Facing backlash, Scutari abandons move to weaken State Comptroller, shifts to New Jersey Inspector General push
Senate President Nicholas Scutari is withdrawing a controversial proposal to remove subpoena power from the Office of the State Comptroller after intense pushback from watchdogs, law enforcement leaders, and now top Democratic Party officials.
Scutari had fast-tracked legislation that would shift the comptroller’s subpoena authority to the State Commission of Investigation, a move critics warned would weaken one of New Jersey’s few independent oversight agencies.
“I’ve heard the concerns, and I’m going to listen to them,” he told the New Jersey Globe. “I’m not going to move forward with the bill right now.”
The Senate State Government, Wagering, Tourism, and Historic Preservation Committee approved the bill on Dec. 1. Scutari’s decision means it will not reach the full Senate during the lame-duck legislative session.
He also said he would hold off further action until Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill takes office, noting that any restructuring of oversight agencies should involve the incoming administration.
The reversal follows a combative Senate committee hearing where Attorney General Matt Platkin, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, and Acting State Comptroller Kevin Walsh all urged lawmakers to halt the bill. They were all silenced by the committee chairman.
Opposition continued to grow on Tuesday. New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chair LeRoy Jones publicly opposed the measure, adding new political pressure on legislative leaders to drop it.
Attorney General Matt Platkin thanked Kim, Walsh, and all the New Jersey residents who spoke out for good government on social media Tuesday afternoon, calling the bill’s demise a major win for democracy.
A force for transparency, with a national platform
Kim emerged as one of the most forceful opponents of the bill, warning lawmakers that weakening one of New Jersey’s few independent watchdogs would erode public trust at a moment when the state can least afford it. He told legislators that residents are demanding transparency, fairness, and honesty, not political maneuvers that make accountability harder.
The senator said the proposal underscored the deep crisis of confidence many New Jerseyans already feel toward state government. Polls consistently show that the vast majority of residents believe corruption is widespread, and Kim argued that stripping oversight powers from the comptroller would only feed that sense of cynicism. He defended the public’s right to know, emphasizing that independent oversight is not a partisan luxury but a basic requirement for functional democracy.
He also warned that reducing the comptroller’s authority would “send exactly the wrong message” at a time when the state should be strengthening safeguards against waste, abuse, and political favoritism.
Kim’s intervention gained the national spotlight, including an appearance on CNN, and helped galvanize statewide opposition to the bill, contributing to halting the legislation. For advocates of open government, he cemented his role as one of the state’s most consistent voices for transparency and accountability.
In a statement Tuesday evening, Kim called the decision a win for the people of New Jersey and said it is a signal of the power of the growing anti-corruption movement in the state and the country.
“As I’ve said before, the opposite of democracy is apathy,” Kim said. “Do not feel helpless about fixing our broken politics. It isn’t just possible, it’s necessary. Now let’s get ready for the next fights.”
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A rare win for transparency and accountability
Advocates for transparency were pessimistic about the chance of Scutari’s bill being killed, given recent history and the fact that Scutari is the Senate president, a powerful position in state government.
Under Scutari and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin’s leadership, the Legislature rolled back campaign finance reform and weakened the power of the Election Law Enforcement Commission. Last year, despite public outcry and polls showing the vast majority of residents opposed any changes to public records access, the Legislature also gutted the state’s Open Public Records Act.
Transparency advocates celebrated the demise of the bill to muzzle the comptroller Tuesday, saying there is now an opportunity for long-needed reforms that would confront corruption and weaken New Jersey’s political machine.
“The wind of change is blowing through New Jersey,” Antoinett Miles of the New Jersey Working Families Party wrote on X. “With Andy killing the county line, and a new governor ‘claiming’ to support transparency, perhaps it’s finally possible to curtail the state’s corruption.”
As of Tuesday evening, Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill was silent on the death of the bill. Prior to the hearing on the bill, she issued an ambiguous statement about the bill, saying, “I am opposed to efforts that weaken essential accountability and oversight, including with our watchdog agencies that root out government corruption, waste, and abuse. I will not weigh in on pending legislation as it changes, is amended, and moves through the legislature.”
Reestablishing the state inspector general?
Scutari said he still plans to pursue legislation next session to reestablish a state inspector general, an office abolished in 2010. “I want to move forward on an inspector general in the next session,” he told the Globe. “We need one.”
It’s not clear what reestablishing the inspector general would mean for the comptroller’s office, and whether it would be another attempt to weaken other state watchdogs.
Walsh’s term ends Jan. 20, the day Gov. Phil Murphy leaves office. Sherrill will be responsible for nominating the next comptroller, who will likely inherit the broader debate over the future of state oversight.
Scutari previously sponsored a bill that would require the governor to appoint a “chief accountability officer,” selected with the consent of the Senate, to oversee all state ombudsmen, compliance officers, comptrollers, and other officials in similar roles.
Senators Joe Cryan and Gordon Johnson sponsored a bill creating an inspector general for prosecutorial review, also appointed with Senate consent, who would investigate allegations of misconduct involving prosecutors or any member of a prosecution team, including detectives.
Another bill, sponsored by Sen. Benjie Wimberly, proposed an amendment to the state constitution that would make the State Comptroller an elected position. The proposal eliminated another watchdog agency, the Office of the State Auditor.
Criticism of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability has also fueled separate calls for increased legislative scrutiny of the New Jersey Attorney General’s office — an issue expected to resurface as the new session begins.
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Krystal Knapp is the founder of The Jersey Vindicator and the hyperlocal news website Planet Princeton. Previously she was a reporter at The Trenton Times for a decade.