'Hardly Perfect' Campaign Overhaul Still Better Than NJ's Past: Murphy

NEW JERSEY — The bill Gov. Phil Murphy signed overhauling New Jersey's campaign finance system is "hardly perfect," he said, defending the measure as a necessary change in the state's political money machine.

The governor signed the contentious Elections Transparency Act, which also gives him a one-time choice of who will enforce campaign finance laws without Senate approval, on April 3.

Supporters of the measure said it will cut down on the amount of "dark money" in state politics by setting new disclosure limits, but it also doubles contribution limits for non-gubernatorial candidates, parties and county party organizations running for elected offices. The Democrat-controlled legislature fast-tracked it.

The three remaining members of New Jersey's four-person Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) resigned in protest after both houses passed the bill, which critics say makes the Commission a toothless cur instead of the watchdog it's meant to be.

Murphy told reporters on Tuesday that he believed the bill was "a step in the right direction," and said he supported the measure though it was "hardly perfect."

"I think this does a lot of good in terms of transparency, disclosure, (and) bringing money from outside to inside," the governor said.

"Let's see how it plays out," Murphy continued. "The system we inherited was absolutely, categorically, imperfect. We have a far more perfect system as a result of this bill, even if it may not be perfect."

And during his "Ask Governor Murphy" segment on WBGO-FM in Newark, Murphy said he is "open-minded" about revisiting parts of the law "that don't work" in the future.

State legislators on both sides of the aisle had criticisms of the bill, but others said the Election Law Enforcement Commission has been in need of overhaul for a long time. Government accountability groups, including the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, also said it was a harmful bill.

“There’s a lot in this bill, and almost all of it is bad,” said Philip Hensley, democracy policy analyst for the LWV-NJ, to the New Jersey Monitor.

The Assembly passed the bill 45-31 and the Senate approved it 21-12, in votes made March 30. Murphy signed it into law last Monday.

What changes are in this law?

• Increases spending limits in a primary for governor from $2.2 million to $7.3 million; limits were also increased for the general election for governor from $5 million to $15.6 million.
• Requires candidates, and various candidates, to report campaign contributions in excess of $200 (a decrease) from
• Increases contribution limits from individuals, unions, and others to candidates and parties from $2,600 to $5,200.
• Reduces statute of limitations for ELEC to investigate campaign finance violations
• Requires independent expenditure groups to disclose all spending in support of or against candidates, instead of the previous disclosure of spending above $3,000
• Permits Murphy to make one-time appointments to the bipartisan ELEC board, which is now vacant, without Senate approval
• Ends individual towns' "pay-to-play" laws, which limit political donors' ability to win public contracts in exchange for campaign donations, in favor of a state system
• Allows public contractors to donate to state and party committees
• Permits state and party committees to have a "housekeeping" account for non-political expenses, with donations capped at $37,500

On the Assembly floor, Democratic Majority Leader Louis Greenwald and Republican Brian Bergen went back-and-forth over the measure.

Bergen questioned why the measure increased caps on contributions. Greenwald, the bill’s sponsor, said so-called dark money groups don’t disclose their donors and that the legislation would require more disclosure.

“Dark money continues to be raised and spent all without the proper disclosure that gives the press, our taxpayers, and the voters the ability to ask the right questions: who, why, and for what purpose,” Greenwald said, as quoted in the New Jersey Monitor.

“It’s not the point of the bill, but it’s part of the bill,” Bergen said. “It allows people to buy influence.”

As Patch reported previously, the executive director of the Election Law Enforcement Commission sued Murphy and three of the governor's top staffers for retaliating against him. Related article — Murphy Sued By Top NJ Elections Watchdog

Jeffrey Brindle claims Murphy and his aides violated the New Jersey Civil Rights Act by trying to push him out of a position he's held for more than a decade, over an email he sent a staffer last October. In the lawsuit, Brindle claimed that the governor's office really wanted him out because he made fun of the state's political fundraising rules.

ELEC commissioners chose not to take any action against Brindle for sending emails that some, including Garden State Equality and New Jersey Monitor editor Terrence McDonald, called insensitive to the LGBTQ community. There were also allegations of racism in Brindle's emails, the NJ Monitor reported. He is still in the executive director office, though there are no commissioners currently there. An earlier draft of the Elections Transparency Act would have allowed Murphy to just fire Brindle; instead, he'll be able to appoint all four commissioners to ELEC — who in turn oversee Brindle's executive director office.

Murphy has 90 days to name new commissioners, and said Tuesday he would appoint them "sooner than later."

"It's going to be a very strong, bipartisan group of commissioners," he said.