Yesterday, the New Jersey Assembly Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the impact of the Citizens United decision on New Jersey’s campaign finance and pay-to-play laws.  Among the expert witnesses was Angelo J. Genova, founding partner of Genova Burns.
The general consensus was that New Jersey’s existing campaign finance laws are not directly affected by the [...]

No later than March 30, 2010, business entities that received payments of $50,000 or more through New Jersey government contracts in calendar year 2009 are required to file a Business Entity Annual Disclosure Form with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission.

Contribution and pay-to-play restrictions often allow for refunds to “correct” an over-the-limit contribution. The power of a refund varies by statute. Here are a few examples.

Governor Christie’s Executive Order No. 7 modifies prior executive orders (implicitly Executive Orders 117 and 118 signed by Governor Corzine in 2008) by amending the term “business entity” to include labor unions and labor organizations, and political committees formed by such organizations. The Governor explained that EO 7 would bring unions within the [...]

On his first day in office, Governor Christie signed eight executive orders, including one on pay-to-play. Here is Executive Order No. 7.

We are continuing our series on giving gifts to public officials.
As a general rule of thumb, a New Jersey public official and/or employee may not accept any gift, which is intended to influence the performance of his or her official duties.  Exceptions may exist if you are a relative or close personal friend of an [...]

Now that the 2009 gubernatorial election is over, companies that do business with the State of New Jersey and/or wish to remain eligible for contracts with the State need to take inventory of contributions that covered persons and/or entities made during the 2009 gubernatorial election cycle.
New Jersey statewide pay-to-play restrictions cover contributions greater than $300 [...]

Governor-Elect Chris Christie takes office on January 19, 2010.  During the campaign Mr. Christie promised widespread ethics reform to “ensure that we restore honesty, transparency and ethical behavior to this state.”
Among the proposals he has suggested are an expansion of New Jersey’s already extensive pay-to-play laws, which may include:

covering labor unions as “business entities” subject [...]

Pay-to-play reforms take many different forms. For example, in New Jersey, the current restrictions are embodied in state statutes, gubernatorial executive orders, municipal ordinances, and State Investment Council regulations. Now, almost five years to the day after the first gubernatorial executive order limiting political contributions in relation to New Jersey State contracting opportunities, New York [...]

The Securities and Exchange Commission (”SEC“) plans to reconsider a rule it last considered in 1999 to curb political contributions by investment advisers seeking to manage the investment of state pension funds. The new proposal comes in the wake of continuing investigations by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (“NYAG”) concerning investments by New [...]