September 28, 2007
Assemblyman Sean T. Kean/732-974-0400
11th District - Monmouth County

DeCROCE SAYS COURT ACTION IS NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO VIEW TAXPAYER-FUNDED RESEARCH

With the support and encouragement of Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce, Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck and Assemblyman Sean Kean have filed a lawsuit in Mercer County Superior Court against the Corzine administration to force the release of an $800,000 taxpayer-funded report that contains crucial information about what will happen when the Corzine administration and Democrat-controlled Legislature hike tolls as part of a plan to sell, lease, or monetize state highways.

The Department of the Treasury received and paid for the “Traffic and Revenue Report,” prepared by Steer Davies and Gleave, Ltd., an international private consulting company, more than four months ago. The report contains information which explains the destructive consequences of hiking tolls which is a key provision in the Corzine administration’s and Democrat-controlled Legislature’s plan to give away future toll revenue for a quick infusion of cash.

“This administration has been hiding the report for a reason,” said Beck, R-Monmouth and Mercer. “They want to hide it because they know that when the public understands the impact of their toll road gimmick, the public will never stand for it.”

Beck and Kean, in their capacity as members of the Assembly Transportation and Public Works Committee, filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request in August, and sent two letters (August 8 and August 21) to the governor demanding that the report be made available to the public. The Corzine administration has denied all requests, leaving legal action as the only available option for release of the document.

“The Corzine administration has told the public time and time again, ‘You can’t handle the truth,’” said Kean, R-Monmouth. “Well the public paid $800,000 for the truth and the public has the right to hear it.”

The extraordinary step of suing the Corzine administration to force the release of the documents comes on the heels of a finding by one of the nation’s leading experts on open government that the state’s OPRA is “largely illusory” as a tool to ensure transparency in government operations. Mitchell Pearlman, who was executive director of the Connecticut Freedom of Information Commission for more than three decades, said the law has not lived up to its expectations because “(if) there is something corrupt, something embarrassing to the administration, the power is there to exempt it."

Pearlman, whose comments were reported by The Star-Ledger, was asked to review New Jersey's law by the state Foundation for Open Government, a coalition of individuals and organizations including the American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause and League of Women Voters.

“By ignoring the spirit if not the letter of the law, the Corzine Administration has left us no alternative,” said DeCroce, R-Morris and Passaic. “No amount of doubletalk can alter the fact that the taxpayers have bought and paid for this study, and they deserve to see it now.”
Assembly Republicans oppose the administration’s highly unpopular and controversial plan because it will result in skyrocketing toll increases, the loss of future revenue, and add to the state’s already staggering $30 billion debt burden.

The suit was filed by Assembly Republican Office staff attorneys on Thursday in an effort to expedite the matter and eliminate costs to taxpayers. A copy of the complaint is attached.

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