State legislators in both the NJ Assembly and Senate from both parties make it official they prefer secrecy and withholding public information from the public, encouraging lack of accountability from government at all levels when they when they approved Bills which makes it more difficult to get public information, in spite of the Open Public Records Act ( OPRA )
Assembly Woman Vicky Flynn was the primary sponsor of the Assembly bill that shuts down accessibility to public records, and Assemblyman Gerry Scharfenberger and Flynn both voted in favor of it. Senator Declan O‘Scanlon voted against the bill in the Senate, but there were not enough negative votes to retain the current OPRA regulations.
In District 11, Senator Vin Gopal also voted in favor of denying people information on government matters. The bills approved by both bodies are [Senate Bill S-2930] [Assembly matching Bill A-4045].
The Senate voted 21 -10 in favor of the bill, with nine Senators choosing not to vote at all; the Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 42 -27 with one abstention and ten members not voting
The bi-partisan bills will become law if signed by Governor Murphy; however, a spokesperson for the Governor declined to comment on the Governor’s position or whether he will sign the bills.
Legislators indicated they approved the bill in order to cut down on time paid employees at every level of government having to spend in providing information to the public. The bill also allows municipalities to sue OPRA requestors as retaliation against those seeking the same information that is available under the current law.
The League of Municipalities, which includes memberships from most of the boroughs and cities in Monmouth County, and the New Jersey Association of Counties, of which Monmouth is a member, declined to discuss provisions of the bill at the hearing.
Assemblyman Brian Berger of Morris County described the bill as “malicious and intentional” in casting his vote opposing it. The Senate vote was not live-streamed and came without any debate. At least one legislator declined to respond to any questions during a debate on the Assembly floor. Berger added that “It’s this type of bill that really erodes the public’s trust.”
One provision of the bill ends the mandate that governments that lose records disputes in court pay the legal fees of the requestors. Another portion would allow towns to sue requestors they believe are using records requests to interrupt government functions. If it becomes law, every municipality would be required to adopt a uniform records request form which would allow custodians to deny outright requests that do not include a requestor’s name, address, email, and phone number.
The legislation would also create new exemptions barring the release of information on a broader range of electronic devices, public security systems, and metadata, would require redaction of personal information — including names, addresses, telephone numbers, personal emails, and bank and credit card information, from documents ranging from pet permits to Motor Vehicle Commission records, safety emergency response plans and government notification systems.
