Lawmakers in recent lame-duck sessions plowed through hundreds of bills and resolutions — far too many to get a full and deliberate hearing
By Colleen O’Dea NJ Spotlight
The lame-duck session of the Legislature is known to be a busy time for New Jersey lawmakers. What may be less apparent is just how busy — and how shielded it is from public input.
It turns out that in the final two months of the legislative session that ended last week, New Jersey lawmakers introduced 650 new bills and resolutions and took action on more than 700 measures.
Among them were notable bills that are now law, such as the Reproductive Freedom Act that codified abortion as legal in the state. And there were the less exciting, such as a measure letting a small number of retirees return to work part-time for the state Legislature while collecting a pension.
But what they all had in common was a truncated process that continues to draw questions about how transparent and accountable such lawmaking is.
The public and stakeholders have little meaningful input on many of the bills, advocates say, many of them pushed through without the normal committee hearings and waiting periods before passing from one house to another.
“The legislative process often is messy, but this lame-duck session too often disregarded standard legislative practices and transparency,” said Jon Shure, interim president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a progressive think tank. “When the process isn’t open, the public simply can’t be put first.”
