Ed. Note: Yesterday the fast-tracked bill A-4045/S-2930 that would decimate New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act was heard simultaneously in Senate and Assembly committees on the first day of Sunshine Week, which celebrates the public’s right to public records. Two Democrats on the Assembly committee and one on the Senate committee planned to vote “no.” In advance of the hearing, they were subbed out for “yes” votes. The only Democrat who voted “no” was  Sen. Andrew Zwicker and the bill passed both committees. For more information, see here.

More than 100 advocates from across New Jersey — representing organized labor, civil rights advocates, journalists and grassroots groups — have signed a letter demanding the Legislature halt consideration of a deeply flawed measure that would gut the state’s Open Public Records Act.

In the letter, the organizations highlight provisions in the bill, which is due up for consideration today in two different committees, that would fatally weaken New Jersey democracy and open the doors to corruption and the waste of taxpayer money.

“More than 100 organizations from across our state are opposing this bill because it’s horrendous public policy and represents a threat to our democracy,” said Antoinette Miles, interim State Director of the New Jersey Working Families Party and organizer of the sign-on letter. “The Legislature must immediately put a halt to this deeply flawed bill and listen to the voices of their constituents.”

The bill would make it much more difficult for grassroots groups and taxpayers to hold local and state officials accountable for violations of public records laws by making it more difficult for them to recover attorneys’ fees if records have been improperly denied. This move, the letter points out, will embolden officials to break the law because they know that working families will be unable to afford the legal costs to hold them accountable.

At the same time, the legislation would restrict access to critical email and call records — documents that have been essential in uncovering government misspending and corruption.

The signers of the letter are notable for representing diverse organizations from across New Jersey, from the Central Hudson Labor Council, Communications Workers of America and SEIU Local 32BJ to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, Latino Action Network and the state Office of the Public Defender.

This letter comes after a number high-profile political leaders came out against the legislation.