NJ Is Rallying to Stop State Sen. Sarlo’s & Assemblyman Danielsen’s Age of Darkness

Mar 8, 2024

NJ Is Rallying to Stop State Sen. Sarlo and Assemblyman Danielsen from Destroying the Open Public Records Act

Since discovering that Sen. Sarlo has teamed up with Assemblyman Danielsen to usher in a new age of Darkness through a second attempt to gut OPRA, organizations in NJ are rallying a defense.

We first want to credit Krystal Knapp and the Jersey Vindicator for breaking this story and providing a detailed and comprehensive analysis of this dangerous legislation that will force the New Jersey Government to go dark.

On the local front, we are happy to announce that Councilman Paul Donnelly and BOE Members Sai Akiri, Natasha Joly and Dr. Tom Forregger have signed BHCW’s petition voicing opposition to this bill. BHCW also received the following response from the office of Assemblywoman Matsikoudis:

Ms. Matsikoudas was the first representative to respond positively to our concerns during Danielsen’s first attempt to destroy OPRA and is a crucial ally for Berkeley Heights Residents in this battle.

On the state level, the League of Women Voters ACLU, the Working Families Party, and important voices like CJ Griffin, John Paff, and Walter Luers are using social media, press outlets, and other spaces to educate the public and inform lawmakers.

Katie Sobko, northjersey.com reports:

Jesse Burns of the League of Women Voters said that “Trenton has developed a disturbing track record of proposing and passing anti-transparency legislation while trying to convince the public that it is in our best interest.

“Provisions in [the proposed legislation] limit the public’s and the media’s ability to hold our government accountable and the legislation is bad for our democracy,” Burns said. “In what feels like a slap in the face to good government advocates, the Senate, after drafting this legislation behind closed doors, is attempting to fast-track the bill during ‘Sunshine Week,’ a time when we are meant to celebrate the positive impact of open government and transparency on our democracy.”

Burns cited last year’s Elections Transparency Act, which effectively rolled back some of the strongest pay-to-play laws in the country as another example of existing transparency laws being gutted.

Please do your part and sign our petition or email your local state representatives asking them to stop State Sen. Sarlo and Assemblyman Danielsen in their efforts to force New Jersey to go dark.