Assembly puts off action on disclosure of votes

By GREGORY VOLPE
Gannett State Bureau

TRENTON

At a time when state lawmakers are under federal scrutiny about whether they personally profited from secretive budget additions, the Assembly still has not voted on a measure that would immediately disclose in an online database how each lawmaker voted on all legislative matters.

As of Sunday, which began the third annual Sunshine Week dedicated to a more open government, New Jerseyans still can't easily click on the Legislature's Web site to see how their local lawmakers voted on matters as important as the state's budget, or as trivial as the state's official dirt.

Last year, the Senate unanimously passed a measure requiring Internet disclosure of voting details. In June, the Assembly amended it to require the Office of Legislative Services to update the site daily, but since then the measure has lingered seemingly forgotten while lawmakers adopted a controversial budget and attempted property tax reform.

Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle, D-Englewood, the measure's lead sponsor in the Assembly, said those issues overshadowed the voting disclosure bill. When reminded of it by a reporter, she got it placed on Thursday's Assembly agenda -- the last session before lawmakers recess for budget deliberations.

"It adds transparency," Vainieri Huttle said. "I believe in the climate today, with all the negative things, it gives a positive image for us to acknowledge our voting records."

Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, R-Red Bank, another sponsor, cited the ongoing federal grand jury inquiry into whether certain lawmakers have profited from secret, last-minute budget decisions as one example why immediate public voting records are needed.

"We should all be held accountable, and that's an easy way to do it," Beck said.

Vainieri Huttle's colleague from the 37th District, Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Teaneck, the Senate's lead sponsor, said she doesn't know why it stalled in the Assembly after the Senate approved it 39-0 last May.

"The more transparency, the less problems we have to legislate about because the newspapers, the media and the public will take care of it," Weinberg said. "I believe our votes, most particularly, our votes on various issues, should be released in such a way that the average constituent can find out how we voted and then maybe ask us why."

Albert Porroni, executive director of the OLS, said his office is ready to comply but cannot go beyond what's required to be posted on the Legislature's Web site without a change in the law.

Currently, zipped databases of votes are posted on the site, but the links are obscure and require some work and computer savvy to navigate and download.

If the measure is enacted, the Web site will list voting records for the current session, covering 2006 and 2007, and the previous two-year legislative session.

Reach Gregory J. Volpe at gvolpe@gannett.com
Published: March 12. 2007 3:10AM