A NO NONSENSE, NO LOOPHOLES APPROACH TO ETHICS REFORM
Republican efforts helped put the spotlight on issues such as pay-to-play as well as the abuse of state grant programs by Democrat legislators. While Democrats initially refused to acknowledge that there was an ethics crisis in New Jersey, Assembly Republicans made numerous procedural motions during legislative sessions that focused media attention on the issue and introduced dozens of bills enacting ethics reforms.
Republicans unveiled the Assembly Republican Blueprint for a Corrupt-Free New Jersey in September 2006 following a wave of public corruption scandals and indictments. It had been two years since the Democrat-controlled Legislature had passed any ethics reforms. Those it did pass, including a weak nepotism bill and an ineffective pay-to-play ban, were insufficient and contained too many loopholes. During those years, numerous attempts by Republicans to bring stronger, more comprehensive reform measures to a vote were thwarted by the Democrats.
By the time the Assembly Republican Blueprint for a Corrupt-Free New Jersey was proposed, more than 80 public officials, employees and contractors had been charged or found guilty of public corruption-related acts. Today, the total exceeds 130 and continues to mount.
THE REPUBLICAN PLAN
RAISE THE BAR ON CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND SPECIAL TREATMENT
Ban dual office-holding
|
Eliminate certain conflicts of interest by ensuring that public officials serve only one constituency and receive only one public paycheck for public offices.
Stop pension boosting and tacking by public officials
|
An effective dual office-holding ban will eliminate most tacking, but specific anti-tacking provisions are needed, and late-career salary hikes resulting in unfunded and unjustified pension boosts must also be banned. Public officials should not be able to use their positions and connections to unjustly enrich themselves.
Expand anti-nepotism laws
|
Current law fails to extend anti-nepotism provisions to local governments, and also contains loopholes allowing state officials to hire some relatives including first cousins. It also allows legislators’ relatives to be hired in the four partisan staff offices. While the law does not allow state department heads to hire or promote certain relatives, it does allow them to hire each other’s relatives. These loopholes should be closed.
GET SERIOUS ABOUT CRIMINAL CORRUPTION
Suspend indicted public officials without pay
|
The special status of public officials as holders of the public trust means that their effectiveness and credibility is central to their job responsibilities. While “innocent until proven guilty” is a vitally important principle, the need for public faith in the integrity of their government officials warrants an unpaid suspension of indicted public officeholders while the criminal justice process takes its course.
Require jail time for convicted public officials
|
Crimes against the public trust are serious matters by their very nature, and should be treated that way even if the same type of crime committed by a private individual would not warrant jail time. The public should be assured, and public officials should be warned, that public corruption will result in a mandatory minimum jail term and restitution.
Require full pension forfeiture for convicted public officials
|
A public pension is deferred compensation for honorable public service. Once it has been proven that a public official has abused the public trust, no more taxpayer-funded compensation should be paid to that person. Public officials should be put on notice that they will lose their pensions if they engage in corrupt activities.
TOUGHEN LEGISLATIVE ETHICS RULES AND ENFORCEMENT
Strengthen the Legislative Code of Ethics
|
The Legislature is still operating under a temporary ethics code that has not been updated in 14 years. The code needs to be brought up to date, and strengthened by expanding provisions dealing with a legislator’s contracts with public entities.
Empower the public by reforming the ethics complaint process
|
The current process for making inquiries and filing ethics complaints against legislators is not “user-friendly” for the public. Changes should be made requiring taxpayer-paid staffers to offer assistance to members of the public who wish to file an official complaint, including advice on avoiding technical problems and providing complete and relevant information. The Legislature’s website should also be required to provide contact information and basic procedural information to the public, like the website of the State Ethics Commission does.
REFORM THE SYSTEM THAT PERPETUATES ABUSES
Stop pay-to-play and contribution laundering (“wheeling”)
|
Much public corruption is fueled by quid pro quo deals involving campaign contributions. The glaring loopholes in current law must be closed by applying reform to all levels of government, enacting a real ban on political money transfers known as wheeling, and tightening the law in other areas.
Campaign funding reform
|
A number of scandals and questionable activities reported over the past few years have placed a spotlight on certain types of abuse that still have not been addressed. Examples include the seemingly coordinated use of campaign loans by officers and employees of a company that itself was banned from making contributions, the apparent enrichment of a former public official using funds originally in the possession of his campaign account, and other scandals. These need to be addressed, as well as a ban on contributions by convicted persons and stronger provisions regarding forfeiture of public office for knowingly accepting illegal contributions.
THE DEMOCRAT RESPONSE
Republicans are pushing for tough ethics reforms because the culture of corruption in New Jersey must be stopped. Republicans also understand that there can never be true property tax reform until political corruption ends. Taxpayers will continue to be saddled with crushing property taxes to pay for bloated budgets and increased debt as public officials pad their pensions, direct inflated public contracts to their political cronies, and steer public funds to benefit themselves personally and politically.
The Assembly Republican Blueprint for a Corrupt-Free New Jersey is a comprehensive government reform package that attracted significant press coverage and eventually forced the Democrats to pass some additional reform measures. But they, too, were not as tough or sweeping as the reforms proposed by Republicans.
Mandatory forfeiture of benefits and prison terms
|
A law enacted in 2007 imposes mandatory imprisonment and requires forfeiture of pension and retirement benefits for public officers or employees convicted of certain crimes involving or touching their office or employment. However, it only applies to the pension for the job directly related to the corrupt activity (those with additional public jobs can keep their other pensions) and will not apply to any offense that took place before its enactment – such as those that are the subject of ongoing federal investigations.
Republicans proposed an amendment that would have required forfeiture of all public pensions (not only the one for the job directly related to the corrupt activity), required pension forfeiture for crimes committed before the bill’s enactment if the conviction occurs after the bill’s enactment, and made the bill effective immediately. Democrats killed the amendment by a party-line vote.
Dual office-holding
|
Another law enacted in 2007 prohibits newly elected public office holders from simultaneously holding more than one elective office. However, it grandfathers those who hold more than one elective office on the February 1, 2008 effective date of the law. Dual office holders will be able to continue to hold those offices, as long as their service is continuous (i.e., as long as they continue to be reelected to those offices).
Republicans moved an amendment to make the bill effective immediately, to prohibit a member of the Legislature from simultaneously holding appointive office, and to require an individual who holds multiple offices to resign from all except one office within 30 days of the bill’s effective date. The motion was tabled by the Democrats.
Using campaign funds for personal or family benefit
|
In 2007, a bill was signed into law that prohibits candidates from contributing campaign funds to a charity in which the candidate or candidate's immediate family is an officer or employee or receives compensation for goods or services provided to the charity.
Republicans attempted to amend the bill to prohibit campaign funds from being used for legal defense purposes. The move was blocked by the Democrats.
