(nj.com)
A controversial bill pushed by a powerful state senator seeking to gut a corruption-fighting watchdog agency has been abruptly pulled by its sponsor — Senate President Nick Scutari — according to published reports and several sources familiar with the legislation.
The bill, S4924, sought to undercut the watchdog role of the Office of the State Comptroller, transferring much of its responsibilities to the State Commission of Investigation, or SCI.
The effort to downgrade the comptroller came in the wake of a series of blistering reports by the agency in recent years that have embarrassed or angered officials who have been targets of the comptroller.
The apparent withdrawal by Scutari, D-Union, followed a committee hearing last week that turned into a contentious and often bizarre proceeding where state Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, D-N.J., were kept waiting by committee chairman state Sen. James Beach, D-Camden, more than four hours until the very end of the hearing before they were allowed to address their concerns.
Dozens of critics, meanwhile, showed up to complain about what they saw as an attempt to silence those fighting corruption in New Jersey, as well as the shockingly quick action on a bill they said had allowed little opportunity for anyone to challenge it.
The measure was introduced in the dead of night just before Thanksgiving.
Scutari did not respond to texts Tuesday regarding why he had backtracked on the legislation. But he told the New Jersey Globe, which first reported his reversal, that he had “heard the concerns” and was “going to listen to them.”
The legislation, though, never found any additional sponsors beyond Scutari and no one in the state Assembly ever sought to sponsor a companion bill in the lower house. The proposal is still posted on the Legislature’s board without any indication that it was pulled. But one legislative source suggested it was dead.
“Could he have really pushed it through? Maybe,” the source said of Scutari. “But I do think a lot of senators had expressed discomfort.”
New Jersey Democratic State Chairman LeRoy Jones said Scutari “acted prudently.”
“I am glad he recognized this was an uphill battle that was somewhat overreaching,” added Jones, who is also the Essex County Democratic chairman. “I think the behavior at the committee meeting, perhaps was more detrimental to the bill than the actual bill itself.”
Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill, a Democrat, signaled some opposition to the bill but stopped short of rejecting it outright last week.
Platkin, posting on social media, called the bill’s withdrawal “a MAJOR win for democracy,” thanking Kim and Kevin Walsh, the acting state comptroller for helping push back the legislation.
“Proud to join you in this fight. When we fight corruption, we win. Let’s keep it up,” the attorney general wrote.
Scutari had been hinting for months that he might be going after the comptroller, telling reporters as far back as January that he thought lawmakers should consider consolidating watchdogs.
But during last week’s hearing, Jim Sullivan, the policy director of the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said “there is no reason to make the drastic changes this bill proposes to an important public watchdog.”
Sullivan said if the state Legislature wants the state government to run more efficiently, “getting rid of government watchdog agencies is the exact opposite of what they should be doing. The more watchdog groups we have, the better.”
NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report
Susan K. Livio is an investigative reporter for The Star-Ledger and NJ.com. She specializes in health and social policy issues and how they intersect with politics. A Rutgers University graduate, she has won...