On April 3, Gov. Murphy signed Senate Bill 2866, the Elections Transparency Act.

The act doubles the limit on contributions to candidates; triples contribution limits to state and political parties; and decreases the threshold for reporting contributions from $300 to $200.

The act also creates additional independent expenditure reporting requirements and eliminates local pay-to-play rules, replacing them with the statewide pay-to-play law.

The Election Law Enforcement Commission’s operations are also affected.

The agency will now have only two years, instead of 10, to investigate violations of campaign finance law and Murphy is permitted to appoint an entirely new slate of commissioners to the Election Law Enforcement Commission without Senate approval in the next 90 days.

The new campaign finance limits and independent expenditure reporting requirements go into effect on June 27, while the provisions affecting state and local pay-to-play law took effect immediately.

A bill overhauling the state’s campaign finance laws and the composition of its ethics agency is making its way through the New Jersey Legislature.

Senate Bill 2866, the Elections Transparency Act, doubles contribution limits to candidates; allows Gov. Murphy to appoint an entirely new slate of commissioners to the Election Law Enforcement Commission without Senate approval; and requires the reporting of all independent expenditure contributions in excess of $7,500.

The act was introduced last June and passed by the Senate on March 20.