NJ moves to allow public notices to publish Online
By: Katie Sobko
NorthJersey.com
USA Today Network - New Jersey
..... Both chambers of the New Jersey Legislature have passed a bill hat would transition public notices from print newspapers to digital platforms as The Star-Leger, Jersey Journal, the Times of Trenton and the South Jersey Times end print production in February. [2025]
.....
The bill allows for notices - the time ads in print newspapers that make the public aware of municipal and county meetings, planning board application, sheriff's sales and many other official government actions - to be posted on the corresponding newspaper website to meet the current statutory obligations of government bodies. It is valid only until March 1, [2025] however, as lawmakers continue to work on a larger overhaul of the current system.
..... One of the bill's sponsors, state Senator Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, said this month that he and his colleagues did not want to rush a major bill through, needing time so that transparency and the impact on taxpayers could be considered.
..... This planned reworking of the Open Public Meetings Act comes at a time when lawmakers have already taken steps to limit government transparency and accountability measures.
..... Sarlo, along with Assembly,an Joe Danielson in the lower chamber, sponsored legislation earlier this year [2024] to overhaul the Open Records Act, limiting access to government records. In 2023, another co-sponsor of the measure, Senate President Nick Scutari, with Assemblyman Lou Greenwald, sponsored legislation know as the Election Transparency Act, which weakens campaign finance law.
......
Governor Phil Murphy signed both of those bills into law.
What's next on public notices?
..... The pubic notices bill passed 49-20 in the Assembly, with 11 members not voting, and passed unanimously in the state Senate.
..... After the vote, Scurtari said the measure is a "stop-gap," because their wasn't time to think of a longterm solution, and that his members started talking about what comes next in caucus on Thursday. [12/19/2024]
..... "Everybody has a different idea of what we should do, so we're going to meld those ideas together and come up with a good solution," he said. "A lot of folks came from local government, so they have a different perspective than someone that didn't."
..... Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. email sobko@northjersy.com.