State lawmakers this week have put a bill to gut New Jersey’s public records access law on the fast track, sparking intense opposition from people who are invested in keeping an eye on government business.
Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen), who is spearheading the bill, said, “We want to stop people from profiteering off OPRA on the backs of the taxpayers, and there’s a lot of that going on; we all know that. And … we want to protect our families and our children from folks quite frankly, for a lack of some better words, [who] have made some really creepy, creepy requests of municipalities and cities around the state of New Jersey…”
But media organizations, government transparency advocates and residents warn the reforms go too far and would make several types of important documents unavailable to the interested public.
The bill is scheduled for another committee hearing in Trenton on Thursday morning.
