News Flash

During his remarks at the Governor Florio Policy Lecture on Wednesday, Governor Murphy announced a comprehensive push for ethics reform as part of his pledge to change “the culture in Trenton, to make it more open and accessible, responsive, and, ultimately, more representative of our state and our great people–to make sure that government works for people, and not special interests.” The proposals include legislation to eliminate the OPRA exemption for the legislature.

Another proposal includes legislation to prohibit the legislature from taking action on any bill or resolution that has not been posted in full on the legislature’s website 72 hours prior to the vote unless three-fourths of the full membership votes that the bill or resolution is an emergency.

Other proposals include:

• reducing the threshold for individuals to register as government affairs agents from 20 hours of lobbying activities per calendar year to one hour per calendar year;
• requiring legislators and all executive and legislative branch employees earning $100,000 or more per year to fill out a detailed financial disclosure promulgated by the State Ethics Commission;
• extending the “cooling off” period, the time officials must wait after leaving their public service before being able to register as a lobbyist, from one to two years. This would apply to all executive and legislative branch staff earning more than $100,000.

 We will continue to keep you posted on the Governor’s push for ethics reforms.

Contact: Lori Buckelew, Senior Legislative Analyst, lbuckelew@njlm.org, 609-695-3481 x112.