S3698

An Act concerning requests for sentence pardons, commutations, and reprieves, amending P.L.1971, c.183, and supplementing Title 2A of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

1. (New section) a. Any person seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve of a sentence on behalf of another person, who is not a governmental affairs agent under subsection g. of section 3 of P.L.1971, c.183 (C.52:13C-20), shall, prior to any communication regarding such pardon, commutation, or reprieve of a sentence with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor’s staff, or an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch, file a signed registration form with the Office of the Governor in such detail as the office may prescribe, which registration form shall contain, at a minimum, the following information:

(1) the name, business, employer, or personal address, if applicable, and regular occupation of the registrant;

(2) the name of the person on whose behalf the registrant is seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve and the registrant’s relation to that person;

(3) whether the registrant is receiving any compensation from any other person or entity to seek the pardon, commutation, or reprieve and, if so, the name, business, employer, or personal address, and occupation of the person providing such compensation, and the amount of such compensation; and

(4) whether the registrant has made a contribution to the campaign of the Governor the request for the pardon, commutation, or reprieve is addressed to and, if so, the date and amount of the contribution.

b. (1) Any person seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve of a sentence on behalf of another person, who meets the definition of a governmental affairs agent under subsection g. of section 3 of P.L.1971, c.183 (C.52:13C-20), shall, prior to any communication with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor’s staff, or an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch regarding such pardon, commutation, or reprieve, be registered as a governmental affairs agent and shall be subject to all provisions of the “Legislative and Governmental Process Activities Disclosure Act,” P.L.1971, c.183 (C.52:13C-18 et seq.).

(2) Any registrant under subsection a. of this section who indicates that the registrant is receiving any compensation from any other person or entity to seek the pardon, commutation, or reprieve, shall be required to register as a governmental affairs agent if the amount of such compensation is sufficient to require the registrant to register as a governmental affairs agent pursuant to subsection g. of section 3 of P.L.1971, c.183 (C.52:13C-20).

c. The Office of the Governor shall compile and publish quarterly a list of all persons registered under subsection a. of this section, and of all governmental affairs agents under subsection b. of this section filing a notice of representation pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1971, c.183 (C.52:13C-21), together with the information contained in their registrations, the information contained in their notices of representation, and the information contained in their last quarterly report, as appropriate, which list shall be distributed to all members of the Legislature, and published in the New Jersey Register.

d. The Office of the Governor shall develop forms, instructions, and guidelines to govern the content of any information required to be disclosed under this section and shall take such steps as are reasonably necessary to ensure that all such information is, in accordance with those forms, instructions, and guidelines, both accurate and complete.

e. Notwithstanding any provision of any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, the requirements of this section shall not apply to any attorney or employee of the Office of the Public Defender acting within the scope of official duties on behalf of a client represented by the Office of the Public Defender in any open criminal or post-conviction matter. Such attorney or employee may communicate with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor’s staff, or an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch concerning a pardon, commutation, or reprieve without registration.

2. Section 3 of P.L.1971, c.183 (C.52:13C-20) is amended to read as follows:

3. For the purposes of this act, as amended and supplemented, unless the context clearly requires a different meaning:

a. The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, and any other organization or group of persons.

b. The term "legislation" includes all bills, resolutions, amendments, nominations and appointments pending or proposed in either House of the Legislature, and all bills and resolutions which, having passed both Houses, are pending approval by the Governor.

c. The term "Legislature" includes the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey and all committees and commissions established by the Legislature or by either House thereof.

d. The term "lobbyist" means any person, partnership, committee, association, corporation, labor union or any other organization that employs, engages or otherwise uses the services of any governmental affairs agent to influence legislation, regulation or governmental processes.

e. (1) The term "Governor" includes the Governor or the Acting Governor; and

(2) the term "Lieutenant Governor" means the person elected to that office, or appointed to fill a vacancy therein, pursuant to Article V, Section I of the New Jersey Constitution.

f. The term "communication with a member of the Legislature", "with legislative staff," "with the Governor," "with the Lieutenant Governor," "with the Governor's staff," or "with an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch" means any communication, oral or in writing or any other medium, addressed, delivered, distributed or disseminated, respectively, to a member of the Legislature, to legislative staff, to the Governor, to the Lieutenant Governor, to the Governor's staff, or to an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch, as distinguished from communication to the general public including but not limited to a member of the Legislature, legislative staff, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor's staff, or an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch. If any person shall obtain, reproduce or excerpt any communication or part thereof which in its original form was not a communication under this subsection and shall cause such excerpt or reproduction to be addressed, delivered, distributed or disseminated to a member of the Legislature, to legislative staff, to the Governor, to the Lieutenant Governor, to the Governor's staff, or to an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch, such communication, reproduction or excerpt shall be deemed a communication with the member of the Legislature, with legislative staff, with the Governor, with the Lieutenant Governor, with the Governor's staff, or with an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch by such person. The term communication “with the Governor,” “with the Lieutenant Governor,” “with the Governor’s staff,” or “with an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch” shall also mean and include any communication concerning the granting of pardons, commutations, or reprieves by the Governor.

g. The term "governmental affairs agent" means any person who receives or agrees to receive, directly or indirectly, compensation, in money or anything of value including reimbursement of his expenses where such reimbursement exceeds $100.00 in any three-month period, to influence legislation, to influence regulation or to influence governmental processes, or all of the above, by direct or indirect communication with, or by making or authorizing, or causing to be made or authorized, any expenditures providing a benefit to, a member of the Legislature, legislative staff, the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor's staff, or any officer or staff member of the Executive Branch, or who holds himself out as engaging in the business of influencing legislation, regulation or governmental processes, by such means, or who incident to his regular employment engages in influencing legislation, regulation or governmental processes, by such means; provided, however, that a person shall not be deemed a governmental affairs agent who, in relation to the duties or interests of his employment or at the request or suggestion of his employer, communicates with a member of the Legislature, with legislative staff, with the Governor, with the Lieutenant Governor, with the Governor's staff, or with an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch concerning any legislation, regulation or governmental process, if such communication is an isolated, exceptional or infrequent activity in relation to the usual duties of his employment.

h. The term "influence legislation" means to make any attempt, whether successful or not, to secure or prevent the initiation of any legislation, or to secure or prevent the passage, defeat, amendment or modification thereof by the Legislature, or the approval, amendment or disapproval thereof by the Governor in accordance with his constitutional authority.

i. The term "statement" includes a notice of representation or a report required by this act, as amended and supplemented.

j. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1991, c.243).

k. The term "member of the Legislature" includes any member or member-elect of, or any person who shall have been selected to fill a vacancy in, the Senate or General Assembly, and any other person who is a member or member-designate of any committee or commission established by the Legislature or by either House thereof.

l. The term "legislative staff" includes all staff, assistants and employees of the Legislature or any of its members in the member's official capacity, whether or not they receive compensation from the State of New Jersey.

m. The term "Governor's staff" includes the members of the Governor's Cabinet, the Secretary to the Governor, the Counsel to the Governor and all professional employees in the office of the Counsel to the Governor, and all other employees of the Office of the Governor, including employees of that office who may be assigned by the Governor to assist the Lieutenant Governor.

n. The term "officer or staff member of the Executive Branch" means any assistant or deputy head of a principal department in the Executive Branch of State Government, including all assistant and deputy commissioners; the members and chief executive officer of any authority, board, commission or other agency or instrumentality in or of such a principal department; and any officer of the Executive Branch of State Government other than the Governor who is not included among the foregoing or among the Governor's staff, but including the Lieutenant Governor when the Lieutenant Governor has been appointed by the Governor to serve in any of the foregoing positions, but who is empowered by law to issue, promulgate or adopt administrative rules and regulations or to administer governmental processes, and any person employed in the office of such an officer who is involved with the development, issuance, promulgation or adoption of such rules and regulations or administration of governmental processes in the regular course of employment.

o. The term "regulation" includes any administrative rule or regulation affecting the rights, privileges, benefits, duties, obligations, or liabilities of any one or more persons subject by law to regulation as a class, but does not include an administrative action (1) to issue, renew or deny, or, in an adjudicative action, to suspend or revoke, a license, order, permit or waiver under any law or administrative rule or regulation, (2) to impose a penalty, or (3) to effectuate an administrative reorganization within a single principal department of the Executive Branch of State Government.

p. The term "influence regulation" means to make any attempt, whether successful or not, to secure or prevent the proposal of any regulation or to secure or prevent the consideration, amendment, issuance, promulgation, adoption or rejection thereof by an officer or any authority, board, commission or other agency or instrumentality in or of a principal department of the Executive Branch of State Government empowered by law to issue, promulgate or adopt administrative rules and regulations.

q. The term "expenditures providing a benefit" or "expenditures providing benefits" means any expenditures for entertainment, food and beverage, travel and lodging, honoraria, loans, gifts or any other thing of value, except for (1) any money or thing of value paid for past, present, or future services in regular employment, whether in the form of a fee, expense, allowance, forbearance, forgiveness, interest, dividend, royalty, rent, capital gain, or any other form of recompense, or any combination thereof, or (2) any dividends or other income paid on investments, trusts, and estates.

r. The term "commission" means the Election Law Enforcement Commission established pursuant to section 5 of P.L.1973, c.83 (C.19:44A-5).

s. The term "communication with the general public" means any communication:

(1) disseminated to the general public through direct mail or in the form of a paid advertisement in a newspaper, magazine, or other printed publication of general circulation or aired on radio, television, or other broadcast medium, and

(2) which explicitly supports or opposes a particular item or items of legislation or regulation, or the content of which can reasonably be understood, irrespective of whether the communication is addressed to the general public or to persons in public office or employment, as intended to influence legislation or to influence regulation.

t. The terms "influence governmental processes", "influencing governmental processes" or "influence governmental process" means to make any attempt, whether successful or not, to assist a represented entity or group to engage in communication with, or to secure information from, an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch, or any authority, board, commission or other agency or instrumentality in or of a principal department of the Executive Branch of State Government, empowered by law to administer a governmental process or perform other functions that relate to such processes.

u. The term "governmental process" means:

promulgation of executive orders;

rate setting;

development, negotiation, award, modification or cancellation of public contracts;

issuance, denial, modification, renewal, revocation or suspension of permits, licenses or waivers;

procedures for bidding;

imposition or modification of fines and penalties;

procedures for purchasing;

rendition of administrative determinations; [and]

award, denial, modification, renewal or termination of financial assistance, grants and loans; and

grants of pardons, commutations, or reprieves by the Governor.

v. The term "public contract" means a contract the cost or price of which is to be paid with or out of State funds or the funds of an independent authority created by the State or by the Legislature.

(cf: P.L.2009, c.66, s.37)

3. This act shall take effect 60 days after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

This bill requires registration for certain persons requesting a pardon, commutation, or reprieve of a sentence for an individual.

Under the bill, any person seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve of a sentence on behalf of another person, who is not a governmental affairs agent under the “Legislative and Governmental Process Activities Disclosure Act,” will be required to file a signed registration form with the Office of the Governor. The form will be required to be filed prior to any communication with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor’s staff, or an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch regarding such pardon, commutation, or reprieve of a sentence. Attorneys or employees of the Office of the Public Defender acting within the scope of official duties on behalf of a client represented by the Office of the Public Defender in any open criminal or post-conviction matter will not be required to register under the bill.

Under the bill, the following information is required on the registration form, in addition to any other information the Office of the Governor may request:

(1) the name, business, employer, or personal address, if applicable, and regular occupation of the registrant;

(2) the name of the person on whose behalf the registrant is seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve and the registrant’s relation to that person;

(3) whether the registrant is receiving any compensation from any other person or entity to seek the pardon, commutation, or reprieve and, if so, the name, business, employer, or personal address, and occupation of the person providing the compensation, and the amount of the compensation; and

Under the bill, any person seeking a pardon, commutation, or reprieve of a sentence on behalf of another person, who meets the definition of a governmental affairs agent under the “Legislative and Governmental Process Activities Disclosure Act,” will be required to be registered as a governmental affairs agent prior to any communication with the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Governor’s staff, or an officer or staff member of the Executive Branch, and will be subject to all provisions of that law.

Any registrant who indicates that the registrant is receiving any compensation from any other person or entity to seek the pardon, commutation, or reprieve, will be required to register as a governmental affairs agent if the amount of the compensation meets the definition of governmental affairs agent in the “Legislative and Governmental Process Activities Disclosure Act.”

The bill directs the Governor’s Office to compile and publish quarterly a list of all registrants and governmental affairs agents then registered as required by the bill. The list will include the information contained in their registrations, notices of representation, and last quarterly report. The list will be distributed to all members of the Legislature and published in the New Jersey Register.

This bill additionally requires persons who are registered governmental affairs agents under the “Legislative and Governmental Process Activities Disclosure Act” to report on activity related to pardons, commutations, or reprieves of sentences as part of the required reporting regarding the influence of governmental process.