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A2148
ASSEMBLY, No. 2148
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
222nd LEGISLATURE
�
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2026 SESSION
Sponsored by:
Assemblywoman ELIANA PINTOR MARIN
District 29 (Essex and Hudson)
Assemblywoman VERLINA REYNOLDS-JACKSON
District 15 (Hunterdon and Mercer)
Co-Sponsored by:
Assemblyman Verrelli
SYNOPSIS
���� Establishes Emerging Technology Urban Grant Program
in EDA.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative
Counsel.
��
An Act
establishing the Emerging Technology Grant
Program and supplementing P.L.1974, c.80 (C.34:1B-1 et seq.).
����
Be It Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New
Jersey:
���� 1.��� The Legislature finds,
declares, and determines that:
���� a.��� High-growth start-up
technology companies are critical to developing urban areas into vibrant
economies that thrive on innovation and entrepreneurship.
���� b.��� New Jersey should
catalyze the transformation of specified urban areas by attracting emerging
technology businesses to create high-quality jobs and a sustainable
knowledge-based economy through the establishment of an Emerging Technology
Urban Grant Program.
���� c.��� The goal of the Emerging
Technology Urban Grant Program is to attract high-growth emerging technology
businesses to urban areas, called urban technology zones, through financial
incentives for their use of a cloud-based capacity-building technology service,
which is a computing service that allows a user to retrieve stored information
and resources from the Internet through web-based tools and applications rather
than through a direct connection to a server.
���� d.��� The creation of urban
technology zones comprised of high-bandwidth emerging technology businesses
that rely on cloud computing services will accelerate the transformation of
these urban areas and reconnect them to the larger economy.
���� e.��� The New Jersey Economic
Development Authority, through the Emerging Technology Urban Grant Program,
shall seek to consolidate public and private economic development efforts
through various funding sources into one targeted program to attract
high-growth emerging technology businesses.
���� 2.��� As used in P.L.��� ,
c.��� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill):
���� �Authority� means the New
Jersey Economic Development Authority established pursuant to section 4 of
P.L.1974, c.80 (C.34:1B-4).
���� "Chief Executive
Officer" means the Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic
Development Authority.
���� �Cloud computing service�
means a service that enables on-demand self-service network access to a shared
pool of configurable computer resources to provide user-based productivity
applications, including, but not limited to, data storage, analytics,
electronic commerce, streaming services, mobile services, electronic mail, and
document sharing and editing, which can be rapidly provided and released with
minimal management effort or cloud computing service provider interaction.
���� �Emerging technology business�
or �business� means a corporation, partnership, limited liability company, or
sole proprietorship that is engaged in the design, development, and
introduction of new technology, including, but not limited to, biotechnology,
information technology, technology manufacturing, advanced materials,
processing engineering or electronic technology products, or innovative
manufacturing processes.
���� �Full-time employee� means a
person who is employed for consideration for at least 35 hours a week, or who
renders any other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice
as full-time employment, whose wages are subject to withholding as provided in
the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq., and who
is determined by the authority to be employed in a permanent position according
to criteria it develops, or who is a partner of an eligible partnership, who
works for the partnership for at least 35 hours a week, or who renders any
other standard of service generally accepted by custom or practice as full-time
employment, and whose distributive share of income, gain, loss, or deduction,
or whose guaranteed payments, or any combination thereof, is subject to the
payment of estimated taxes, as provided in the "New Jersey Gross Income Tax
Act," N.J.S.54A:1-1 et seq. "Full-time employee" shall not
include any person who works as an independent contractor or on a consulting
basis for the business.
���� �Headquarters� means the
single location that serves as the national administrative center of a
business, at which the primary office of the chief executive officer or chief
operating officer of the business, as well as the offices of the management
officials responsible for key business-wide functions such as finance, legal,
marketing, and human resources, are located.
���� �Information technology� means
software publishing, digital media production, telecommunications, data
processing, hosting and related services, custom computer programming services,
computer system design, computer facilities management services, other
computer-related services, and computer training.
���� �Program� means the Emerging
Technology Urban Grant Program, established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.��� ,
c.��� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill).
���� �Urban technology zone� �
means: �a city of the first class in which there is located a terminal of an
international airport; a city of the second class that is the State capital; a
city that qualifies under the �Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery
Act,� P.L.2002, c.43 (C.52:27BBB-1 et al.); and a city of the second class,
having a population greater than 54,000 people but less than 59,000 according
to the latest federal decennial census, in a county of the second class having
a population greater than 808,000 people but less than 818,000 people according
to the latest federal decennial census.
���� 3.��� a.� The authority shall,
subject to appropriation, establish an �Emerging Technology Urban Grant Program�
within the authority for the purpose of awarding grants to qualifying emerging
technology businesses to cover to cost of using cloud computing services in
order to encourage the businesses to locate in an urban technology zone,
facilitating economic growth and job creation in New Jersey�s urban core. The
award of a grant to a qualifying business shall, subject to appropriation, be
limited to the amount of the cost of cloud computing services and shall be
applied to cover the cost of those services.
���� b.��� The Chief Executive
Officer shall approve for grant eligibility an emerging technology business
that:
���� (1)� is located in an urban
technology zone;
���� (2)�
commits to maintaining its
United States
headquarters in an urban technology zone for the duration of the grant
term of two years and at least three additional years
;
���� (3)� employs 100 or less
full-time employees; and
���� (4)� has experienced a net
increase of 20 percent in full-time employees or an increase of 20 percent in
gross annual revenue during the twelve-month period preceding the application.
���� c.��� An emerging technology
business seeking to participate in the program shall submit an application in a
form determined by the Chief Executive Officer. The application shall include
information that the Chief Executive Officer determines is necessary to administer
the program. All applications shall be submitted prior to June 30, 2022 and
shall be reviewed by the authority by December 31, 2022.
���� d.��� The Chief Executive
Officer shall award the grant upon the submission of proof by an approved
emerging technology business that the business has fulfilled the eligibility
requirements pursuant to subsection b. of this section and any other
requirements determined by the authority. The submission of proof shall be
subject to review and audit by the authority in consultation with the
Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
���� e.��� The value of a grant
made under the program shall be no more than $125,000 per quarter for two
years, provided that the grantee shall not receive more than $1,000,000 in
grants pursuant to this section over the duration of the program. The sum of
grants awarded under the program shall not exceed $80,000,000, with not more
than $20,000,000 granted to businesses in each urban technology zone.
���� f.���� The Chief Executive
Officer shall release grant funds to grantees quarterly upon the business�s
submission of proof of payment for cloud computing services and usage reports
for the relevant three months, submission of proof that the business has
continued to experience a net increase of 20 percent in full-time employment or
an increase of 20 percent in annual gross revenue during the preceding
twelve-months, and any other requirements determined by the authority. The
submission of proof shall be subject to review and audit by the authority in
consultation with the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
���� 4.��� The authority shall,
subject to appropriation, develop a marketing program in conjunction with local
officials from each urban technology zone to promote and attract emerging
technology businesses to the urban technology zones.
���� 5.��� The authority shall,
subject to appropriation, engage with providers of cloud computing services to
ensure that the maximum amount of credits and discounts for cloud computing
services are being provided to emerging technology businesses located in urban
technology zones in addition to grants awarded under the program.
���� 6.��� The authority shall
review the performance of the Emerging Technology Urban Grant Program and shall
report to the Legislature, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164
(C.52:14-19.1), on the performance and economic impact of the program within
two years of the date of enactment.
���� 7.��� The authority may adopt
rules and regulations, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,�
P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), necessary for the implementation of
P.L.��� , c.��� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), which
may include, but not be limited to, a procedure for recapturing grants awarded
pursuant to P.L.��� , c.��� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this
bill) in cases in which the authority determines that the emerging technology
business receiving the grant award fails to meet any condition or requirement established
by the authority and attached to the receipt of the grant award or included in
rules and regulations adopted by the authority governing the implementation of
the program.
���� 8.��� In addition to any
monies appropriated to the authority to effectuate the purposes of P.L.��� ,
c.��� (C.����� ) (pending before the Legislature as this bill), the program
shall also be credited with:
���� a.��� any additional monies
made available by the authority for the purposes of the program; and
���� b.��� monies received by the
authority from any public or private source for the purposes of the program,
the coordination and consolidation of which shall enhance efforts to attract
emerging technology businesses to accelerate the development of urban technology
zones.
���� 9.��� This act shall take
effect on the 60th day following the date of enactment, except the authority
may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be
necessary for the implementation of this act.
STATEMENT
���� This bill establishes, subject
to appropriation, the Emerging Technology Urban Grant Program (program) in the
New Jersey Economic Development Authority (EDA) for the purpose of awarding
grants to qualifying emerging technology businesses in order to encourage the
businesses to locate in one of four urban technology zones to acquire cloud
computing services that will facilitate the business�s growth and creation of
full-time employment. The award of a grant to a qualifying business, subject to
appropriation, is to be applied to covering the cost of using cloud computing
services.
���� The bill establishes an urban
technology zone in Newark, Trenton, Camden, and New Brunswick.
���� The Chief Executive Officer of
the EDA is to approve for grant eligibility an emerging technology business
that:
���� 1)� is located in an urban
technology zone;
���� 2)� commits to maintaining its
United States headquarters in an urban technology zone for the duration of the
grant term of two years and at least three additional years;
���� 3)� employs no more than 100
full-time employees; and
���� 4)� has experienced a net
increase of 20 percent in full-time employment or an increase of 20 percent in
annual gross revenue during the twelve-month period preceding the application.
���� The Chief Executive Officer is
to issue payment of the grant upon the submission of proof by an approved
emerging technology business that the business has fulfilled the eligibility
requirements established pursuant to the bill, has maintained required increases
in full-time employment or revenue growth, and any other requirements
determined by the EDA. The submission of proof is to be subject to review and
audit by the EDA and the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
���� This bill provides that the
value of the grant is to be up to $125,000 per quarter for two years, provided
that no grantee receives more than $1,000,000 in grants over the duration of
the program, and that the sum of grants awarded under the program is not to
exceed $80,000,000, with no more than $20,000,000 granted to businesses in each
urban technology zone.
���� The bill provides that, in
addition to any monies appropriated to the EDA to effectuate the purposes of
bill, the program is to also be credited with any additional monies made
available by the EDA for the purposes of the program and monies received by the
EDA from any public or private source for the purposes of the program, the
coordination and consolidation of
which is to enhance efforts to attract emerging technology businesses to
accelerate the development of urban technology zones.