Jones Lang LaSalle


Local 'pay to play' laws are protected
Friday, January 06, 2006

TRENTON - Towns and counties can continue to enact measures banning pay-to-play that are stronger than the state law to deter the practice of awarding no-bid government contracts to political donors, under a bill signed into law yesterday by acting Gov. Richard J. Codey.

"Today we take another step forward toward real ethical reform in New Jersey," said Codey, who also commended the state Senate for passing a bill yesterday that would create a more independent ethics commission. That bill is scheduled for a vote by the Assembly on Monday, the final day of the legislative session.

A sponsor of the pay-to-play law, Sen. Peter Inverso, R-Mercer and Middlesex, said it would preserve local laws in more than 60 communities from being superseded by a weaker state law that took effect Jan. 1.

The law signed yesterday also requires companies and people getting public contracts at any level of government in New Jersey to disclose political contributions made in the year preceding their bid.

© 2006 The Jersey Journal