TRENTON – Two leading Senate Democrats pushed today for modernization of the state’s open public meeting and records acts.
Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and President Steve Sweeney renewed their call for better transparency and accountability.
Specifically, Weinberg today talked about dealing with opposition from local and county governments.
“Since I’ve introduced these bills a few years ago, I’ve received numerous objections from individuals in local and county government who believe that living up to their responsibility for accountable, transparent government represents an unfair burden,” Weinberg said in a release.
“These bills are only intended to modernize and strengthen the existing open government laws on the books, and public officials at all levels should already be doing their best to fulfill their obligations to be accountable to the taxpaying public.”
Among other things, the bills, S1451 and S1452, would revise open government laws to reflect new trends in communications.
The “Byron M. Baer Open Public Meetings Act,” also known as the Sunshine Law, was written in 1973; by way of contrast, the Internet hadn’t even been named until 1974. The Open Public Meetings Act was adopted more than a decade ago, before smart phones had gained widespread proliferation.
Sweeney said, “New Jersey residents pay among the highest taxes in the nation, and they deserve to know how their tax money is being spent.
“By updating the Open Public Meetings Act and the Open Public Records Act to reflect the way we communicate with each other in the modern world, we’re making it easier for taxpayers to access that information.”
In addition, Weinberg said she would introduce provisions to reform the Government Records Council to improve its independence and effectiveness.
Under the new language, the Senate President and Assembly Speaker would each be able to appoint a member to the GRC, and members of the Governor’s Cabinet who currently serve on the Council would be removed.
The new language would also prevent the Governor from removing the Chair of the GRC, similar to the protections in place for the State Comptroller, and the review process would be expedited, with new deadlines as to when the GRC must issue a decision on a pending case.
Both bills have been approved by the Senate State Government Committee, and are pending before the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee.
