Legislative Services Commission

DOHERTY CALLS ON OLS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO STEP DOWN FROM TWO OF THREE CONFLICTING STATE POSTS

SAYS PORRONI'S MULTIPLE JOBS ARE CONFLICT OF INTEREST

DeCROCE STATEMENT ON DEMOCRAT FILING OF RULE 6 APPLICATION WITH REGARD TO OLS SUBPOENA

LANCE AND DeCROCE EXPRESS DISAPPOINTMENT AT FAILURE OF DEMOCRATS TO RESPOND ON SUBPOENA ISSUE

NEEDED JUST ONE DEMOCRAT TO JOIN REPUBLICANS TO CONVENE LEGISLATIVE SERVICES COMMISSION MEETING

CODEY, ROBERTS PETITION FEDERAL COURT FOR LEGISLATIVE SERVICES COMMISSION BRIEFING

(TRENTON) -- Senate President Richard J. Codey and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. today directed counsel to petition the federal court to allow the Legislative Services Commission to be fully informed of the scope and nature of the federal subpoena to the Office of Legislative Services (OLS).

The presiding officers issued the following joint statement:

"We want members of the Legislative Services Commission to be apprised of the scope and nature of the federal subpoena issued to the Office of Legislative Services. Because the current matter involves a sealed federal subpoena, OLS has told commission members it cannot inform them about the details or scope of the subpoena absent a citation for contempt of court. This has created an untenable situation in which misinformation in the media is being perpetuated by commission members and cannot be rebutted.

We have directed counsel to file a 'Rule 6' application with the federal court today requesting the Legislative Services Commission be immediately briefed on the issue. It's past time that the sensationalized media accounts based on false information about this investigation come to an end."

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

NJ Senate Majority Office:
609-292-5215

NJ Assembly Majority Office:
609-292-7065

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...

N.J.'s pork barrel It will be quite the court scene: on one side, formidable prosecutors from the U.S. district attorney's office and on the other, lawyers representing the state's Office of Legislative Services (OLS)... All of this is happening, as New Jersey taxpayers know all to well, at a time when property, sales and income taxes are choking residents while the Legislature cries poor. How in the world could lawmakers approve such projects as assistance to local private youth clubs or municipal park improvements at a time when a one-cent sales tax was enacted to help dig out the state from its systemic financial mess? That, fortunately, is what Mr. Christie would like to know, too... Assembly Republicans, the minority in the Legislature, have called for the release of all the records requested by federal investigators. Further, they have called on the Legislative Services Commission to call an emergency public meeting to investigate the matter. As the minority, they may be whistling in the wind, but there just may be enough majority Democrats who are fed up with the annual added pork to shed light on a practice that both the Republicans and the Democrats have abused over the years.
- A look inside, Editorial
The Times of Trenton, February 14, 2007

New Jersey's citizens should be all for ripping the lid off any government communications that lead to the acquisition and distribution of public funds especially any communications that reveal any deals between legislators and recipients of state funds. It is not their money, not their office, not their government. It is ours. And if they (Wayne Bryant or anyone else) are misusing it or abusing it, we have a right to know, and to punish anyone guilty of selling our government for their own profit.
- Exit doesn't end Bryant pollution, Editorial
Gloucester County Times, February 14, 2007

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For more information, contact:
Assembly Republican Press Office / 609-292-5339

KEAN: LEGISLATURE SHOULD NOT OBSTRUCT U.S. ATTORNEY INVESTIGATION
Calls for Full Disclosure By Legislative Services Commission

Senator Thomas H. Kean (R-Essex/Morris/Union/Somerset) issued the following statement:

DeCROCE ASKS FOR EMERGENCY COMMISSION MEETING
TO DISCUSS U.S. ATTORNEY'S SUBPOENA

Republican Leader Says Meeting Should be Open to the Public

Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce today formally requested an emergency meeting of the Legislative Services Commission on Thursday to find out why the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services decided to challenge a subpoena from U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie seeking access to documents related to the authorization and expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars on political "pork" projects by the Legislature.

The request was contained in a letter to Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Camden, and Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, who chair the commission that oversees the Office of Legislative Services.