‘Today’s OPRA bill is not who we are’ says Newark mayor as his fellow Democrats vote to rollback transparency in N.J. with help from GOP

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka issued a statement Monday decrying the New Jersey Legislature’s vote to pass a bill that guts the state’s Open Public Records Act (OPRA). The bill now goes to the governor, who can sign or veto it. Polls show that 81% of New Jersey residents oppose weakening OPRA.

The bill was approved by the Senate 21-10, with nine senators abstaining, as members of the audience cried out “Shame! Shame! Shame!.” There was no debate or discussion. The only Democrats to vote no were Sen. Andrew Zwicker and Sen. Britnee Timberlake.

Republican Senator Tony Bucco, a sponsor of the bill, didn’t even bother to show up for the vote Monday. Democrat Shirley Turner was also absent, as was Republican James Holzapfel. Members who were present but abstained included Democrats Gordon Johnson, John McKeon, Raj Mukherji, and Angela McKnight. Republicans abstaining included Kristin Corrado and Holly Schepisi.

Later in the afternoon, the Assembly passed the bill by a vote of 42-28. Republican Gregory Myhre abstained. Democrats Wayne DeAngelo, Tennille McCoy and Ellen Park did not vote. Democrats John Allen, Clinton Calabrese, Shama Haider, and Jessica Ramirez were no-shows, as were Republicans Robert Clifton and Nancy Muñoz.

The most controversial provision of the bill eliminates mandatory fee shifting. The provision allowed residents who are wrongfully denied public records to be guaranteed that their legal fees will be covered if they successfully challenge the public records denials in court. Baraka said studies of public records laws across the country show that in states with mandatory fee-shifting. government agencies comply with public records requests at higher rates.

“This bill changes that structure and guarantees that the public will have less transparency. We can address the issues with OPRA being used as a business without throwing the baby out with the bathwater,” Baraka said.

Baraka is the mayor of the state’s largest city. he said he knows how cumbersome OPRA requests can be.

“But I also know, without transparency, we do not have democracy. I am a Democrat and I believe that we are supposed to be the party of the people. I believe in accountability for anyone taking advantage of working families, short-changing our communities, weakening our public institutions, or threatening our democracy,” Baraka said. “You can’t have faith in our institutions, you can’t have democracy, without transparency. This OPRA bill is not who we are in New Jersey.”

Former Senator Loretta Weinberg said she could not be more disappointed in the New Jersey Legislature.

“Today, the Democratic-led State Legislature, a body I served for more than two decades, collaborated with Republicans to fundamentally gut our Open Public Records Act. Leadership reached across the aisle to pass this anti-democratic bill because they didn’t have enough Democratic votes in their caucus. Secrecy and evading accountability, I guess, has turned bipartisan, Weinberg said.

“The Democratic Party, I believed, was the party that stood against the corruption of power and stood for integrity, transparency and democracy,” Weinberg said. “To Senators Zwicker and Timberlake, thank you for holding tight to our democratic values, for voting no and for fighting not only for your constituents but all the people of New Jersey.”