Establishes Government Efficiency and Regulatory Review Commission.

A176

ASSEMBLY, No. 176

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman DAWN FANTASIA

District 24 (Morris, Sussex and Warren)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Inganamort

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes Government Efficiency and Regulatory
Review Commission.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act
establishing a Government Efficiency and Regulatory
Review Commission and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� The Legislature finds
and declares that:

���� a.���� It is imperative that
proposed or adopted State rules and regulations, as well as operative Executive
Orders, be thoroughly reviewed in a careful, balanced, and expeditious way to:
assess their potential or actual effects on the State�s economy; determine
whether their costs and other burdens on businesses, workers, and local
governments outweigh their intended benefits; and establish a basis for
providing recommendations to the Governor to amend any rules and regulations or
Executive Orders that unduly burden the State�s businesses, workers, and local
governments.

���� b.��� A bipartisan commission
consisting of representatives from the Executive and Legislative branches of
State government, who are devoted to the common goal of promptly addressing the
State�s economic viability and prosperity, should conduct this review.

���� c.���� The bipartisan
commission should conduct its review with transparency, providing an
opportunity for businesses, workers, local governments, and members of the
public to obtain information about the commission�s work and to communicate
pertinent information and opinions to the commission in an appropriate and
effective manner.

���� 2.��� a.� There is created, in
the Office of the Governor, a Government Efficiency and Regulatory Review Commission.

���� b.��� The commission shall
consist of nine members as follows:

���� (1)�� The Chief Innovation
Officer, or a designee, who shall serve as chair of the commission;

���� (2)�� The Executive Director
of the New Jersey Business Action Center, or a designee;

���� (3)�� The Chief Counsel to the
Governor, or a designee;

���� (4)�� The Commissioner of
Environmental Protection, or a designee;

���� (5)�� The Commissioner of
Labor and Workforce Development, or a designee;

���� (6)�� The President of the
Senate, or a designee;

���� (7)�� The Speaker of the
General Assembly, or a designee;

���� (8)�� The Senate Minority
Leader, or a designee; and

���� (9)�� The General Assembly
Minority Leader, or a designee.

���� c.���� The Chief Innovation
Officer, at his or her discretion, may appoint additional members to provide
the commission with necessary and appropriate expertise and representation on
behalf of businesses, workers, and local governments.� Members appointed by the
Chief Innovation Officer shall serve at the pleasure of the Chief Innovation
Officer.

���� d.��� Members of the
commission shall serve without compensation.

���� e.���� The commission shall
meet once every six months and at such other times as the chair of the
commission may determine.

���� f.���� The commission shall
hold at least two public hearings in different regions of the State annually,
at such times and places as the chair shall determine.� The commission shall
invite to testify business leaders, workers� groups, local government officials,
taxpayers, and other interested parties to discuss issues surrounding
applicable rules, regulations, and executive orders.

���� 3.��� a.� The commission
shall:

���� (1)�� review all proposed and
adopted rules and regulations and operative Executive Orders issued by the
Governor to: assess their potential or actual effects on the State�s economy;
determine whether their costs and other burdens on businesses, workers, and local
governments outweigh their intended benefits; and establish a basis for
providing recommendations to the Governor to amend any rules and regulations or
Executive Orders that unduly burden the State�s businesses, workers, and local
governments;

���� (2)�� call upon any
department, office, division, or agency of this State to supply the commission
with data and other information, personnel, or assistance it deems necessary to
discharge its duties;

���� (3)�� solicit both written and
oral comments from the public, including professional, labor, community, and
environmental organizations, businesses, workers, and other affected persons or
entities as the commission deems appropriate, and to consider the views expressed
by those parties in any report; and

���� (4)�� provide annually a
written report to the Governor and the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), in which the commission shall provide
recommendations to repeal, rescind, or amend any rules and regulations or
Executive Orders that unduly burden the State�s businesses, workers, and local
governments.

���� b.��� Each department, office,
division, or agency of the State shall cooperate with the commission and
furnish it with such information, personnel, and assistance necessary for the
commission to accomplish its duties.

���� c.���� Reports provided by the
commission pursuant to this section, including any recommendations to repeal,
rescind, or amend any rules and regulations or Executive Orders contained
therein, shall not confer any legal rights upon any persons or entities affected
by those rules and regulations or Executive Orders.� The commission�s reports
shall be advisory and shall not be used as a basis for any legal challenges
based upon the action or inaction of any department, office, division, or
agency of the State.

���� 4.��� This act shall take
effect immediately.

STATEMENT

���� This bill creates the
Government Efficiency and Regulatory Review Commission to assess the effect
that rules and regulations and Executive Orders have on the State�s economy and
to provide recommendations to the Governor to amend any rules and regulations
or Executive Orders that unduly burden the State�s businesses, workers, and
local governments.

���� Under the bill, the commission
would be comprised of nine members, consisting of representatives from the
Executive and Legislative branches of State government, who are devoted to the
common goal of promptly addressing the State�s economic viability and
prosperity.� The bill requires each department, office, division, or agency of
the State to cooperate with the commission and furnish it with any information,
personnel, and assistance it needs to accomplish its duties.� The commission�s
findings would be advisory and cannot be used as a basis for any legal
challenges based upon the action or inaction of any department, office,
division, or agency of the State.

���� The bill requires the
commission to:

���� (1)�� review all proposed and
adopted rules and regulations and operative Executive Orders issued by the
Governor to: assess their potential or actual effects on the State�s economy;
determine whether their costs and other burdens on businesses, workers, and local
governments outweigh their intended benefits; and establish a basis for
providing recommendations to the Governor to amend any rules and regulations or
Executive Orders that unduly burden the State�s businesses, workers, and local
governments;

���� (2)�� call upon any
department, office, division, or agency of this State to supply the commission
with data and other information, personnel, or assistance it deems necessary to
discharge its duties;

���� (3)�� solicit both written and
oral comments from the public, including professional, labor, community, and
environmental organizations, businesses, workers, and other affected persons or
entities as the commission deems appropriate, and to consider the views expressed
by those parties in any report; and

���� (4)�� provide annually a
written report to the Governor and the Legislature in which the commission must
provide recommendations to repeal, rescind, or amend any rules and regulations
or Executive Orders that unduly burden the State�s businesses, workers, and local
governments.