New Jersey § 52:13h-22

§ 52:13h-22.

The Legislature finds and declares: Over the past four decades, prior to adoption of the constitutional amendment prohibiting

unfunded State mandates on local government, the State routinely and systematically

imposed greater and greater numbers of mandates, orders, directives and burdens on

local government. This web of mandates and burdens came about as the result of the enactment and adoption

of a plethora of unrelated laws and regulations addressing many and diverse issues. While these actions by State government occurred in order to address a variety of

public concerns, they all shared a common philosophical underpinning: the mandatory

implementation of State policy directives by local government officials. While the overwhelming majority of these statutes and regulations was established

by sincere-minded and well-intentioned public officials in order to address legitimate

public concerns, the collective regulatory weight of these mandates on local officials

continues to be a matter of deep concern and a subject that cries for legislative

relief. In response to this decades long pattern of seemingly inexorable increases in burdensome

mandates from Trenton, local officials repeatedly petition the Legislature for relief. In response to entreaties of local officials, various committees of several Legislatures

have determined to continue to address the problem of burdensome mandates on an expedited

basis through the enactment of omnibus acts that repeal or modify many of those mandates,

resolve administrative ambiguities and encourage more businesslike practices. This is the fourth such omnibus mandate relief act.