Advocates for OPRA urge Gov. Phil Murphy to veto bill that dismantles transparency

After legislation to gut access to public records was passed by both chambers of the Legislature, good governance advocates gathered just steps from the office of Gov. Phil Murphy, pinning their hopes on him for the preservation of government transparency in New Jersey.

The bill was first introduced in March and cleared the state Senate budget committee, chaired by its sponsor, Sen. Paul Sarlo, within days but was pulled from consideration in the Assembly Appropriations Committee for amendments.

It returned to public view last Thursday, when it again appeared in Sarlo’s budget committee — and was again advanced despite hours of testimony in opposition. Amendments made to the proposed bill were not posted online or made available to the public at the meeting.

The bill was heard in committee in the Assembly last Friday, when it was again met with hours of testimony from advocates who called for it to be amended or held, to no avail.

'We are now calling on the governor to veto this bill'

Now people like New Jersey Working Families Party State Director Antoinette Miles are looking to Murphy to veto it.

Miles called the Legislature’s approval “very disappointing” and said that after a recent poll indicated that 81% of people are opposed to the bill, “people are expressing outrage at what has happened here.”

“We are now calling on the governor to veto this bill. We agree with the governor that the right to transparency is sacrosanct,” she said. “He said that himself, and we agree with him, and so that is why we are urging him to veto this bill.”

The advocates noted that they have requested a meeting with the governor before he signs this bill, and a spokesperson from Wind of the Spirit said they “hope that the governor will step in and be the last refuge of democracy.”

What has Murphy said?

Murphy wouldn’t comment on the specifics of bill last week during a regular "Ask Governor Murphy" segment on WNYC but did explain his stand on OPRA more generally.

“With the internet, with technology more generally, I think the notion of updating this is a worthy notion, so I think there are good reasons to do that, and I’ve felt that from the get-go,” he said. “On the other hand, by doing so you can’t sacrifice something that I think is sacrosanct to a whole lot of people, including yours truly, which is transparency.”

He said on that show in March that he thought OPRA needed to be tweaked, given the way technology has changed in the years since it was implemented, and that he's heard anecdotally about concerns regarding commercial use of the process.

"We are all in on transparency," he said. "I would think if you get something that would address some of the things I just mentioned in a fair way that doesn't undermine transparency, that's something that I'm open-minded to ... I haven't seen anyone with nefarious behavior here. I think there are people who are legitimately trying to address some issues with the system, but we are all in on transparency most importantly. Period. Full stop."

One of the changes Murphy has supported during his tenure is the broadening of OPRA by eliminating the exemption that the Legislature has, calling for a bill to “remove the very broad legislative exemption to OPRA that exempts all communications for the use of a legislative member in the course of their official duties.”

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Legislature. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ OPRA bill: Advocates urge Phil Murphy to veto 'reform'