Assembly committee releases bill to study 'paperless' state government

The Assembly State and Local Government Committee on the first meeting of the session voted to release A1484, a bill that would create a task force to study the feasibility of a paperless state government.

Committee members approved committee amendments that require the task force to examine opportunities and risks tied to electronic permit submission processes and to the feasibility of paperless records retention. Christopher Veil, head of government affairs for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, testified in support, saying, "anything we can do on that front is a good thing" and that the association represents "taxpayers" who could benefit from efficiencies.

Chairman Karabeincik described a local planning review he said generated "100,000 pieces of drawings" and hundreds of pages of reports that were submitted repeatedly. He argued many municipal and state reviews already can be done digitally and said the task force should chart a multi-step path to reduce paper use and save costs. "DCA does this when it does stuff on the construction site," he said, referring to the state Department of Community Affairs' digital review practices.

Vice Chair Swayne moved to release the bill as amended; the motion was seconded and the committee voted to release A1484 as amended. Roll-call responses recorded in the transcript show affirmative votes from the members present and the bill was released for further consideration.

The task force would study feasibility rather than implement an immediate statewide digital conversion; the committee did not set an enactment date in the hearing beyond the committee amendments already recorded. Next steps include distribution of the amended bill language and staff follow-up to convene the task force if the bill advances through subsequent legislative steps.