TRENTON — Online government transparency in New Jersey jumped three-fold since Gov. Christie took office last year thanks to one new website, a liberal good-government group says. But lawmakers and advocates say the Democratic-controlled state Legislature could make more progress on the transparency issue by advancing legislation that would increase the public’s access to the records of local governments...
State Comptroller Matthew Boxer speaks at the Statehouse in this June photo.TRENTON — Online government transparency in New Jersey jumped three-fold since Gov. Christie took office last year thanks to one new website, a liberal good-government group says.
But lawmakers and advocates say the Democratic-controlled state Legislature could make more progress on the transparency issue by advancing legislation that would increase the public’s access to the records of local governments and the state’s many authorities, boards and commissions.
Those agencies, combined, spend nearly $50 billion annually, well above the state’s $29 billion budget.
Bipartisan legislation introduced earlier this month would require New Jersey’s nearly 600 local authorities, boards and commissions to maintain websites that post financial information and other basic items online.
Another bill, which has stalled in the Assembly, would upgrade the online transparency of towns, counties and school boards.
New Jersey Public Interest Research Group graded the state a C+ when it comes to online government spending transparency, ranking it as “emerging” in its “Following the Money” 2011 report, released last week.
With its score of 78 out of 100, New Jersey tripled the ranking it received from the organization in 2010, when the state had a failing grade of 25.
A new transparency website launched last year by Christie, a Republican, is credited with much of New Jersey’s year-to-year improvement. The site, www.yourmoney.nj.gov, includes information about state spending, payroll, budget performance and other data in a searchable format.
“The good news is that since last year’s ‘Following the Money’ report, New Jersey’s government has become more transparent about where the money goes,” said Jennifer Kim, the organization’s program advocate. “But New Jersey still has a long way to go.”
But the organization still knocks New Jersey for not providing a central website for local government spending.
New Jersey also lost points for not linking its transparency website to the site for federal stimulus spending, and for not posting enough information about tax credits, economic development grants and some contracts.
Texas and Kentucky tied for the organization’s top ranking this year, both scoring 96 out of 100 points. New Jersey tied for 10th on the list with neighboring Pennsylvania.
Last month, state Comptroller Matthew Boxer reported that nearly 40 percent of the 587 local authorities, boards and commissions -- which spend a combined $5 billion annually -- maintain no website at all. And only 7 of the agencies meet a series of basic transparency benchmarks established by Boxer.
In response, Sens. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex) and Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) introduced legislation that would force the agencies to maintain websites, and post financial information, employee rolls and other basic items online.
“We simply cannot allow these organizations to spend taxpayer dollars without making them accountable to the public,” Buono said. “There needs to be transparency.”
“As the internet becomes more vital in the public’s involvement in and knowledge of their government, New Jersey has a chance to be on the right side of this important issue,” said Beck, who is co-sponsoring the legislation with Buono.
Christie late last year added financial information, payroll and other items for the state’s largest authorities, boards and commissions to www.yourmoney.nj.gov.
Buono and Beck’s bill would extend the same openness to local fire districts, joint insurance funds, housing authorities, workforce investment boards, soil conservation districts, urban enterprise zone development corporations, regional health commissions and county parks commissions.
Another bipartisan bill would force towns, school boards and counties — which raised $25 billion in property taxes and spent a combined $42.6 billion in 2010 — to create similar online transparency websites.
Many local governments already maintain websites, but not all post detailed financial information and the other items that are available at the state’s transparency site. The proposed legislation would use state aid as a carrot by compelling the local governments to maintain a state-style transparency website to qualify for state grants.
That bill passed the full Senate last year, but it has stalled in the Assembly, where several lawmakers also hold local government elected or appointed offices, including Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex) who also serves as Essex County’s administrator.
But the Legislature has also played a positive role in New Jersey’s push for more transparency in recent years, including passing a bill last year that forced the state to publish an annual report detailing the cost of New Jersey’s many tax credits. That was one of the factors boosting the state’s ranking in the latest online transparency report.
In 2009, lawmakers also approved a bill that upgraded the transparency of county political parties, which decide which candidates run for office at both the state and local levels.