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from The State of State Disclosure www.goodjobsfirst.org/statedisclosure.cfm
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Subsidies
Score: 20 out of 33 = 61%
Details: The New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth and Tourism Commission and New Jersey Economic Development Authority issue annual reports on the Business Employment Incentive Program (BEIP) (http://www.njeda.com/beip_activity.asp). Under the BEIP program, companies may receive grants for 10 to 80 percent of the total state income tax generated by a project's newly created jobs for up to 10 years. Posted online as searchable PDF document, the report lists: company name, jurisdiction, date of approval and execution, grant term, projected and actual jobs created, an estimated grant total, grant disbursement to date, and total project costs. The annual report lists every grant deal since the inception of the program including grants that are no longer active.
Also, tax credit awards and other assistance programs are noted in every publication of the Economic Development Authority's monthly board agendas. Agendas as far back as 2004 are available on its website (http://www.njeda.com/public_information.asp) in PDF form, but are not searchable. Project description and credit amount are detailed.
This fall, New Jersey's Governor signed into law the Development Subsidy Job Goals Accountability Act (Senate Bill 1213). The new law significantly expands disclosure on many state and local subsidies and requires biennial outcome reporting. Subsidized companies will provide job figures broken down by full-time, part-time and temporary work status; benefit rates associated with subsidized jobs; the number of current workers who get health insurance; and the number of subsidized employees represented by a union. The first report will be published next year.
New Jersey's subsidy disclosure score here is based on the existing Business Employment Incentive Program report.
|
Criterion |
Zero Points |
Tier 1(1 Point) |
Tier 2 (2 Points) |
Tier 3 (3 Points) |
Score |
Max |
| SEARCHABILITY |
none |
Unsearchable PDF |
Searchable PDF |
Database searchable by recipient |
2 |
3 |
| DOLLAR INFO |
none |
Summary amount for program |
Amount range per deal |
Exact dollars per deal |
3 |
3 |
| YEARS AVAILABLE |
none |
One year |
Two years |
Three or more years |
3 |
3 |
| DATA CURRENCY |
none |
Data are three years old |
Data are two years old |
Data are from last fiscal or calendar year |
3 |
3 |
| ACCESSIBILITY |
none |
Buried in a Report |
Obscure link |
Own disclosure page, prominent link |
2 |
3 |
| RANGE OF PROGRAMS* |
none |
Three or fewer programs disclosed |
More than three programs disclosed, but not comprehensive |
All programs disclosed |
3 |
9 |
| COMPANY NAME |
none |
Gives company name |
Name of company and location |
Name with location and contact info |
1 |
3 |
| JOB/ INVESTMENT PROJECTIONS |
none |
One of following: total jobs, wages, healthcare, capital investment |
Two of previously listed |
Three or more of previously listed |
2 |
3 |
| OUTCOME REPORTING |
none |
One of following: total jobs, wages, healthcare, capital investment |
Two of previously listed |
Three or more of previously listed |
1 |
3 |
| TOTAL |
|
|
|
|
20 |
33 |
* "Range of Programs" is scored on a nine point scale with states receiving three points for meeting Tier 1 requirements, six points for meeting Tier 2 requirements and nine points for meeting Tier 3 requirements.
Contracting
Score: 19 out of 21 = 90%
Agency: New Jersey Department of Treasury, Division of Purchase and Property
Disclosure Site: http://www.nj.gov/treasury/purchase/contracts.htm
Details: New Jersey provides a searchable term-contract database that can be searched for contracts by keyword, contract number, title, and vendor name. Users can also view a list of contracts sorted by contract number, contract title, and those updated in the past 10 days. Copies of the contracts are also available online with detailed vendor information and pricing.
|
Criterion |
Zero Points |
1 Point |
2 Points |
3 Points |
Score |
Max |
| SEARCHABILITY |
none |
List not searchable by vendor name |
Searchable by keyword/contract number OR List of Vendors Available |
Database searchable by vendor name |
3 |
3 |
| DOLLAR INFO |
none |
|
Buried in contract |
Exact dollars per contract visible on list |
2 |
3 |
| AVAILABILITY |
none |
|
Active contracts |
Active contracts and archived contracts |
2 |
3 |
| ACCESSIBILITY |
none |
|
Obscure link only |
Prominent link or own domain |
3 |
3 |
| CONSISTENCY |
none |
Only one type |
Only some are disclosed |
All programs or sectors are disclosed |
3 |
3 |
| COMPANY NAME |
none |
Company Name |
Name of company and location |
Name with location and contact info |
3 |
3 |
| COPY OF CONTRACT |
none |
|
Abstract available online |
Full Contract or Notice of Award available online |
3 |
3 |
| TOTAL |
|
|
|
|
19 |
21 |
Lobbying
Score: 12 out of 18= 67%
Agency name: New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission
Disclosure site: http://www.elec.state.nj.us/PublicInformation/GAA_Information.htm
Details: New Jersey provides online access to lobby disclosure information via a poorly designed and difficult to locate site. There is no stand-alone list of registered lobbyists and/or principal organizations and items that are disclosed are not labeled intuitively. Financial information, for example, is found under the obscure heading "benefit passing." These PDF-format reports are searchable only by using "control F." New Jersey does not provide online issue disclosure.
|
Criterion |
Zero Points |
1 Point |
2 Points |
3 Points |
Score |
Max |
| SEARCHABILITY |
none |
Unsearchable list |
Searchable list or directory |
Searchable by lobbyist and principal plus at least one other category |
2 |
3 |
| DOLLAR INFO |
none |
Financial summary |
Detailed financial reports |
Searchable detailed financial reports |
3 |
3 |
| YEARS AVAILABLE |
none |
One year |
Two years |
Three or more years |
3 |
3 |
| DATA CURRENCY |
none |
Data is one year old |
Data is current |
Data is current and updated more than once a year |
3 |
3 |
| ISSUES |
none |
General issue areas listed |
Searchable by general issue area |
Searchable by general issue area and specific bill |
0 |
3 |
| ACCESSIBILITY |
none |
Obscure link |
Prominent link, but cumbersome interface |
Prominent link or own domain and intuitive design and search functions |
1 |
3 |
| TOTAL |
|
|
|
|
12 |
18 |
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