4. a. The authority shall oversee and staff a study commission, entitled the “New Jersey Social Innovation Study Commission,” established for the duration of the pilot program.

b. The membership and size of the study commission shall be determined by the authority. The authority may consider a variety of professionals, including health care, lending, and social finance experts, for membership on the study commission. The study commission shall organize as soon as practicable after the appointment of the study commission members, shall select a chairperson from among its membership, and shall appoint a secretary who need not be a member of the commission. At least one member of the study commission shall be a representative of the Department of Human Services, one member shall be a representative of the Department of Health, and one member shall be the Executive Director of the Office of Faith-based Initiatives in the Department of State. All members of the study commission shall serve for term concurrent with the effective period of the pilot program.

c. Any vacancy in the membership of the study commission shall be filled in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.

d. The study commission may request the assistance and services of employees of any other State department, board, bureau, commission, task force, or agency as it may require and as may be available. Members of the study commission shall serve without compensation, but shall be entitled to employ stenographic and clerical assistance and incur traveling and other miscellaneous expenses as the study commission may deem necessary in order to perform its duties, within the limits of the funds made available to the study commission for its purposes. The study commission may meet at the call of its chairperson at the times and in the places the study commission may deem appropriate and necessary to fulfill its duties, and may conduct public hearings at a place or places as the study commission shall designate. The study commission shall conduct its meetings in accordance with the “Senator Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act,” P.L.1975, c.231 (C. 10:4-6 et seq.).

e. It shall be the duty of the study commission to aid the authority in the administration of the social innovation loan pilot program and to issue annual reports detailing the progress of the pilot program. Specifically, the study commission, in cooperation with the authority and the Department of Human Services shall:

(1) identify the nonprofit and for-profit organizations that will be eligible to receive loan guarantees from the authority. The study commission shall make this determination taking several factors into consideration which shall include, but not be limited to, the size and identity of the target population that benefits from the nonprofit or for-profit organization service provider, the projected financial value of the improvements as a result of the social innovation loan investments, including projected public sector savings, the ability to repay the loan in full, the ease of the measurability of the outcomes, and an analysis of impacts beyond financial savings and returns, such as social outcomes;

(2) assist the authority in soliciting donations from philanthropic organizations and other private sources to capitalize the loan fund;

(3) negotiate contract terms and conditions between social innovation loan recipients and any public entity for whom the recipient is performing health care intervention services, including the development of metrics to project and measure both financial and social outcomes, and the identification of independent third parties to measure and evaluate outcomes;

(4) determine whether an independent intermediary with expertise in the areas of social finance and health care should be retained to:

(a) assist the study commission in the performance of its duties under this section; or

(b) perform the method of measurement and verification activities required in the agreements entered into pursuant to paragraph (3) of subsection b. of section 3 of P.L.2021, c.434 (C. 34:1B-268.5), and to identify appropriate independent intermediaries to recommend to the authority if the study commission determines that intermediary services should be retained; and

(5) any other purposes related to the pilot program for which the authority requests assistance.

f. Not later than one year following the effective date of P.L.2021, c.434 (C. 34:1B-268.3 et seq.), and annually for four years thereafter, the study commission shall submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C. 52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, a report containing a study and evaluation of the pilot program. The report shall include, but not be limited to, a description of any eligible organizations funded by the social innovation loans, State, federal, and municipal financial savings related to the issuance of social innovation loans, including Medicaid savings, the expected loan performance and projected payment schedule, the number of people serviced by the eligible organization, a comparison of the population serviced by the eligible organization and a similarly situated control group, and any community impact related to the pilot program.

g. The study commission shall submit its fifth and final report to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C. 52:14-19.1), to the Legislature, within 90 days of the expiration date of the pilot program, including any recommendations for legislation it deems appropriate. The study commission’s final report shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of the feasibility of implementing a permanent social innovation loan program Statewide, the sectors outside of non-profit health care in which social lending could be successfully applied, the estimated costs for the creation and administration of the permanent social innovation loan program, the projected State, federal, and municipal savings from administering the permanent program, a calculation of the loan performance realized from the pilot program, a calculation of the State, federal, and municipal savings accrued through the pilot program, and an analysis of non-financial outcomes, such as community impact and preventive results. The study commission shall expire on the 30th day after the date of the issuance of its final report, or upon the expiration of the pilot program, whichever occurs later.

L.2021, c.434, s.4.