If Murphy signs OPRA 'reform,' he abandons his progressive ambitions — and legacy | Stile

Gov. Phil Murphy has been a source of ambivalence for the progressive wing of the New Jersey Democratic Party.

He was a refreshing breath of fresh air and a champion of its long-ignored agenda after taking office in 2018.

Public employee unions and teachers, who spent the previous eight years as Republican Gov. Chris Christie’s favorite punching bags, were brought to the bargaining table and treated as partners.

He restored funding for Planned Parenthood clinics and battled to raise income taxes on millionaires. And he sought to break the political power of George Norcross, the Democratic political leader who maintained a tight grip on the Trenton agenda from his home base in Camden County.

That goodwill came in handy for Murphy in his 2021 reelection when he pivoted from the left and back to the party establishment, which rewarded him with endorsements and coveted county-line ballot bracketing that insulated him from primary challengers on the left.

Suddenly, Murphy went from being Inspector Javert, hounding Norcross, to headlining his fundraisers. Despite their lack of enthusiasm, activists on the left fell in line, calculating that a second term Murphy was a far better alternative to a Trump-era Republican at the helm at the Statehouse.

But as he rounds into his final legacy-burnishing of a lame-duck term, that ambivalence has turned to frustration. With a little less than two years left in his second term, Murphy has remained very much the establishment Democrat, aligning himself with power brokers of the party in Trenton who are more focused on bringing taxpayer relief and pork back to their districts and, as of late, expanding their power and closing the window on government transparency.

Murphy's pivot from progressivism has been noticed

Progressives have taken note of Murphy's evolution into a far more transactional Democratic leader.

Last year, Murphy collaborated with the party and signed the Elections Transparency Act which strengthened his powers over the election watchdog agency while dramatically increasing the size of campaign contributions for legislative leaders.

Murphy also became a defender of the largely discredited county-line ballot design, a tool that party bosses have used for decades to maintain control from their local clubhouses to the Statehouse. His wife, Tammy Murphy, and her short-lived campaign for the U.S. Senate only served to inflame grassroots anger as county chairs quickly bestowed the preferential ballot position, virtually guaranteeing a win. A federal judge ordered a new ballot design for the Democratic primary on June 4, signaling its inevitable demise.

And last week, the state attorney general was in court defending a two-decade-old loophole that has allowed gamblers to smoke inside Atlantic City casinos. A group of workers have sued the state seeking to remove the provision as an unconstitutional special interest law that puts their health in danger. Murphy initially seemed to support closing the loophole — an exemption from the state’s Smoke-Free Air Act, which bans smoking in most public establishments — but has since signaled a sympathetic shift to the casino industry, which is fighting to keep the smoking provision.

Now, some fear, Murphy will give his seal of approval to a new revision of the Open Public Records Act that effectively restricts the ability of journalists, citizen advocates, lawyers and residents of any standing to obtain taxpayer-funded records that offer insight on how the governments and public agencies spend their money and conduct their business.

The law has served as a vital tool in rooting out corruption, waste, mismanagement and abuse, but the new law will make it harder to obtain those records and will allow officials to stonewall uncomfortable requests with impunity.

The measure, which barely passed both houses of the Democratic-controlled Legislature last Monday, has become the rallying cry for many on the left, who have been calling on Murphy to veto it. A decision could come this week.

'Signing this bill would be devastating'

To many advocates, the OPRA bill takes on a larger resonance than just a run-of-the-mill legislation that stirs controversy under the Statehouse dome. This gutting — led by a New Jersey Democratic Party that once wrapped itself in the mantle of transparent and open government — comes amid a mounting anxiety that democracy is crumbling in real time.

“I think this is an important moment for [Murphy]," said Dena Mottola Jaborska, executive director of New Jersey Citizen Action, which advocates for health care, housing and other issues affecting immigrants and low-income residents. “Vetoing this law will signal that he is still working on behalf of public interest in this state. Signing this bill would be devastating.”

Jaborska recalled how a first-term Murphy backed legislation that was a priority for the organization, such as the expansion of health care for children and boosting the minimum wage — “a lot of important stuff” — but noted that his interest in the progressive agenda has been “waning.”

Yet the OPRA bill, as she described it, will serve as a defining issue, an emblem of his true intention of reforming the way Trenton has traditionally worked, which is in secret and at the behest of powerful interests.

“I think he will still advance important issues, but this is an important issue," she said. “And we need him to stand up for democracy. It is the issue that matters more than any other issue, because we're all tired of struggling with the way that politics and policy gets done in New Jersey. And one of the ways that he can show us that he's serious about fixing how Trenton works is to veto this bill.”

Murphy has not given much indication about his plans, telling WNYC radio earlier this month that while transparency is “sacrosanct," there remains a need to restructure the law to reflect the technological changes that have occurred since the law was passed in 2002. A spokeswoman declined to comment on when Murphy intends to take action.

Micah Rasmussen, director of Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University, said the OPRA bill is a make-or-break moment in his relations with the party’s grassroots base.

“They have been pretty patient with him through the Senate campaign, and through the last year or two,’’ Rasmussen said. “And this is probably the straw that is going to break the camel’s back. And if he doesn’t care, that’s fine, but if he wants to be thought of as a progressive champion by this state and for whatever comes next, that’s important.”

Charlie Stile is a veteran New Jersey political columnist. For unlimited access to his unique insights into New Jersey’s political power structure and his powerful watchdog work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: stile@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Murphy's signing the OPRA reform would finish his progressive legacy