Office of Legislative Services
State House Annex
P.O. Box 068
Trenton, New Jersey 08625
Legislative Budget and Finance Office
Phone (609) 847-3105
Fax (609) 777-2442
www.njleg.state.nj.us
LEGISLATIVE FISCAL ESTIMATE
SENATE, No. 2930
STATE OF NEW JERSEY
221st LEGISLATURE
DATED: MARCH 13, 2024
SUMMARY
Synopsis: Makes various changes to process for access to government records;
appropriates $8 million.
Type of Impact: Annual State and local cost and revenue impacts.
Agencies Affected: Department of Community Affairs; State, local government, and
school district agencies.
Office of Legislative Services Estimate
Fiscal Impact Year 1 Annually Thereafter
State Cost Impact Up to $8 million Indeterminate
State Revenue Impact Indeterminate Indeterminate
Local Cost Impact Indeterminate Indeterminate
Local Revenue Increase Up to $4 million Indeterminate
The Office of Legislative Services (OLS) concludes that this bill will result in an indeterminate
net impact on the finances of State and local public agencies.
The OLS determines that the bill may result in a State cost increase of up to $8 million in the
first year the bill is in effect. If the full $8 million is not expended in the first year, the residual
amount will be spent in subsequent fiscal years until the full $8 million is exhausted.
The bill appropriates $4 million for the Department of Community Affairs to provide grants to
political subdivisions of the State to make government records available to the public
electronically, including through shared services agreements. The State expenditure increase
would lead to a concurrent revenue increase for counties, municipalities, and school districts
that receive grants under the program.
The bill also appropriates $4 million to the Department of Community Affairs for the
operations of the Government Records Council. FE to S2930
2
Beyond the appropriated amount, the OLS is unable to estimate the direction and magnitude
of the bill’s net impact on State and local finances. This is so because of the countervailing
effects of the bill, some examples of which include:
1) Annual expenditure and revenue decreases for public agencies from an overall reduction in
the number of requests to which an agency must respond and the number of records which
must be produced.
2) Potential annual expenditure increases for public agencies to make any adjustments and
modifications necessary to meet accelerated records request fulfillment and complaint
adjudication timelines.
3) Annual State expenditure increase for a new salary of $12,000 for each of the eight public
members of the Government Records Council, pursuant to the bill.
4) Annual expenditure decrease for public agencies resulting from the bill’s provision that
removes the mandatory awarding of attorney’s fees to a requestor who prevails in any
complaint proceeding against a public agency.
5) Annual State revenue increases from the bill’s establishment of registration fees for data
brokers, and penalties for improper records requests made by data brokers.
BILL DESCRIPTION
This bill makes various changes to the law governing access to government records, commonly
known as the Open Public Records Act. The bill appropriates funds to assist local public agencies
in moving public records online, where members of the public can search for such documents.
The bill also restricts the ability of certain records requestors, such as those who make requests
anonymously or data brokers who request documents in order to profit from the data therein, to
request public records. Under the bill, records custodians are directed to withhold or redact records
which include personal identifying information, or information which the custodian has reason to
believe would result in harassment or the conduct of another crime.
This bill revises the structure and membership of the Government Records Council and
provides a salary to each of its members.
The bill also modifies or eliminates several fees which may be charged by the custodian for
certain records requests, makes the award of attorney’s fees in a dispute over access to a
government record discretionary, rather than mandatory, and shifts responsibility for fines and
penalties awarded as the result of an improper denial of a request for a public record from the
custodian to the public agency that employs the custodian.
FISCAL ANALYSIS
EXECUTIVE BRANCH
None received.
FE to S2930
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OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE SERVICES
The OLS estimates that this bill will result in an indeterminate net impact on the finances of
State and local public agencies.
The OLS determines that the bill may result in a State cost increase of up to $8 million in the
first year the bill is in effect. If the full $8 million is not expended in the first year, the residual
amount will be spent in subsequent fiscal years until the full $8 million is exhausted.
The bill appropriates $4 million for the Department of Community Affairs to provide grants to
political subdivisions of the State to make government records available to the public
electronically, including through shared services agreements. The State expenditure increase
would lead to a concurrent revenue increase for counties, municipalities, and school districts that
receive grants under the program.
The bill also appropriates $4 million to the Department of Community Affairs for the
operations of the Government Records Council.
Beyond the appropriated amount, the OLS is unable to estimate the direction and magnitude
of the bill’s net impact on State and local finances. This is so because of the countervailing effects
of the bill, some of which are summarized in the following paragraphs.
The bill would result in annual expenditure and revenue decreases for public agencies from an
overall reduction in the number of requests to which an agency must respond and the number of
records which must be produced. For example, the bill prohibits requests by data brokers and
permits requests for government records to be fulfilled by providing the requestor with the online
location of the records requested, which would reduce agency costs. However, reducing the
overall volume of records requests and removing the option for a public agency to charge the actual
cost of duplicating a record would also reduce agency revenues.
The bill may also result in potential annual expenditure increases for certain public agencies
to make any adjustments and modifications necessary to meet accelerated records request
fulfillment and complaint adjudication timelines. Under the bill, the Government Records Council
would be required to adjudicate all complaints that come before it within 90 days of the complaint’s
filing, with the possibility of extending the deadline by 30 days in certain circumstances. Also,
the bill would require State and local election agencies to make records and information specified
in the bill available within two business days of receiving the request.
Pursuant to the bill, there would an annual State expenditure increase for a new salary of
$12,000 for each of the eight public members of the Government Records Council. The OLS
estimates these new salaries and related employment benefits would increase State costs by
$107,000 annually.
There would also be an annual State expenditure decrease for public agencies resulting from
the bill’s provision that removes the mandatory awarding of attorney’s fees to a requestor who
prevails in any complaint proceeding against a public agency. The bill makes the award of
attorney’s fees in a dispute over access to a government record discretionary, rather than
mandatory.
Additionally, the bill would increase State revenues by establishing annual registration fees for
data brokers, as well as penalties for improper records requests made by data brokers or those
making requests on behalf of and for the use of a data broker.
Finally, the OLS notes the overall expenditure and revenue impacts for any one public agency
will depend on the change in the number of government records requests and the change in the
number of complaints filed by requestors. The OLS does not have specific data regarding the
government records requests handled by public agencies in the State. FE to S2930
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Section: State Government
Analyst: Ryan Brinkerhoff
Deputy Counsel
Approved: Thomas Koenig
Legislative Budget and Finance Officer
This legislative fiscal estimate has been produced by the Office of Legislative Services due to the
failure of the Executive Branch to respond to our request for a fiscal note.
This fiscal estimate has been prepared pursuant to P.L.1980, c.67 (C.52:13B-6 et seq.).