Improving electronic technology within local units of government, legislation sponsored by Assembly Democrats Daniel Benson, Raj Mukherji, and Robert Karabinchak was signed into law by the Governor on Monday.
The law (A-3112) authorizes local units of government to use electronic procurement technologies along with practices for purposes authorized by the governing body of the local unit.
“This new law allows for advances in technology to be used by our towns through electronic bidding which will result in more efficiency, savings to the taxpayers, and make it easier for local companies to participate in the bidding process,” said Benson (D-Mercer/Middlesex).
Under the new law, a local unit, joint purchasing unit, or cooperative pricing system would also be authorized to use electronic procurement practices for purposes including:
· to purchase electronic generation service, electronic related service, gas supply service or gas related service for its own facilities;
· the sale of surplus personal property; and
· the sale of real property.
Contracts awarded for the administration of these practices would be subject to the requirements of the “Local Public Contracts Law” and the “Public School Contracts Law,” except that they would be considered as purposes for which competitive contracting may be used.
“By modernizing our procurement procedures, this bill will bring New Jersey into the 21st century,” said Mukherji (D-Hudson). “By upgrading to the latest digital programs within our local governments and making them more efficient, we will be saving taxpayers both time and money.”
“This law will bring town halls and schools into the 21st century, where our residents already are,” said Karabinchak (D-Middlesex). “Updating technology to simplify and improve residents’ user experience with local government just makes sense.”
This new statute was approved by the full Assembly in June and the full Senate in October.