Will 2015 be The Year for Pay-to-Play Reform in New Jersey?

New Jersey’s pay-to-play laws have been described as a “dizzyingly complex array of statutes, ordinances and executive orders.” New Jersey currently has different laws in effect that apply to State government contracts, State redevelopment agreements, county, municipal and legislative contracts, Board of Education contracts (where Boards of Education are receiving state aid) and a statewide disclosure law that applies on both a pre-contract and annual basis. This list of laws also does not include the hundreds of local ordinances that are currently in effect at the municipal and county levels of government in New Jersey, nor does it include municipal redevelopment ordinances, (which may regulate political activity by redevelopers and their consultants) and land use ordinances (which may cover those seeking land use approvals in connection with development projects). Although ELEC has been pushing for reform for years, with the recent Atlantic County pay-to-play decision, 2015 may just be the year that existing laws are streamlined to eliminate the multifarious patchwork of ordinances, which currently vary from locality to locality. Until that time, however, government contractors need to stay on top of the varying (and sometimes conflicting) labyrinth of laws, including compliance with ELEC’s upcoming Pay-to-Play Annual Disclosure filing requirement.