Governor Jon Corzine signed a bill yesterday that bans people from holding dual elected position in New Jersey. This is great! Except for one little detail…
It’s not a retroactive bill.
In other words, all of the guys and gals who are in office TODAY that are abusing the dual office clause in New Jersey will not be forced to choose one or the other. Alright, so not all of them are corrupt, but let’s think about this logically for a moment.
This ban came into place because of guys like Sharpe James and others currently in the legislature who are not doing right by both of their constituencies. An ethics battle erupts in New Jersey’s legislature (thank God – because the people really wanted this issue figured out). Reforms are suggested, ironically enough, by Sharpe James (a poor attempt to save his political career and legacy). The reforms are passed! The people celebrate…then they realize that this applies to all incoming elected officials and not the ones who are currently in office – the ones who brought about the need for these reforms in the first place!
Here are the particulars of the bill, courtesy of the Asbury Park Press:
Ban anyone from holding more than one elected office at a time. The law allows current dual-office holders to remain in place until they retire or lose an election.
Make it a crime to knowingly misuse public tax dollars or other resources. The offense would be punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $200,000.
Allow courts to impose fines for corruption cases involving state, county or municipal contracts.
Require legislative voting records to be posted online. The votes will remain online for two legislative sessions (four years).
I like the legislative voting records being posted online. Of course we all know that the biggest consumers of this information will be newspapers and political campaigns (which is a real shame). I also like the fact that misuse of public money is punishable by up to 20 years in jail or a fine of up to $200,000. Good!
So, as always in New Jersey, we’ll settle for a bill that has some good parts and some bad parts. The saving grace here is that the bad parts will eventually expire as either the bad officeholders die out, retire, or lose an election.
While we wait for that, though, check out New Jersey Carpet Cleaning for the best carpet cleaning in the Garden State!
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