NEW JERSEY GOT "LITE" REFORM

As you will recall, ethics, and where legislators stood on reform, were a very important subject of the November 2003 election. Nearly every legislator, Democrat or Republican, stated that they were for reform, and would give the subject very serious consideration once they returned to the State House during the lame-duck session. There was even calls to the Governor from legislators, to hold a special session during the election cycle to deal with the issues of pay-to-play, nepotism, dual office holding among others.

I stated early on, publicly, that I fully supported the proposals to reform the system, and that I was prepared to attend any special sessions to address the needed changes. As a matter of fact, I had numerous calls and emails that I responded to saying just that. The Governor has stated that ethics reform is one of his top priorities, yet he has not gotten more engaged by using the power of his office to convince the Democrat-controlled General Assembly to introduce and approve ethics legislation.

Now we come to the last days of the current legislature, and very little seems to be happening with the reforms that are so important, and were part of the decision-making process that the voters paid close attention to before casting their votes. While some bills have been considered by the Assembly, there are no matching bills in the Senate. Republican efforts to have these reforms cover all levels of government have been turned back by the Democrats. The very contentious “pay-to-play” bill does not apply to the executive branch. Is that reform?

If proposed reforms are comprehensive, the Republican caucus stands ready to work with the Democrats to achieve the much needed changes to the way the broken system has been working. It is important that our constituents realize that we are working for their best interests, and not to line our pockets, or profit from our positions. We should be anxious to vote for reform.

The unanimous vote by the Assembly Appropriations Committee that would prevent nepotism, enrollment in more than one publicly funded health plan, or from taking gifts worth more than $250 allows these bills to be placed before the full Assembly for a vote on Monday. But, if the Senate does nothing, these bills will die. The Democrats seem to be prepared to wait even longer to seriously consider reform, if they consider it at all. After all Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union) says that the media wants reform, not the public.

On January 8, 2004 Democrats denied the Republican request for amendments to the ethics bills that were being considered. The Republicans request was that these bill apply to all levels of government, but the Democrats felt the reforms should apply only to the Legislature. Then, on January 12, 2004, the last day of the 210th Legislature, the Democrats procedurally blocked the Republicans attempt to consider legislation regarding the controversial “Pay to Play,” issue. This was the Republicans third attempt to consider this legislation, each attempt was blocked by the Democrats.

So, instead of real reform in New Jersey, we have “lite” reform. This lame-duck session only amounts to nibbling around the real reform issues needed. The Governor’s office says that the reform effort is a step in the right direction, but they will continue to push for a more comprehensive package. Please call the Governor’s office at 609-292-6000 or email him at www.state.nj.us/governor/govmail.html and let him know that you support any effort he can make for real change in New Jersey.