They just couldn’t help themselves. Despite polls that showed 81% of New Jersey voters opposed gutting the Open Public Records Act (or OPRA), the legislature voted to do just that. The bill was initially championed by Democrats but managed to garner bipartisan support from plenty of Republicans who would also like to operate in secrecy. The question now remains, will governor Murphy sign it. He’s totally going to sign it.
Former Senate candidate and current spouse Tammy Murphy has joined the chorus in publicly opposing the bill, but something tells me that she and her husband are going to agree to disagree. The bill would never have gotten to the governor’s desk without his collaboration, or at least reassurance that it would get the stamp of approval. As political smarty pants Julie Roginsky so eloquently stated in a recent Friendly Fire:
“We might see some kabuki theater from the front office and the governor may conditionally veto some elements of this legislation, but it is impossible to believe that leadership in either house forced members to walk the plank on this sh*t sandwich of a bill without getting agreement from the governor that it will become law.”
That about sums it up. Voters quickly saw through the lazy sales pitch of civic-minded legislators hoping to ease the burden on overworked public employees inundated with public records requests.
This bill was always about limiting transparency: They don’t want you sticking your nose where it absolutely belongs, so they changed the rules. It’s a matter of time before the people’s business becomes none of their business.
Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.com’s newsletters.
