The following items are taken from reports issued by legislators representing Central Jersey communities and other items of political concern.
Gov. Jon Corzine signed a package of bills last week designed to further improve the ethical climate in New Jersey by eliminating dual office-holding for elected officials and — for the first time — creating a specific crime to target individuals who use public resources for unauthorized purposes and increase penalties for those found guilty of public corruption.
The governor also signed legislation requiring the Office of Legislative Services to post all legislators’ voting records online.
”I am committed to giving the people of our state the kind of open, transparent and accountable government they deserve, and these bills go a long way towards accomplishing that goal,” Gov. Corzine said. “These reforms will only further demonstrate our commitment to ensuring that government serves only the public trust, and I want to thank the Legislature, and Sen. Karcher in particular, for their efforts on this issue.”
”We’ve made enormous progress in banning pay-to-play, removing taxpayer funded pensions from convicted officials and imposing mandatory criminal sentences on corrupt politicians,” added Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Mercer, Monmouth, who sponsored three of the bills in the Senate. “Together these bills will further chip away at New Jersey’s image of a haven for the corrupt.”
”Today is a historic day in our efforts to restore the public’s trust in its elected officials,” said Assemblyman Michael Panter, D-Mercer, Monmouth, who authored the ban on dual office-holding in the Assembly. “We will no longer accept business as usual to dominate Trenton. Instead, we’re taking major steps towards real transparency in New Jersey.”
The ethics bills signed last week are:
• A4326/S3008, sponsored in the Assembly by Assembly members Panter, D-Mercer, Monmouth; and Greenstein, D-Mercer, Middlesex, and in the Senate by Sens. James, D-Essex; Karcher, D-Mercer, Monmouth; and Turner, D-Mercer, prohibits newly elected public office-holders from simultaneously holding more than one elective office.
• S1192/A2465, sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Adler, D-Camden; and Karcher, D-Mercer, Monmouth, and in the Assembly by Assembly members Cohen, D-Union; O’Toole, R-Bergen, Essex, Passaic; Panter, D-Mercer, Monmouth; and Greenstein, D-Mercer, Middlesex, creates the crime of corruption of public resources, which makes it illegal to knowingly misuse taxpayer dollars and other public resources. Violations could result in up to 20 years in prison, a fine of $200,000, or both.
• S1318/A3005, the Public Corruption Profiteering Penalty Act, sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Karcher, D-Mercer, Monmouth; and Madden, D-Camden, Gloucester, and in the Assembly by Assembly members O’Toole, R-Bergen, Essex, Passaic; Handlin, R-Middlesex, Monmouth; Panter, D-Mercer, Monmouth; Greenstein, D-Mercer, Middlesex; and Van Drew, D-Cape May, Atlantic, Cumberland, authorizes courts to assess extra fines in corruption cases that involve any aspect of award or payment of local, county or state contracts. Penalties could be as high as $500,000, or three times the value of the property stolen.
• S1662/A3252, sponsored in the Senate by Sens. Martin, R-Morris, Passaic; and Weinberg, D-Bergen, and in the Assembly by Assembly members Vainieri Huttle, D-Bergen; Conners, D-Burlington, Camden; Hackett, D-Essex; and Gordon, D-Bergen, requires the Office of Legislative Services to make available online the complete voting records of state legislators. The data must be updated daily and remain posted on the site for two legislative sessions.
Dual office ban
Legislation that Assemblyman Michael Panter and Assemblywoman Linda R. Greenstein sponsored to ban dual office-holding in New Jersey was signed into law last week by Gov. Jon Corzine.
The lawmakers said the measure (A4326) enables New Jersey to join the vanguard of other states that have prohibitions against individuals serving in multiple public elected positions at the same time. The New Jersey ban will be subject to individuals elected to office after Feb. 1, 2008.
”The days of unmitigated dual office-holding are numbered,” said Mr. Panter, D-Monmouth. “The days of lawmakers pandering against dual office-holding and then never securing the votes to pass any sort of ban are over. Dual office-holding — a practice opposed by 79 percent of New Jerseyans — is finally coming to an end.”
”After decades of unsuccessful efforts to ban dual office-holding by both Republican- and Democratic-controlled legislatures, this is a quantum leap forward,” said Ms. Greenstein, D-Mercer. “This will help ensure that elected representatives focus on the public’s interests while removing the conflict-of-interest perception inherent with dual office-holding.”
The new law is part of a four-bill package of anti-corruption and government reform measures that Gov. Corzine signed at the public library building in Marlboro, a community that was at the center of a highly publicized corruption scandal involving a politically connected developer from roughly 2002 through 2004.
The dual office-holding ban originally was advanced as part of the Legislature’s landmark property-tax reform initiative. While both Mr. Panter and Ms. Greenstein had advocated for a more immediate ban, they expressed satisfaction that the delayed ban puts a sunset in place for dual office-holding.
According to the sponsors, this bill makes up for decades of lost time on dual office-holding, as previous legislatures under both Republican and Democratic control failed to successfully advance an immediate ban against dual office holding. In fact, for at least the last 15 years, majority and minority members of both parties have tried to pass an all-encompassing dual office-holding ban without success.
”After decades of legislators talking about eliminating dual office-holding, today a prohibition is finally being put in place,” said Mr. Panter.
”This helps make up for lost time,” said Mr. Greenstein. “It finally puts New Jersey on a track to put an end to dual office-holding.”
