of Community Affairs may utilize a third-party commercial consumer reporting agency, in accordance with the federal “Fair Credit Reporting Act,” 15 U.S.C. s.1681 et seq., for the purpose of acquiring an applicant’s necessary income information, required pursuant to subsection a. of this section.
d.1 The Commissioner of Community Affairs, in consultation with the Commissioner of Labor and Workforce Development and the Director of the Division of Taxation, shall promulgate rules and regulations, pursuant to the "Administrative Procedure Act," P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), in order to effectuate the provisions of this section.
2. This act shall take effect on the first day of the third month next following enactment, except the commissioner may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.