Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH PENNACCHIO
District 26 (Essex, Morris and Passaic)
Senator NELLIE POU
District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Diegnan
SYNOPSIS
Establishes certification program for disabled-owned businesses.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
An Act establishing a certification program for businesses owned by persons with disabilities, and supplementing Title 52 of the Revised Statutes.
Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
1. As used in this act:
Appeal means a filed written challenge to a denial or revocation of a certification as a disabled-owned business.
Applicant means a business that applies for certification as a disabled-owned business pursuant to this act.
Business means an entity organized for profit which includes, but is not limited to, a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability company, corporation, or joint venture.
Certification means a determination by the division that an applicant has met the standards for certification as a disabled-owned business, pursuant to section 2 of this act.
Control and managerial and operational control means authority over the affairs of a business, including, but not limited to, capital investment, property acquisition, employee hiring, contract negotiations, legal matters, officer and director selection, operating responsibility, financial transactions, and the rights of other shareholders or joint partners. Control shall not include absentee ownership. Control shall be deemed not to exist where an owner is not a person with a disability. Additionally, control shall not be deemed to exist if someone, other than a person with a disability, is disproportionately responsible for the daily operation of a business, or for policy and contractual decisions.
Day or business day means any weekday, excluding Saturdays, Sundays, State or federal legal holidays, and State-mandated furlough days.
Denial means an administrative decision by the division to reject an application pursuant to section 7 of this act.
Department means the Department of the Treasury.
Designated hearing officer means a Department of the Treasury employee designated by the State Treasurer to render decisions on cases involving an appeal of a denial of a certification or a challenge to a certification, pursuant to this act.
Director means the Director of the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, in the Department of the Treasury.
Division means the Division of Revenue and Enterprise Services, in the Department of the Treasury.
Filed means received by the director or a division representative.
Joint venture means a business undertaking between two or more entities who share risk and responsibility for a specific project while otherwise retaining their distinct identities.
Disabled-owned business means a business, which is:
(1) a sole proprietorship, owned and controlled by a person with a disability;
(2) a partnership or joint venture, in which at least 51 percent of the ownership interest is held by persons with a disability and the management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more of the persons with a disability; or
(3) a corporation or other entity, whose management and daily business operations are controlled by one or more persons with a disability which is at least 51 percent owned by one or more persons with a disability or, if stock is issued, at least 51 percent of the stock is owned by one or more persons with a disability.
Person with a disability means a person with a disability as defined under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. s.12101 et seq.);
Selective Assistance Vendor Information (SAVI) means the database in which the division maintains a public listing of small businesses, veterans businesses, disabled veteran-owned businesses, minority, women, and disabled-owned businesses.
State contracting agency or contracting agency means any board, commission, committee, authority, division, college, university, department, or agency of the State that possesses the legal authority to enter into, or award, contracts for goods and services or construction contracts.
2. a. A business may be eligible to be certified as a disabled-owned business, as set forth in this section.
b. In order to be eligible as a disabled-owned business, a business shall be a sole proprietorship, partnership, joint venture, corporation, or other business entity authorized pursuant to the laws of the United States, which is at least 51 percent owned, operated, and controlled by persons with a disability.
c. In order to be eligible to be certified, a business shall meet the following standards to be certified as a disabled-owned business:
(1) ownership. A business shall be deemed to be independently owned, operated, and controlled, if its management, as specified in its certification application, is responsible for both its daily and long-term operation, and that management owns at least 51 percent interest in the business and consists of persons with a disability. The ownership and control by persons with a disability shall be real, substantial, and continuing, demonstrating authority over the affairs of the business, and shall go beyond the pro forma ownership of the business as reflected in its ownership documents;
(2) business entity. Recognition of the business as a separate entity for tax or corporate purposes is not necessarily sufficient for recognition as a disabled-owned business. In determining whether a potential disabled-owned business is an independent business, all relevant factors shall be considered, including the date the business was established and the degree to which financial, equipment leasing, and other relationships with non-disabled-owned businesses vary from industry practice;
(3) licensing. When a professional or occupational license or certification is required by federal or State law to perform the primary business operations of the applicant business, and the disabled-owned business does not possess the applicable license or certification, the owner with a disability shall demonstrate competence in the affairs of the business, in order to satisfy the requirement for managerial and operational control; and
(4) registration. A business shall be registered with the division to do business in New Jersey.
3. a. The documentation required for first-time applicants seeking certification may be abbreviated. The documentation requirements in this subsection shall only apply to first-time applicants for certification.
b. A first-time applicant for certification as a disabled-owned business shall submit documentation necessary to determine the applicants eligibility for certification.
c. The division shall prepare a New Jersey Uniform Certification Application. The application shall be an online application available from the divisions Internet website. The information submitted in support of an application shall include, but not be limited to:
(1)