Gov. Phil Murphy has signed a controversial bill overhauling New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA) into law – a win for the leaders of the State Legislature, who were the chief drivers of the bill, and a loss for the many advocacy groups and activists who criticized the bill as a blow to government transparency.
In a statement, Murphy acknowledged that his decision to sign the bill would be a contentious one, noting the many groups and politicians who vociferously protested against it during its passage through the legislature.
“I have heard the many objections to the bill directly, and I know that they are made in good faith and with good intentions,” Murphy wrote. “I also commend everyone who has engaged in this debate for making their voice heard, which is the foundation of our democratic system of government.”
Ultimately, though, Murphy said that he did not believe the bill would harm transparency, and that the legislators who crafted it did a good job of balancing the various interests at play.
“The Legislature’s task of balancing all of the interests involved in this challenging issue was not an easy one and should not be subject to derision,” he said. “While I do not believe the concerns raised about some provisions of the bill are irrational, I am persuaded that the safeguards in the bill and the protections provided by the [Government Records Council] and the courts are sufficient to mitigate them.”
“If I believed that this bill would enable corruption in any way, I would unhesitatingly veto it,” he added.
The newly enacted law makes a number of changes to OPRA, a landmark act put into place in 2002. It weakens the requirement for local governments to pay requestors’ legal fees when successfully sued over records denials; adds new limitations on what personal information can be revealed via records requests; and creates a separate set of rules for commercial requestors, among many other things.
The reform bill first emerged in March with the strong support of legislative leadership from both parties, and was quickly put on the fast track for passage. But after outcry from a number of top Democrats – among them the governor’s wife, First Lady Tammy Murphy, who was running for U.S. Senate at the time – it was pulled from the legislative schedule.
It didn’t take long for the bill to return in amended form, however. In May, the amended bill came back up in committee, and went on to pass both the Assembly and the Senate just a few days later.
The coalitions in each chamber that approved the bill were unusual; while the bill drew more support from Democrats than Republicans, some more establishment-oriented Republicans voted for it, while a solid cohort of Democrats, many of them from progressive towns like Montclair and Jersey City, voted against it. (In fact, a few Democrats initially voted for it, then later said that was a mistake and switched their votes to no.)
In the last month, the bill’s detractors – who loudly opposed the bill at every step of the legislative process – switched to lobbying Murphy to veto the bill. They had some data on their side; in April, Fairleigh Dickinson University released a poll finding that 81% of state voters didn’t like the proposed reforms and would rather keep OPRA as it is.
But their efforts were to no avail. Sarah Fajardo, the policy director at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, said Murphy’s decision to sign the bill was a poor one, and that legislators should pay an electoral price for it.
“It’s shameful that despite overwhelming concerns from their constituents, lawmakers fast-tracked, and the governor signed, a bill that severely restricts access to government records and limits the public’s ability to hold elected officials accountable,” Fajardo said. “But we know that voters will have the last word at the ballot box next year – and maybe then legislators will remember who they are meant to serve.”