TRENTON — New Jersey lawmakers and many executive branch employees are submitting financial disclosure forms this week, an annual event that lets constituents see some information about their earnings, investments, properties and sources of personal income. But the current disclosure requirements for state lawmakers on categories such as income and investments fall short of the standards that many executive...
A February 2010 file photo of a New Jersey Statehouse hearing.TRENTON — New Jersey lawmakers and many executive branch employees are submitting financial disclosure forms this week, an annual event that lets constituents see some information about their earnings, investments, properties and sources of personal income.
But the current disclosure requirements for state lawmakers on categories such as income and investments fall short of the standards that many executive branch officers and employees must follow — and fall well below what members of Congress are required to make public.
For example, legislators do not report sources of income earned by themselves, spouses and dependent children by an exact dollar amount. Instead, they use four value categories ranging from less than $10,000 to more than $50,000.
Executive branch employees must disclose income sources for themselves and family members using seven value ranges that top out at over $500,000.
Congressional disclosure requirements have 11- and 12-step disclosure ranges that top out at $5 million and over for incomes and $50 million or more for assets.
Although Gov. Chris Christie and Democrats in the state Assembly have been talking about making New Jersey’s disclosure process more open since last year, none of their proposed changes were made in time before the this year’s May 15 deadline.
That means incumbents running for re-election in the fall won’t have to provide more detailed information about their finances at least until next year, and well after voters will consider whether to send them back to Trenton in November.
Christie, as a Republican candidate for governor in 2009, was critical of the existing disclosure rules and said he would push to upgrade disclosure standards if he became governor.
But after coming into office in early 2010, he made no immediate effort to change the disclosure forms and later signed an executive order that pushed the 2010 deadline for his new staffers to submit their forms back to August.
Lawmakers reacted last year by introducing legislation to force all executive branch employees to meet the same May 15 annual deadline that they are subject to.
“The public expects better, but sadly it seems we have to put this into law to make sure it stands,” Assembly Majority Leader Joseph Cryan, D-Union, said in June 2010.
Although the bill passed unanimously in both houses of the Democratic-controlled state Legislature later that month, Christie waited until September to address the issue with a conditional veto.
And the governor’s veto went well beyond the narrow scope of the original bill and instead proposed a complete overhaul of the disclosure process that was more in line with what he talked about as a candidate.
Christie’s conditional veto, if enacted, would use federal standards as a model for disclosure in New Jersey, and would also make lawmakers and executive branch employees meet the same basic requirements.
“This bill does nothing to address the actual content of the financial disclosure forms themselves — forms that need to be changed to provide greater transparency to New Jersey citizens,” he wrote in the Sept. 13 conditional veto.
But lawmakers have failed to take up Christie’s conditional veto or attempt to override it. Instead, Cryan, the Assembly’s majority leader, introduced a new bill that would upgrade disclosure requirements, but his legislation has yet to go before a committee for an initial vote.
“We hope to move new financial disclosure legislation forward in the coming weeks that will provide the public with more transparency and ensure the governor cannot repeat last year’s backroom maneuver that allowed him to skirt disclosure requirements for several months,” said Tom Hester Jr., a spokesman for the Assembly Democrats.
But waiting until after May 15 to consider Cryan’s bill allows incumbents from both parties who are running for reelection this year to go before the voters under the state’s existing disclosure requirements, which received a “C” grade in a recent state-by-state comparison conducted by the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Public Integrity.
New Jersey was ranked ahead of many other states by the government watchdog organization, but fell outside of the top 10, behind leaders such as Louisiana, Hawaii and Washington, which all received “A” grades.
Washington Correspondent Herb Jackson contributed to this article.
Requirements
New Jersey legislators are required to submit personal financial disclosure forms on May 15. Those requirements are less detailed than what’s required for those in the executive branch of government. Members of Congress are required to detail much more.
Here’s a summary of those disclosure forms:
Legislative disclosure forms:
Due on May 15 each year, lawmakers must divulge all earned and unearned income for themselves, spouses and minor children, in four ranges that begin with $10,000 or less and go up to $50,000 or more. Dividends, investment income and honoraria and fees must all be disclosed in the same fashion. Reimbursements for travel and lodging and any gifts must all be reported by naming the source and range of value. All liabilities and real estate holdings are also subject to disclosure by value range.
Executive disclosure forms:
Due on May 15 each year, executive branch employees and officers must disclose any other governmental positions and the occupation of their spouse and dependent children. They also have to disclose any assets by seven detailed value ranges beginning with $1,000 to $5,000 and ending with more than $500,000. They must also identify all honoraria, fees, liabilities, stocks and bonds, real estate and corporate and business interests using the same value ranges.
Congressional disclosure forms:
Due on May 16 this year, members of Congress and their most highly paid aides must report all income and assets in 12 ranges starting with less than $201 and going up to more than $5 million. They are also required to list purchases and sales of real estate, stocks, bonds, commodities and securities ranging from $1,000-$15,000 to more than $50 million. Gifts and travel reimbursements must be identified and valued, as well as all liabilities and partnerships. Any positions held outside of governments and payments totaling more than $5,000 from book sales or some other single source must also be identified and valued.
On the web:
New Jersey legislators and many executive branch employees are required to submit financial disclosure forms every year that are made available for public review. The forms, due on May 15, can be viewed online. Links to those web pages can be found at northjersey.com.