"Phoning it in" is now the default mode of attendance in the NJ state Assembly

Being a member of our state Assembly is already a part-time job. Now it's a no-show job too.

A resolution (AR166) that was hastily introduced and immediately passed by a vote of 72-0 on Monday will allow members to use phones, email and possibly other devices to give their consent to be marked as present in order to form a quorum — or a majority of members — so they can conduct routine businessT like introducing bills or laying constitutional amendment resolutions on members' desks.

Prior to this innovation, legislators' aides were surreptitiously sneaking onto the floor of the Assembly to push the "present" button on their boss's desk, usually at the behest of a Party Boss who wanted something done now.

And of course, now that they've been caught red-handed, the "solution" is to formalize that process.

The Assembly has changed its attendance rules, a few months after several lawmakers found out from The Star-Ledger that they were marked as present at the Statehouse on a Friday evening in July when they were nowhere near it.

They're on the beach, enjoying a pina colada, and they're still working hard for you! Honest!

Because expecting our legislature to actually show up is "an anachronism."

"When you have a citizen Legislature and need to do routine things like introduce bills so committees can hear them and debate them, it just seems like an anachronism to bring everybody down there and have a quorum," [Assemblyman Jay] Webber [R-Morris] said. "Let's all just consent, either in person or by telephone, and they can go about their routine business."

Amending our State Constitution is "routine business?" Wow.

The quorum was necessary to get the clock ticking on a constitutionally-mandated 20-day waiting period for a proposed constitutional amendment to allow judges to deny bail to some defendants.

I wonder if the folks affected by this amendment can "phone it in" too?

Tele-legislating. It's like telecommuting, with fundraising. Because what our government needs is less accountability to the people.

Posted at 11:52 by Chris Wysocki   [/nj_politics]   Comments | Perm Link |
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