N.J.S.A. 52:18A-234.9 — New Jersey Innovation Authority established.

52:18A-234.9 New Jersey Innovation Authority established. 2. a. There is hereby established in, but not of, the Department of the Treasury a public body corporate and politic, with corporate succession, to be known as the �New Jersey Innovation Authority.� The authority is hereby constituted as an instrumentality of the State exercising public and essential government functions, and the exercise by the authority of the powers conferred by P.L.2025, c.190 (C.52:18A-234.8 et seq.) shall be deemed and held to be an essential government function of the State. b. The authority shall consist of 13 members as follows: (1) the Chief Technology Officer of the New Jersey Office of Information Technology, or a designee, who shall serve as an ex officio, voting member; (2) the Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, or a designee, who shall serve as an ex officio, voting member; (3) the State Treasurer, or a designee, who shall serve as an ex officio, voting member; (4) the Chief Counsel to the Governor, or a designee, who shall serve as an ex officio, voting member; and (5) nine public members, who shall serve as voting members, five of whom shall be appointed by the Governor, two of whom shall be appointed by the Governor upon recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly, and two of whom shall be appointed by the Governor upon recommendation of the President of the Senate. c. (1) The nine public members appointed by the Governor pursuant to paragraph (5) of subsection b. of this section shall have knowledge and expertise in one or more relevant fields including, but not limited to: data science; public engagement; the development and implementation of digital technologies and digital product development; and the digital delivery of products, services, or benefits and the practical applications of the same. Each public member directly appointed by the Governor pursuant to paragraph (5) of subsection b. of this section shall serve for a term of five years, except that of those members first appointed: two shall serve for a term of five years, two shall serve for a term of four years, and one shall serve for a term of three years. Each public member shall serve until the member�s successor has been appointed and qualified. Each public member appointed by the Governor upon the recommendation of the Speaker of the General Assembly or the President of the Senate pursuant to paragraph (5) of subsection b. of this section shall serve for a term of five years and until the member�s successor has been appointed and qualified. Each public member shall be eligible for reappointment. Any vacancy in the membership occurring other than by expiration of the term shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment but only for the unexpired term. Each public member may be removed from office by the Governor, for cause, after notice and a public hearing, and may be suspended by the Governor pending the completion of such hearing. Each public member of the authority, before entering upon the public member�s duties, shall take and subscribe to an oath to perform the duties of the office faithfully, impartially, and justly to the best of the member�s ability. A record of such oath shall be filed in the Office of the Secretary of State. (2) Each member of the authority shall serve without compensation, but the authority may reimburse its members for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of the members� duties, within the limits of funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the authority for its purposes. d. A chairperson shall be appointed by the Governor from among the public members. The chairperson shall chair, and be responsible for scheduling and convening, all meetings of the authority. Any vacancy in the term of the person selected as chairperson shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment but only for the unexpired term. A majority of the total appointed membership of the authority shall constitute a quorum at any meeting of the authority. The authority may take actions and adopt motions and resolutions by the affirmative vote of a majority of its members who are present, unless in any case the authority�s bylaws require a larger number. No vacancy in the authority�s membership shall impair the right of a quorum of the members to exercise all the powers and perform the duties of the authority. A true copy of the minutes of every meeting of the authority shall be prepared and forthwith delivered to the Governor. No action taken at such meeting by the authority shall have force or effect until 10 days, exclusive of Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays, after such copy of the minutes shall have been so delivered. If, in the 10-day period, the Governor returns such copy of the minutes with veto of any action taken by the authority or any member thereof at such meeting, such action shall be null and of no effect. If the Governor shall not return the minutes within the 10-day period, any action therein recited shall have force and effect according to the wording thereof. At any time prior to the expiration of the 10-day period, the Governor may sign a statement of approval of any such action of the authority, in which case the action so approved shall not thereafter be disapproved. e. The authority shall delegate to the Chief Innovation Officer, established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2025, c.190 (C.52:18A-234.10), the ability to appoint, retain, or employ a legal director, engineers, attorneys, accountants, financial experts, and any such officers, agents, employees, and experts or other persons as the authority may require for the performance of its duties, all without regard to Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes. The Chief Innovation Officer shall determine the qualifications, terms of office, duties, services, and compensation for any such officers, agents, employees, experts, or other persons before making any such appointments and shall promote and discharge such officers, agents, employees, experts, and other persons all without regard to Title 11A, Civil Service, of the New Jersey Statutes. No officer, member, or employee of the authority shall be subject to prohibition from involvement on an official matter for one year after the commencement of the employee�s State service involving or related to the employee�s former employer during the one year prior to the employee�s commencement of State service, in accordance with N.J.A.C.19:61-7.4(a), any successor provision, and the corresponding provision prohibiting such activity set forth in Section IX of the Uniform Ethics Code, as may be amended from time to time, with respect to their most recent former employer, so long as that former employer is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that during the three preceding State fiscal years has received a State appropriation to, in consultation with the Chief Innovation Officer for the State of New Jersey, provide advisory and implementation services to State departments and agencies in the area of modernizing, improving, facilitating, and streamlining government services to individuals and businesses. f. The authority may be dissolved by an act of the Legislature on condition that the authority has no obligations outstanding or that the provision has been made for the payment or retirement of such obligations. Upon such dissolution of the authority, all property, funds, and assets thereof shall be vested in the State. L.2025, c.190, s.2.

This is the verbatim text of N.J.S.A. 52:18A-234.9, retrieved from the New Jersey Legislature's public statute corpus. Statutes are amended periodically — for the most current version, check the external source link above. Kyzer is not a law firm and this page is not legal advice.