Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla and Katie Brennan, the state Assembly-elects in the 32nd Legislative District, are coming out against a bill to strip the New Jersey comptroller of his investigatory powers.
“This bill would take away the power to investigate public corruption from the state’s top anti-corruption watchdog. That’s bad news for taxpayers, and it’s certainly not how you build trust in government,” Brennan said in a statement.
“The Comptroller has a strong record of exposing all sorts of waste, fraud, and abuse that costs all of us money. If anything, we should be expanding the Comptroller’s oversight powers, not watering them down. People need to know that their government is working for them.”
In recent years, the office found that New Jersey State Police gave preferential treatment to drivers with “courtesy cards,” while local law enforcement agencies spent over $1 million on unregulated trainings that glorified violence and taught unconstitutional tactics.
They also uncovered inappropriate spending of opioid settlement funds, discovered multi-million dollar deficits because of the improper budget practices at New Jersey City University, highlighted how Union County officials were failing to follow state compensation laws, and uncovered massive fraud at nursing homes receiving taxpayer dollars.
“Why is the Senate introducing a bill that makes it harder to hold politicians accountable? I’ve read the bill, I’ve read the arguments for and against it, and there’s no policy-based reason to strip the Comptroller of its investigatory powers,” questioned Bhalla.
“We should be focusing on ways to lower the rent, lower utility bills, and make life more affordable for New Jersey residents. This legislation does nothing to advance those goals.”
State Senate President Nick Scutari (D-22) introduced Bill S-4924 on Thanksgiving Eve and Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill (D) already said she’s against it, though also noted she would not get involved in the legislative process.
