Update On Efforts to Change the Open Public Records and Open Public Meetings Act During Lame Duck Session

Nov 24, 20231 Comment

So we got an update from someone who has a bit more information than us on concerns connected to potential changes to OPRA – this is what they wrote us on Wednesday afternoon:

Danielson filed four opra bills but none of them are going to advance. Sarlo is working on an opra bill and opma bill but nothing’s been filed yet and I checked today.

So part of this is good news, as Danielson’s proposals were terrible outside of the requirements for posting minutes and such. However, we have yet to learn what Sarlo is thinking, and the OPMA (Open Public Meetings Act) now appears to be on the table along with OPRA.

As I wrote in a prior article:

Contrary to what has been the local narrative, even with the existing law in place, New Jersey residents lack many of the protections and rights that residents of other states enjoy.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, NJ went from best in the nation to 19th overall and received a D rating in a 2015 investigation. NJ received an “F” in Public Access to Information. Again this rating is with the current law we have.

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NJ protections under OPRA need to be strengthened, not weakened. The only valuable part of the proposed legislation is that government bodies would be compelled to make minutes available; however, knowing the history of this town – I am also aware that every possible loophole will be sought to prevent this.

The same can be said for OPMA, yet here we are in limbo, trying to figure out if they are going to take two of the few decent laws we have and twist them into something meaningless.

OPMA already has no teeth – the best one can expect is a letter from a Prosecutor admonishing government entities and requiring them to make changes that often get rolled back anyway. In the case of our BOE, the Union County Prosecutor praises how excellent our BOE was in complying with OPMA and then enters into a settlement agreement or we notice sudden improvements soon after concerns are raised because they weren’t so excellent in complying with OPMA.

Please email Senator Scutari and Sen Sarlo and ask them to encourage their party to pause any changes to these critical laws so the public can view and provide input.

Changes to these laws should NOT focus on reducing access.

Changes to these laws should focus on increasing penalties for violations of each of these laws, require government entities to publish public meeting documents, financial documents and video records of committee meetings that are often used to bypass OPMA and to punish government entities that use attorneys to force OPRA cases into court using tax dollars simply to delay providing information they know they will ultimately have to provide.

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