Let the sunshine in: What we want from Gov. Sherrill on transparency

Although former Governor Murphy is now out of office, some of his most egregious assaults on transparency are now law, and New Jersey will feel the consequences for years to come.

But it’s a new dawn. It’s a new day. And I’m feeling good that Governor Mikie Sherrill has repeatedly pledged to prioritize transparency and accountability. If she intends to follow through, here are some reforms that should be top priorities:

First, Sherrill must reverse the damage that Murphy caused to the Open Public Records Act. Both OPRA and the Open Public Meetings Act need stronger fee-shifting provisions so that the public can enforce their rights when agencies break the law. The numerous procedural hurdles that enable delays and denials must be eliminated. Many of us are willing to offer our expertise to fix these laws.

Second, the Sherrill Administration must meet OPRA’s deadlines. I’ve twice sued the State Police for taking months–sometimes years–to respond to requests, and they’re far from the only agency that notoriously flouts the law. 

Sherrill should begin with an “OPRA audit,” requiring every state agency to submit a public report with key metrics: how many requests were closed on time or late; average, median, shortest, and longest fulfillment times; how many requests remain open and for how long; and the number of OPRA staff.

These reports would inform future decision-making, such as allocating more resources to certain departments to ensure OPRA compliance. A functional OPRA department saves taxpayers money and ensures that reporters and residents promptly get the records they need.

Third, Sherrill must reel in the Legislature. The public is not served when surprise bills are introduced last-minute and rushed through sham hearings, when lawmakers vote on budgets that have not been made fully public, or when they blatantly ignore the statutory requirement that they post racial impact statements for certain criminal justice bills. Sherrill should use her bully pulpit to call out this bad behavior and refuse to sign bills that are the result of a flawed process.

Sherrill could also utilize her authority under the New Jersey Constitution to call for a special session of the Legislature, which would force lawmakers to convene and discuss statewide transparency issues. Sadly, New Jersey continually receives poor grades when it comes to fulfilling public records requests; financial transparency; online access to government spending; state integrity; legislative financial disclosures; economic development transparency; judicial financial disclosures; state Supreme Court transparency; and anti-corruption measures. 

Whatever she does, Sherrill must make it clear that she will not become part of the problem, and she will not negotiate transparency away as part of “sausage making” like Murphy did. 

Finally, I’ve asked others to share what transparency issues they hope Sherrill will address. Not all their ideas can be captured in a single statement, but these good government advocates each seem willing to work with Sherrill to make New Jersey more open and accountable to the public.

Given that 80% of residents believe that politicians are corrupt, 81% opposed gutting OPRA, and “ethics in government” was one of the top issues among voters in the last gubernatorial race, Sherrill would be smart to fight for more transparency even if others in New Jersey government resist. The public will have her back in the fight.

“Sherrill must create an independent task force to scrutinize the upcoming changes to our public notices law. After March 1st, reporters and residents will no longer be able to check one central location (i.e., a local newspaper or NJPublicNotices.com, a free database by NJPA) to find what actions governments will be taking. Instead, they’ll have to visit hundreds of websites, where notices are not searchable and where there is no third-party verification that they were timely posted and unaltered. In many towns, there will be no eligible “online news publication,” leaving businesses without a place to publish notices. Because the law stripped local media of revenue, many are facing difficult financial decisions that make it harder to report about local issues and hold the government accountable. Sherrill needs to act fast to fix this pending disaster.”

~ Brett Ainsworth, Chairman, New Jersey Press Association

“Garden State Equality is encouraged by Governor Sherrill’s statements committing to increasing transparency in Trenton. As we continue to work together with our partners in the movement to protect trans and nonbinary New Jerseyans, we believe that transparency and good government are integral to ensuring that our community’s healthcare and safety are codified into law. We’re confident that Governor Sherrill and Lieutenant Governor Caldwell are committed to working as community partners for transparency, equity, and forward progress.”

~Lauren Albrecht (she/her/hers), Senior Director, Advocacy & Organization, Garden State Equality

“Nearly twenty years ago, I helped to craft the original Open Public Records Act in my former role at NJ Citizen Action. It was among my proudest professional achievements, having worked with a bipartisan group of legislators, a wide coalition of stakeholders and the dedicated public servants in the Governor’s office. Never, in my wildest imagination, did I think it would be gutted, and especially not in the face of such strong public opposition. Of course, legislation should be updated as needed, and we would have been happy to help make it stronger and more modern. Instead, the changes that were forced on taxpayers were not the ones the people need or want. The OPRA evisceration of 2024 makes it easier for local elected officials to obfuscate the truth and harder for journalists, residents and community developers to acquire important information. Community developers and housing champions, like all NJ residents, want access to timely, complete and transparent records that we have paid for with our tax dollars. We remain ready, willing, and able to help the incoming Administration and the Legislature restore and improve OPRA, so that we have the highest level of transparency and accountability available to all New Jersey residents.”

~ Staci Berger, President & CEO, Housing & Community Development Network of NJ

“It’s time to rid the Garden State of its Soprano veneer of soft and hard corruption. Just as we demand national reforms, Governor Sherrill has a unique opportunity to answer the call in New Jersey. We must restore OPRA; tighten campaign finance, including reestablishing pay-to-play and disclosure requirements; modernize our elections, beginning with Same Day Registration; support real fair ballot reform; and champion ethics reform to remove conflicts-of-interest and restore trust in government.”

~ Yael Bromberg, Esq. of Bromberg Law LLC.

 “My concern about open, transparent state government is that it took a big step back during Gov. Phil Murphy’s second term. The message I took from that is public information is now available on an ‘if you know’ basis. However, I believe New Jersey can improve and be a model for the rest of the country. The first step is to undo those changes which Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law. The arguments to change the laws were faulty and went against the public’s will. Also, New Jersey is long overdue for a technology update, which will allow easier access to public records. In addition those records should be kept up to date.”

~ P. Kenneth Burns, president of the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists

“There are tangible steps our elected officials can take to ensure our legislative process and Statehouse are more open, transparent and welcoming to the public. We urge the Legislature to commit to making bill language publicly available 72 hours before any hearing to give the public time to weigh in or prepare testimony before bills are advanced. Too often bill language is not posted in advance, crippling the ability of the public and advocates to weigh in. Restoring public access to food and beverage services in the cafe, use of Statehouse rooms for the public and advocacy groups to conduct media events and restoring a dedicated space for the press would signal a commitment to making the people’s house more open and welcoming for all.”

~ Maura Collinsgru, Director of Policy & Advocacy, New Jersey Citizen Action

“As democratic safeguards are being dismantled federally, New Jersey cannot continue business as usual. Governor Sherrill and the newly sworn-in Legislature must commit to being transparent, accountable, and responsive. New Jerseyans are done with the backroom, closed-door culture that has long dominated Trenton. In their first 100 days, they must pass the John R. Lewis Voter Empowerment Act, work with advocates to open the State House and legislative process to the public, and reverse laws that have gutted the Open Public Records Act and unleashed more money in politics.”

~ League of Women Voters of New Jersey

“We are concerned about the current trend against transparency.  Public agencies respond to signals from leadership.  The 2024 OPRA Amendments, especially the new cause of action against so-called nuisance requestors, has in our experience emboldened some agencies to deny more requests, threaten litigation against requestors for routine requests, sue requestors who do not readily have the ability to hire counsel, and otherwise chill access.  Better transparency should start with leadership by example.  It is important that the public let their concerns known both to the incoming administration and their Senator and Assemblypersons.”

~ Walter M. Luers, Board Member & Past President of New Jersey Foundation for Open Government.

“Transparency isn’t just a set of specific policies, it’s a core philosophy. An executive administration either sincerely believes in opening itself, its actions and policy rationale up to up to public scrutiny, or it doesn’t. There’s no middle ground. The Murphy administration retreated from a claimed dedication to transparency during covid and never looked back. The culmination of that anti-transparency evolution was the heavy handed OPRA reform bill. If the Sherrill administration is truly dedicated to transparency, revisiting the more egregious aspects and impacts of that bill is the place to start. There would be support from transparency advocates and likely bi-partisan legislative support for such an effort. The Sherrill administration should release a clear outline of their transparency policies and practices and then stick to it. This would go a long way to restoring people’s faith in government integrity.”

~ Senator Declan O’Scanlon, Jr. 

“New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act is systematically evaded through closed-session abuse. Public bodies privately deliberate on matters that must be discussed in public, obscure the true subjects of executive sessions, and fail to create intelligible closed-session minutes. This persists because OPMA imposes no real consequences: public bodies are not required to reimburse citizens’ legal costs even when violations are proven, penalties are rarely imposed, and enforcement is largely absent. Governor Sherrill should make closed-session compliance a non-negotiable condition of credible government.”

~ John Paff, longtime NJ  transparency advocate and publisher of TransparencyNJ.com

“OPRA was instrumental for us to gather details and confirm or allay our membership concerns about disparate treatment and hostile work environment claims within law enforcement agencies. Custodians are now stonewalling, taking months to produce records and arbitrarily request exorbitant service fees to prevent disclosure. We hope Governor Sherrill heralds renewed interest in transparency and expands OPRA to provide for the release of complete internal affairs investigation files.”

~ Richard Rivera, Co-founder, National Coalition of Latino Officers

“New Jersey’s current budget process leaves policy experts and the public in the dark. Governor Sherrill should require 14 days between budget release and final vote, with public hearings in between. She should mandate agencies publish OPRA response times quarterly and commit to reasonable turnarounds. Restoring attorney fee protections for successful OPRA appeals would make transparency enforceable, not optional. Proactive disclosure of budget documents, spending data, and legislative analyses should be standard practice, not special request.”

~Kelli Parker, Dir. of Communications, New Jersey Policy Perspective

“Governor Sherrill’s top priority on transparency should be timely access to information and meaningful public participation. Her administration should go beyond Murphy by strengthening OPRA compliance, limiting excessive redactions, and proactively publishing contracts, appointments, and service data. The Latino Action Network needs this information to ensure government is providing equitable access to services and to hold agencies accountable, especially as Latinos remain severely underserved and underrepresented at all levels of government. Transparency must be the default, not the exception.”

~ Javier Robles, President, Latino Action Network