TRENTON — A state assembly panel today will consider four bills meant to reduce state bureaucracy at its core. “It’s the heart of bureaucracies and they’re the hardest things to cut. They’re self-perpetuating,” said Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), the sponsor and chairman of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee, which will hear the bills. The bills (A2720-2922 and...
A March 2010 file photo of the Assembly Chamber.TRENTON — A state assembly panel today will consider four bills meant to reduce state bureaucracy at its core.
“It’s the heart of bureaucracies and they’re the hardest things to cut. They’re self-perpetuating,” said Assemblyman John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), the sponsor and chairman of the Assembly Regulatory Oversight and Gaming Committee, which will hear the bills.
The bills (A2720-2922 and A2926) are based on recommendations of Gov. Chris Christie’s Red Tape Review Group. They would allow state agencies to change regulations after public comment without scrapping them and starting over; extend the amount of time before rules expire from five to seven years; give administrative law judges final say in regulatory disputes instead of allowing agency heads to overrule them; and force agencies to determine whether their regulations conflict with those of other agencies. If there is a conflict, the agencies would either come to an agreement or call in an administrative law judge to rule on the conflict.
The proposals have been met with some resistance from the environmental community. Sierra Club New Jersey Director Jeff Tittel said under the current system, the Department of Environmental Protection was able exempt 330,000 environmentally sensitive acres from having to have sewers, despite conflicting regulations from the Department of Community Affairs.
“With this, you could wind up with a politically appointed administrative law judge who could overturn agreements based on federal laws or statutes,” he said. “This is kind of wonky, but what it all means when you add up the four bills is it’s going to make things less transparent, limit public participation, take away public interest groups from their ability to have an impact on rule and open things up more to special interests and games.”
Burzichelli said Tittel was “seeing shadows where there are no shadows,” but that he would look into his complaints.
Previous coverage:
• N.J. lieutenant governor's report recommends cutting red tape for businesses
• N.J. senator distances herself from Gov. Christie's 'red tape' report
• N.J. Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno hears public complaints during 'red tape' reform hearing