NJ S1856

Amends New Jersey's Conscientious Employee Protection Act (P.L.1986, c.105) to prohibit employer retaliation against employees who disclose or refuse to participate in substantial waste of public funds, gross mismanagement, or abuse of authority by governmental entities.

Defines "gross mismanagement" as a pattern of negligent or incompetent actions by a governmental employer that clearly deviates from reasonable standards of care and substantially adversely affects operations, employees, or the entity's authorized functions.

Defines "abuse of authority" as a pattern of illegal, malicious, fraudulent, arbitrary, or capricious actions by a governmental employer meeting the same deviation and adverse impact standards.

Defines "substantial waste of public funds" as conduct or omissions that result or could reasonably result in misuse, destruction, loss, or expenditure without valuable result of substantial government moneys or resources.

Expands the definition of "employer" to include "any governmental entity," encompassing all branches of state government, counties, municipalities, school districts, special districts, authorities, commissions, and boards.