2026 marks a milestone for New Jersey government contractors. This is the 20^th year that the New Jersey ELEC annual pay-to-play disclosure must be filed. This Business Entity Annual Statement (“Form BE”) has now been a regular feature of March for so long that a baby born at the time of the initial filings is now nearly old enough to legally rent a car in New Jersey (though we still have a few years before the young-driver surcharge no longer applies).

The Basics

The Form BE is due on March 30, 2026, covering activity from the 2025 calendar year. If your business entity received payments of $50,000 or more (in the aggregate) as a result of New Jersey government contracts during the 2025 calendar year, the Form BE must be electronically filed.

Once we determine that a given business entity has a filing obligation, the next step is identifying whether any “reportable” political contributions were made by the business entity or its covered contributors during 2025.

If no reportable contributions were made, then the business entity may file a short-form report, a 1-page document, with no detailed contract or contribution information.

In contrast, if at least one reportable contribution has been made, the business entity must file a long-form report, with detailed information on 2025 government contracts (including payments received) and political contributions.

Observations

After helping hundreds of clients file thousands of these forms over the years, here are some observations:

• Each separate business entity may have a separate filing obligation. The filing threshold depends on the receipts from government contracts for that particular business entity. We have clients that file multiple Forms BE each year because they have separate LLCs that hold New Jersey government contracts.
• New Jersey government contracts at all levels are relevant for the Form BE. It is not only State contracts—contracts with counties, municipalities, boards of education, and independent authorities are also relevant.

• The $50,000 filing threshold is an aggregate. Unlike some other states that only care about large contracts for pay-to-play filings, New Jersey counts every dollar. For example, if a business entity has six contracts that paid $10,000 each in 2025, the business entity still has a filing obligation because the $50,000 aggregate threshold was met.
• Don’t Over-Disclose:
  • It is only New Jersey state and local government contracts that are reportable on the Form BE. Contracts with other states, the federal government, and with bi-state agencies (such as the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey) are not subject to disclosure on this form.
  • On the contribution side, changes to the law under the 2023 Elections Transparency Act have removed the obligation to disclose contributions to New Jersey political party committees. This means that only contributions to New Jersey state and local candidates and PACs are subject to reporting. Contributions to federal candidates, to non-profits, or to candidates in other states are not relevant.
  • A reportable contribution is one that exceeds $200 per reporting period (that is, $200 per election for a candidate, and $200 per calendar year for a PAC). It is only reportable contributions that must be disclosed—a business entity that made even multiple contributions at $200 or less per reporting period in 2025 can file the short-form report.
  • Pay attention to covered contributors. The law defines whose contributions are attributed to a business entity. The contributions made by non-covered contributors are not relevant and can be omitted.

We hope that, with a little guidance, the 20^th anniversary milestone of a filing can be less of a millstone for businesses.

Avi D. Kelin is a founding partner of PEM Law LLP, and chairs the firm’s Political Law and Non-Profit Law practices. He helps businesses, organizations, individuals, and political organizations to influence policy while complying with the law.

This column is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended and should not be construed as legal advice. It is recommended that readers not rely on this column, but that professional advice be sought for individual matters.