NJ A1497

Establishes the "Zero-Based Budget Act" requiring New Jersey's State Treasurer to design and implement a zero-based budgeting process by July 1, 2019, for fiscal years beginning July 1, 2020 and thereafter

Requires all state spending agencies to justify appropriation requests from the ground up based on cost-effective achievement of goals, rather than using prior year spending as a baseline adjusted for inflation

Mandates spending agencies submit detailed documentation including: statements of goals and objectives, legal authority for programs, methodology descriptions, cost estimates for current and minimum service levels, affected stakeholders, and numerical priority rankings of all programs and services

Requires the State Treasurer to submit annual reports to the Governor and Legislature by December 1 each year describing implementation progress, shortcomings, and recommendations for improving the zero-based budget process

Amends existing budget law (P.L.1944, c.112) to incorporate zero-based budget justifications into the Governor's annual budget message, making this data publicly available for legislative and public review