Gov. Phil Murphy vetoed a bill that shields the home addresses of politicians in New Jersey—not because he disagrees with it but due to the calendar that makes the current version of the bill obsolete.
The bill, sponsored by State Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-22) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19), would allow local elected officials, zoning board members, members of non-state authorities, and certain senior public workers to leave the street addresses of their primary and secondary residences off of financial disclosures they must file annually with the state.
The bill requires lawmakers to disclose the county and municipality where their property is.
Conditional Veto
Murphy said his veto is due the financial disclosure statements required to be filed in 2023 were due on April 30 and refilings would overwhelm locals officials.
“In other words, the deadline has passed and nearly all financial disclosure statements have been filed already,” Murphy wrote. “It is thus virtually impossible for local government officers …to comply with the changed rules for statements filed in 2023, as required by the bill’s effective date.”
Proponent of Bill
The governor noted that he does not object to the bill that revises local government ethics law (LGEL) as otherwise written.
“I agree with my colleagues in the Legislature that precise disclosure of local government officers’ home addresses on their financial disclosure statements is not necessary to enforce the requirements of the LGEL,” he wrote. “A brief description of the source of income, business organization, or real property interest, including the county and municipality where located, will be sufficient to identify the source, business, or real property when identification is necessary to ensure compliance with the LGEL.”
According to lawmakers who have supported the bill, the reforms are an outgrowth of Daniel’s Law, named from Daniel Anderl, who was murdered in July 2020 during an assassination attempt on his mother, U.S. District Court Judge Esther Salas. That law blocks the disclosure of home addresses belonging to judges and prosecutors.
Modeled on Daniel’s Law
Murphy noted that many local government officers are “covered persons” whose home addresses may be protected from public disclosure under Daniel’s Law: active, formerly active, or retired judicial officers, law enforcement officers, or prosecutors, and immediate family members residing in the same household as the judicial officer, law enforcement officer, or prosecutor.
“By amending the financial disclosure statement filing form so that home addresses are not included on the statements to begin with, the bill will reduce the burden on the (Local Finance Board) in complying with Daniel’s Law, as well as reduce the risk of accidental non-compliance, because the LFB will not have to individually determine on a case-by-case basis whether a covered person’s home address appears on a financial disclosure statement,” he wrote.
Suggested Fix
If the bill would have gone forward, Murphy explained that extending the filing deadline 60 days and requiring all local government officers to re-file their disclosures would be substantially and unnecessarily burdensome on the LFB and the thousands of local government officers in the State.
Murphy recommended the bill, which had support of Democrats and Republicans in both houses, be amended so that it is effective only for financial disclosure statements filed in 2024 and moving forward.
Comments 1