New Law Promotes Greater Government Transparency, Requires Voting Record to Be Placed on Internet

NEW LAW PROMOTES GREATER GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY, REQUIRES VOTING RECORD TO BE PLACED ON INTERNET

Vainieri Huttle/Conners/Hackett/Gordon Measure Lifts Veil of Secrecy
On Lawmakers' Voting Records

(MARLBORO) - Legislation Assembly members Valerie Vainieri Huttle, Jack Conners, Mims Hackett, Jr., and Robert M. Gordon sponsored to provide the public with easy access to the voting records of their legislative representatives was signed into law today by Governor Jon S. Corzine.

The measure (A-3252) requires all legislative voting records be made available over the Internet. Sponsors of the new law say it will empower the public to take a more active role in government.

"For more than a decade, we have had the technical capacity to register every vote we make in Trenton on the Internet in a format that is easy to find and easy to understand," said Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen). "This new law will empower the residents of New Jersey to participate more actively in decisions that affect their lives by providing them with quick and easy access to how their representatives vote on public policy issues and matters of government spending."

Currently, legislative voting histories are publicly available on the state Legislature's Web site. However, the process is cumbersome and limited.

Under the new law, the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services (OLS) is to provide a complete voting history for each legislator for the current and preceding Assembly sessions. The record will include votes by lawmakers in legislative committees and the floor of the Assembly.  OLS will update the records on a daily basis on the Legislature's Web site:  www.njleg.state.nj.us.

"The ability to review legislative vote histories online is available in many other states," said Conners (D-Burlington/Camden). "New Jersey residents should have the same privilege so they  hold their elected representatives accountable and safeguard how their tax dollars get spent."

"Residents shouldn't have to jump through hoops to find out how their representatives voted on an issue," said Hackett (D-Essex), chairman of the Assembly State Government Committee. "We have the technology, the ability, and the responsibility to provide them easy access to voting records."

"We already offer residents the ability to download legislation and review voting sessions  and committee hearings from the comfort of their homes," said Gordon (D-Bergen). "Adding electronic access to voting records taps into modern day technology to enhance transparency."

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