The council shall have the authority to issue a preliminary ruling enjoining enforcement of a statute or a rule or regulation pending the council's consideration of whether the statute or the rule or regulation constitutes an unfunded mandate whenever a complaint filed with the council by a county, municipality or school district demonstrates, to the satisfaction of the council, that significant financial hardship to the county, municipality or school district would result from compliance and there is a substantial likelihood that the statute or the rule or regulation is, in fact, an impermissible, unfunded State mandate.
N.J.S. § 52:13H-16