The long-planned, slow death of open government in New Jersey

Political leaders have chipped away at transparency for years, and the damage now reaches every corner of public life.

After Watergate and the corruption scandals of the 1980s through the early 2000s, New Jersey became a national leader in open government and transparency. We passed groundbreaking laws — public financing of elections, the Public Advocate, the Open Public Meetings Act, and the Open Public Records Act (OPRA).

We also enacted major progressive reforms, especially environmental protections: the Pinelands Act, the Spill Act, the Highlands Act, Clean Cars, and the indoor smoking ban. There is a direct correlation between open, transparent government and progressive policy.

But since 2010, there has been a steady assault on open government. It started under Gov. Christie and has accelerated under the Murphy administration. When you gut reform, eliminate oversight, and weaken transparency, the public loses — and special interests win. When you close the door on open government, you are no longer doing the people’s business.

State House closed to the public

The State House — once a public building — has become a hermetically sealed office complex after millions in taxpayer-funded renovations. It is no longer the people’s house.

• Only one public entrance remains. There used to be five. Now it can take 45 minutes to an hour and a half to get through security on legislative days.
• Movement inside is restricted. You can’t freely walk from legislative areas to executive areas or enter without appointments or hearings.
• Public parking access has been restricted in the State House garage, making it harder for residents to attend hearings.

The once-open civic space is now a closed fortress.

Barriers to communication and press access

The state has made it harder for residents, advocates, and reporters to reach anyone in government. By taking away access and eliminating ways to contact officials, it becomes easier for those officials to duck questions and avoid accountability to the people.

• Many email addresses and phone numbers are no longer listed on state department websites. The online phone directory for state employees (ironically) omits most phone numbers.
• Press Row and the State House radio/TV studio are gone.
• Cuts to NJTV and the Nonprofit Media Fund have weakened independent journalism.
• Governor and legislative press conferences are now invitation-only, often closed to advocates.
• Groups must hold press events outdoors, on the State House Annex steps — meaning rain or snow can literally shut down public expression.
• Ending legal advertisements and public notices in newspapers limits the press’s ability to monitor government actions.

This allows government officials to hide from the public and press and impedes our right to know and freedom of the press. Even small but essential spaces where advocates and reporters used to interact with lawmakers have disappeared:

• Hallways, cafeterias and coffee stands — once key places to catch legislators — are closed off.
• Legislators now use private exits or have food delivered, eliminating informal encounters.
• The Office of Legislative Services library, once open to the public and press, has been shut off entirely.

Silencing public participation

New Jersey has steadily restricted the public’s ability to speak, assemble or participate. The purpose is to defuse opposition to government actions by preventing people from gathering, testifying at hearings, and speaking truth to power.

• In Trenton and the State House, permits are required even for small gatherings or press conferences. Even four people walking together for a political purpose need a permit, insurance, and prior approval.
• Advocates and nonprofits can no longer reserve State House rooms for events; only legislators can, and most rooms are off-limits.
• The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and local boards hide behind Zoom-only hearings, limiting crowds and preventing residents from organizing.
• Some towns — and even the state — try to limit speakers at hearings to residents only, in violation of the law.
• Public comment restrictions are growing. Some towns, like Lambertville, ban residents from addressing individual elected officials. Three-minute limits are common at most meetings and hearings.

These changes weaken accountability and silence dissent. They make hearings bland, limit press coverage, and interfere with the people’s right to petition the government.

Gutting oversight and watchdog agencies

New Jersey has dismantled many of the very institutions meant to protect the public.

• The elimination of the Public Advocate in 2010 removed an independent watchdog that fought against wrongdoing. The Office of Inspector General was also eliminated.
• Pay-to-play laws have been repealed at the state and local levels. Contributions from businesses with government contracts are back.
• The Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) has been gutted. Weak leadership, weakened oversight, and looser campaign finance limits mean wealthy donors and party bosses have more power than ever.
• The State Commission of Investigation (SCI) has been weakened by vacant seats, leadership gaps, and reduced transparency, with shortened time frames for investigations.
• Attempts to abolish or merge the State Comptroller with SCI would eliminate one of the last real checks on waste and corruption.
• Attempts to remove State Police oversight from the attorney general would reduce civilian oversight over one of the most powerful institutions in the state.

We need more independent agencies keeping eyes on the government, not fewer. More watchdogs, more oversight, and more accountability. This dismantling blocks the press and public from knowing about governmental abuses, and allows insiders, special interests, big donors, and politicians to escape scrutiny.

Rolling back transparency laws

• Daniel’s Law, meant to protect judges and law enforcement, is now used to hide what government officials own, even investment properties and businesses.
• Ethics disclosure forms are basically blank.
• The state’s Open Public Records Act is being gutted, slowing or denying access to government records, and weakening the ability of the public and press to hold officials accountable.
• Pay-to-play politics is entrenched. Ordinary citizens and advocates are cut out. Unless you buy a ticket or a table at a politician’s fundraiser, you have very limited access to elected officials. Meanwhile, corporate lobbyists and special interests get guaranteed access.

When the government hides what it’s doing, it’s a sign that officials are not strong leaders doing the people’s business. Secrecy is a sign of weakness — because you need to hide your actions from your constituents.

Even the basic tools of democracy have been weakened:

• Laws now make it harder for the public to have referendums, ending automatic referendums on sewer and water privatization, banning referendums on zoning and land use, limiting financial referendums, and banning citizen referendums in Atlantic City.
• Recalls are far harder.
  • Previously: 20% of those who voted when the Assembly was on the ballot.
  • Now: 25% of all registered voters.
  • In Lambertville, turnout is about 1,500. You used to need about 300 signatures. Now, with 3,300 registered, you need around 800, more than double.

The cost: democracy in decline

People are appalled at what is happening at the national level with the destruction of checks and balances, oversight, and accountability — but it’s happening here too. In New Jersey, it’s less obvious, but the state continues to chip away at public access, transparency, and oversight. From banning hallway conversations to shutting down watchdog offices and gutting campaign finance laws, the system tilts toward insiders, donors, and lobbyists.

Residents have fewer ways to be heard in their own government. The press has less ability to investigate government actions. The effects ripple outward: environmental rollbacks, unnecessary tax breaks, corporate subsidies, privatization, dirty deals, and insider arrangements.

In darkness, special interests and corruption thrive.

Democracy dies.

We have a new governor coming in the new year. Gov.-elect Sherrill has said she is committed to more accountability and transparency in government. We hope she can bring those changes — and bring the disinfecting light of sunshine back to an open government that works for, and is responsible to, the people.

Jeff Tittel is an environmental activist and the former director of the New Jersey Sierra Club.