March 25, 2009

The first political contribution reporting deadline for all New Jersey State and local contractors is fast approaching – September 28, 2007.  Hill Wallack LLP, one of  New Jersey’s premier contracting firms, stands ready to assist you in understanding and fulfilling these requirements for your organization.

All business entities (both for profit and not-for-profit) that receive, in the aggregate, $50,000 or more through agreements or contracts with public entities must file a report with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) regarding their public contract and political contribution activities for the previous year.

Businesses must be aware that the scope of the reporting obligation is far broader than the disclosures required prior to entering into a contract.  The report must disclose all political contributions of more than $300 by the business entity during 2006.  This includes contributions by owners, principals, partners, officers, directors, trustees of the business entity and other persons or entities with an interest in the business entity, subsidiaries, and continuing political committees.  In some instances contributions of the spouse and children of that individual or individuals must also be reported.

This means your organization has about two months to gather the requisite contribution information from your owners, board members, executives, and, in many cases, spouses.   This is a potentially overwhelming task for both large organizations (with many potential contributors) and smaller organizations (who may not have the staff available to dedicate to such a project.)  Hill Wallack LLP stands ready to help you.  We will help you determine who is covered and what contributions must be reported, research contribution history from previously filed ELEC reports and conduct other due diligence and electronically file your report with ELEC.

Please do not hesitate to contact Patrick Kennedy, Esq., Paul P. Josephson, Esq. or Maeve E. Cannon, Esq. at Hill Wallack LLP to discuss your obligations and how we can help make the new requirement manageable.