Posted on 03/15/2024 10:08:16 AM PDT by lowbridge
New Jersey state lawmakers did an about-face on a controversial bill that critics said would have given government bureaucrats and politicians more power to block information from the public.
Some Garden State Democrats had looked to fast-track the bill to change the state’s open records law but backed off on Thursday, pulling the proposal before a key committee could vote to advance it.
The decision was hailed as a victory for open-government advocates who fought tooth and nail to kill it — even though it may not be gone for good.
“Democracy only functions when the voice of the people is heard, and today, we were heard,” Sarah Fajardo, policy director for the ACLU of New Jersey, told The Post in a statement. “That this rushed effort to roll back transparency was poised to pass via backroom deals without public input is lost on no one, and New Jerseyans deserve better.”
Lawmakers had tried to portray the bill — S-2930 in the state Senate and A-4045 in the General Assembly — as a “reform” to the 22-year-old law that would hamstring profiteers and data brokers who inundate towns with requests, then sell the information to third parties.
But transparency advocates — who slammed the legislation as an assault on the public’s right to know — said the changes would have made it easier for government agencies to withhold documents and deny requests.
“This is an attack on transparency and part of a disturbing trend in the New Jersey Legislature, where lawmakers decrease public access to information under the guise of ‘transparency,’” said a letter to legislative leaders written by the League of Women Voters, the ACLU, and the Working Families Party.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Fascists never stop.
And NJ’s “sunshine” laws are weak enough as it is compared to other states. Sopranostan indeed and I live here.
“Fascists never stop.”
Very true. Incrementalism. Never retreat. Nibbing at the Constitution and freedom in myriad ways, all scheming, conniving and devious. They always hope lovers of freedom and liberty are asleep and not paying attention.
You can bet the “crisis” (outfits seeking and suing to get local government’s information, just to go and sell it) was created by people who have less the six degrees of separation from the politicians that proposed the “reform”.
Besides the never ending reach of incrementalism the other well used tactic of the :eft-progressives, is to create a crisis as a cause for some legislation they already have in mind. Biden has tried that with his border crisis.
I saw a comment by another Freeper on another thread that expressed the same truth: “Fascists gonna fasche”.
Either way, truly, succinctly, and well put.
This time...
You have my condolences. Escape is in my future.
And Garden Staters need to stop voting for them.
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