New Jersey SCR 44: Proposes constitutional amendment to broaden powers of the Council on Local Mandates.

Bill Text

SCR44 

SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 44 

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

� 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Senator PARKER SPACE

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

SYNOPSIS

���� Proposes constitutional amendment to broaden powers 
of the Council on Local Mandates.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT 

���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative 
Counsel.

�� 

A 
Concurrent Resolution proposing to amend Article VIII, Section II, 
paragraph 5 of the Constitution of the State of New Jersey.

���� Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New 
 Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):

���� 1.��� The following proposed 
amendment to the Constitution of the State of New Jersey is agreed to:

PROPOSED 
AMENDMENT

���� Amend Article VIII, Section 
II, paragraph 5 as follows:

���� 5.��� (a)� With respect to any 
provision of a law enacted on and after January 17, 1996, and with respect to 
any rule or regulation issued pursuant to a law originally adopted after July 
1, 1996, and except as otherwise provided herein, any provision of such law, or 
of such rule or regulation issued pursuant to a law, which is determined in 
accordance with this paragraph to be an unfunded mandate upon boards of 
education, counties, or municipalities because it does not authorize resources, 
other than the property tax, to offset the additional direct expenditures 
required for the implementation of the law or rule or regulation, shall, upon 
such determination cease to be mandatory in its effect and expire.� A law or 
rule or regulation issued pursuant to a law that is determined to be an 
unfunded mandate shall not be considered to establish a standard of care for 
the purpose of civil liability.

���� (b)� The Legislature shall 
create by law a Council on Local Mandates.� The Council shall resolve any 
dispute regarding whether a law or rule or regulation issued pursuant to a law 
constitutes an unfunded mandate and may, without regard to any dispute, 
undertake a review of existing laws, rules and regulations for the purpose of 
making recommendations to the Legislature concerning which unfunded mandates 
can be eliminated or modified.� The Council may also review bills pending 
before the Legislature to identify for the Legislature bills that would 
constitute unfunded mandates if enacted.� The Council shall consist of nine 
public members appointed as follows:� four members to be appointed by the 
Governor; one member to be appointed by the President of the Senate; one member 
to be appointed by the Speaker of the General Assembly; one member to be 
appointed by the minority leader of the Senate; one member to be appointed by 
the minority leader of the General Assembly; and one member to be appointed by 
the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.� Of the members appointed by 
the Governor, at least two shall be appointed from a list of six willing 
nominees submitted by the chairman of the political party whose candidate for 
Governor received the second largest number of votes at the most recent 
gubernatorial general election.� The decisions of the Council shall be 
political and not judicial determinations.

���� (c)�� Notwithstanding anything 
in this paragraph to the contrary, the following categories of laws or rules or 
regulations issued pursuant to a law, shall not be considered unfunded 
mandates: 

���� (1)� those which are required 
to comply with federal laws or rules or to meet eligibility standards for 
federal entitlements; 

���� (2)� those which are imposed 
on both government and non-government entities in the same or substantially 
similar circumstances;

���� (3)� those which repeal, 
revise or ease an existing requirement or mandate or which reapportion the 
costs of activities between boards of education, counties, and municipalities;

���� (4)� those which stem from 
failure to comply with previously enacted laws or rules or regulations issued 
pursuant to a law;

���� (5)� those which implement the 
provisions of this Constitution; and 

���� (6)� laws which are enacted 
after a public hearing, held after public notice that unfunded mandates will be 
considered, for which a fiscal analysis is available at the time of the public 
hearing and which, in addition to complying with all other constitutional 
requirements with regard to the enactment of laws, are passed by 3/4 
affirmative vote of the members of each House of the Legislature.

(cf:� Article VIII, Section II, 
paragraph 5 added effective December 7, 1995)

���� 2.��� When this proposed 
amendment to the Constitution is finally agreed to pursuant to Article IX, 
paragraph 1 of the Constitution, it shall be submitted to the people at the 
next general election occurring more than three months after the final 
agreement and shall be published at least once in at least one newspaper of 
each county designated by the President of the Senate, the Speaker of the 
General Assembly and