§ 52:13H-1 — Findings, declarations relative to State-imposed mandates

1. The Legislature finds and declares that: a. at the November 1995 general election, the people of this State approved an amendment to the New Jersey Constitution providing that, in certain cases, new statutes and new administrative rules and regulations promulgated by State agencies shall not impose unfunded mandates on counties, municipalities or school districts; b. the purpose of this constitutional provision is to prevent the State government from requiring units of local government to implement additional or expanded activities without providing funding for those activities; c. the long-standing, prior practice of State-imposed, unfunded mandates has contributed to the rise in local property taxes which has increasingly burdened New Jersey's property owners; d. the constitutional amendment also directs the Legislature to create a Council on Local Mandates to resolve disputes regarding whether a law or a rule or regulation, covered by the amendment, constitutes an unfunded State mandate; and e. it is, therefore, the purpose of this act to effectuate the will of the people of this State and to fulfill the Legislature's responsibility to establish the Council on Local Mandates.L.1996,c.24,s.1.