Authorizes DMVA to grant preference in awarding contracts to vendors that employ veterans.

A1905

ASSEMBLY, No. 1905

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman CLEOPATRA G. TUCKER

District 28 (Essex and Union)

Assemblywoman CAROL A. MURPHY

District 7 (Burlington)

Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON

District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)

Co-Sponsored by:

Assemblyman Bergen and Assemblywoman Flynn

SYNOPSIS

���� Authorizes DMVA to grant preference in awarding
contracts to vendors that employ veterans.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

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

��

An Act

authorizing the DMVA to grant a preference in
awarding contracts to vendors that employ veterans and supplementing Title 38A
of the New Jersey Statutes.

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

���� 1.��� In awarding contracts
for the purchase of goods or services by the Department of Military and
Veterans� Affairs, with or without public advertising for bids, the Adjutant
General may grant a preference to a vendor based upon the number of full-time
employees of that vendor who are veterans.� If the Adjutant General determines
to grant such a preference for a particular contract, the Adjutant General
shall determine for each of the top three vendors the number of each vendor�s
full-time employees and the number of each vendor�s full-time employees who are
veterans.� The contract shall be awarded to the vendor among the top three
vendors having the highest percentage of its employees who are veterans.� In
making this determination, the Adjutant General may rely on information
submitted by each vendor.� However, the Adjutant General shall verify that
information within 30 calendar days and if it is determined that any of the top
three vendors has knowingly and willfully misrepresented the number of its employees
or the number of its employees who are veterans, the Adjutant General shall
immediately debar that vendor and any principal of that vendor from contracting
with the department for a period of five years.� If the vendor that has been
awarded the contract committed the misrepresentation, the Adjutant General
shall also terminate that contract.

���� The Department of Military and
Veterans� Affairs, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968,
c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq., shall adopt such rules and regulations as may be
necessary to implement the provisions of this section.

���� As used in this section:

���� ��principal� means an officer,
director, owner, or partner of a vendor, or any person having primary
management or supervisory responsibility within a vendor; and

���� �veteran� means any person who
was honorably discharged after serving in any branch of the armed forces of the
United States for at least 90 days and any disabled veteran regardless of the
length of service in the armed forces who is certified by the federal
Department of Veterans Affairs as having any degree of service-connected
disability.

���� This act shall be known and
may be cited as the �Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment (BRAVE)
Act.�

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

STATEMENT

���� The purpose of this bill is to
help alleviate the high rate of unemployment among military veterans by
creating an incentive for vendors seeking contracts with the Department of
Military and Veterans� Affairs to employ veterans.

���� The bill provides that in
awarding contracts for the purchase of goods or services by the department,
with or without public advertising for bids, the Adjutant General may grant a
preference to vendors based upon the number of full-time employees of that
vendor who are veterans.� If the Adjutant General determines to grant such a
preference for a particular contract, the Adjutant General will determine for
each of the top three vendors the number of the vendor�s full-time employees
and the number of the vendor�s full-time employees who are veterans.� The
contract will be awarded to the vendor having the highest percentage of such
employees who are veterans.� The bill defines �veteran� to include a disabled
veteran.

���� In making this determination,
the Adjutant General may rely on information submitted by each vendor.�
However, the Adjutant General must verify that information within 30 calendar
days and if it is determined that any business has knowingly and willfully
misrepresented the number of its employees or the number of its employees who
are veterans, the Adjutant General will immediately debar that business and its
principals from contracting with the department for a period of five years.� If
the misrepresentation was committed by the vendor that has been awarded the
contract, the Adjutant General will also terminate that contract.

���� The department of Military and
Veterans� Affairs, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968,
c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq., will adopt such rules and regulations as may be
necessary to implement the bill�s provisions.

���� This act will be known and may
be cited as the �Boosting Rates of American Veteran Employment (BRAVE) Act.�