New Jersey S 162: Requires certification that persons directly or indirectly receiving State monies or privileges are not unauthorized aliens.

Bill Text

SENATE, No. 162  
 
STATE OF NEW JERSEY 
220th LEGISLATURE 
   
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2022 SESSION 
 
 
Sponsored by: 
Senator  CHRISTOPHER J. CONNORS 
District 9 (Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean) 
 
 
 
 
SYNOPSIS 
 Requires  certification  that  persons  directly  or  indirectly  receiving  State 
monies or privileges are not unauthorized aliens.  
 
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT  
 Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel. 
    

 
S162 CONNORS 
2 
 
 
AN ACT requiring   certain   certification   to   verify   employment 1 
eligibility   of   individuals   and   supplementing  Title  52   of   the 2 
Revised Statutes. 3 
 4 
 BE IT ENACTED by the Senate and General Assembly of the State 5 
of New Jersey: 6 
 7 
 1. a.  The Legislature finds and declares that the privileges and 8 
benefits  of  residing  or  working  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey  are 9 
reserved  for  citizens  of  the  United  States  and  those  persons  whose 10 
presence  in  the United  States  is  authorized  by  federal  law  and  that 11 
the   State   government   should   make   an   effort   to   ensure   that 12 
unauthorized  aliens  do  not  receive  any  privileges  and  benefits 13 
accorded by the State government. 14 
 b. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to the contrary, 15 
no  person  shall  receive  from  the  State  of  New  Jersey  a  contract, 16 
loan, tax deferral, tax reduction, tax abatement, grant, subsidy, loan 17 
guarantee,  certification,  or  license  unless  that  person  shall  certify 18 
that the person’s presence in the  United  States  is  authorized  under 19 
federal  law,  or  if  the  person  is  an  employer,  that  the  person  has 20 
made  a  good  faith  effort  to  verify  all  employees’  eligibility  for 21 
employment in the United States in compliance with federal law. 22 
 The  Department  of  Labor shall  prepare  and  make  available  to 23 
every   principal   department   in   the   Executive   Branch   of   State 24 
government  and  any  division,  board,  bureau,  office,  commission  or 25 
other  instrumentality  within  or  created  by  a  principal  department 26 
and any independent State authority, commission, instrumentality or 27 
agency  a  form  that  shall  state  that  the  signatory  as  an  individual 28 
certifies  that  the  signatory’s  presence  in  the  United  States  is 29 
authorized  under  federal  law  and  in  the  case  of  a  signatory  who 30 
shall  receive  from  the  State  monies,  licensure  or  any  other  benefit 31 
as  an  employer,  that  the  signatory  certifies  that  a  good  faith  effort 32 
has  been  made  to  verify
 
all employees’ eligibility for employment 33 
in the United States in compliance with federal law.  The form shall 34 
contain the following statement: 35 
 “I certify that all the above statements are true, that I am 36 
aware that State law provides a penalty for written statements 37 
that  are  knowingly  and  willfully  false  and  that  the  State  of 38 
New  Jersey  reserves  the  right  to  terminate,  cancel,  rescind  or 39 
revoke  any  privilege  or  benefit  granted  by  the  State  based 40 
upon   the   above   statements   should   any   of   them   prove 41 
knowingly and willfully false.” 42 
 The  Department  of  Labor  shall  append  a  notice  to  the  form 43 
stating  that  every  principal  department,  and  every  division,  board, 44 
bureau,   office,   commission   or   other   instrumentality   within   or 45 
created  by  a  principal  department,  and  every  independent  State 46 
authority,  commission,  instrumentality  or  agency  shall  make  every 47 
effort  to  incorporate  the  language  of  the  form  into  each  contract; 48 

 
S162 CONNORS 
3 
 
 
loan  application;  tax  deferral,  reduction,  or  abatement  application; 1 
or  application  for  a  grant,  subsidy,  loan  guarantee,  certification,  or 2 
license.   It   is   the   intent   of   the   Legislature   to   incorporate   the 3 
certification requirements    of    this    section    into    the    existing 4 
procedures   of   each   agency   rather   than   to   establish   a   separate 5 
certification filing system. 6 
 Notwithstanding   any   other  provisions  of  this   section   to  the 7 
contrary,  nothing  in  this  section  shall  be  construed  to  prohibit  any 8 
agency from exhausting existing stocks of applications or forms. 9 
 10 
 2. This act shall take effect immediately. 11 
 12 
 13 
STATEMENT 14 
 15 
 This bill provides that no person will receive a contract, loan, tax 16 
deferral,   tax   reduction,   tax   abatement,   grant, subsidy,   loan 17 
guarantee, certification, or license from the State unless that person 18 
has   certified   that   his  or   her   presence   in  the   United   States   is 19 
authorized  under  federal  law;  or  if  the  person  is  an  employer 20 
receiving monies, licensure or any other benefit from the State, tha