One New Jersey will not voluntarily disclose where its financing comes from
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State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) called for One New Jersey to report its contributors.TRENTON — One New Jersey, a liberal advocacy group that is accepting unlimited and anonymous donations, is coming under increasing pressure from the Democrats it was created to help.
State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) on Wednesday became the latest Democrat to ask the organization to disclose the identity of its donors.
The veteran lawmaker said keeping donors secret is "completely wrong and should be immediately corrected."
"You have indicated that ONENJ is under no legal requirement, under current state or federal law, to report its contributors," Weinberg wrote in a letter to the Democratic strategists running the organization. "However, just because it’s legal, doesn’t always make it ethical or in the public interest."
Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex), one of several high-ranking Democrats linked to the strategists behind One New Jersey, agreed, as did Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (D-Essex).
"I always support transparency and disclosure, and would hope that all groups, no matter their intention and politics, would adhere to that philosophy," Oliver said.
The use of "issue advocacy groups" — commonly called 501(c)(4)s, after their federal tax code designation — has been politically sensitive in New Jersey and across the country. Some Democrats, including Weinberg and Buono, are pushing legislation requiring such groups to disclose their donors. A similar bill stalled in Congress.
Joshua Henne, spokesman for One New Jersey, said the organization will not voluntarily disclose where its financing comes from.
"As we’ve said before, disclosure only works when everybody discloses," he said.
Republicans have formed similar groups: Reform Jersey Now, created by some of Gov. Chris Christie’s closest advisers, and Center for a Better New Jersey, which backed Republicans’ unsuccessful efforts during legislative redistricting.
Reform Jersey Now, which solicited donors by saying contributions are not restricted by pay-to-play rules, voluntarily disclosed its donors.
The Center for a Better New Jersey has not, however, and a spokesman for Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. (R-Union), who helped start the group, said any legislation requiring donor disclosure should also force unions to comply with pay-to-play rules.
"You can’t do this fairly by doing it piecemeal," said the spokesman, Adam Bauer. "It has to be everyone under the same rules."
Both Republican programs were criticized by Democrats, who accused Republicans of skirting campaign finance rules with anonymous contributions.
State Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Middlesex) said the same standard should apply to One New Jersey, which is the creation of three Democratic campaign firms: Message & Media, White Horse Strategies and the Organizing Group.
"We’ve been demanding this of all the different Republican groups," she said. "We can’t be any different here."
Previous coverage:
• State Sen. Weinberg implores anti-Christie group to reveal its donors
• Editorial: NJ Democrats must revive stalled bills to disclose political donors