11. This act shall apply to all State agencies including any of the principal departments in the Executive Branch, and any division, board, bureau, office, commission or other instrumentality within or created by such department and any independent State authority, board, commission, instrumentality or agency, with respect to any contract or agreement other than that awarded pursuant to a fair and open process.

As used in P.L.2005, c.51 (C. 19:44A-20.13 et seq.), “fair and open process” means, at a minimum, that the contract shall be: publicly advertised in newspapers or on the Internet website maintained by the public entity in sufficient time to give notice in advance of the contract; awarded under a process that provides for public solicitation of proposals or qualifications and awarded and disclosed under criteria established in writing by the public entity prior to the solicitation of proposals or qualifications; and publicly opened and announced when awarded. A contract awarded under a process that includes public bidding or competitive contracting pursuant to State contracts law shall constitute a fair and open process. The decision of a public entity as to what constitutes a fair and open process shall be final.

L.2005,c.51,s.11; amended 2023, c.30, s.19.