New Jersey lawmakers pause open records bill overhaul to consider amendments

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey legislative leaders hit the brakes Thursday on a fast-moving bill that would have overhauled the state’s open records law, following an outpouring of opposition from civil rights groups, unions and others.

Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo, both Democrats, said they will work on amending the proposed legislation that came before committees earlier this week.

While advocates who opposed the measure cheered the news, the legislation isn’t dead and just what the amendments are is not yet clear.

“Understanding how important it is to maintain transparency and the right of the public to know what their government is doing, I appreciate the concerns raised about (the bill),” Coughlin said in a statement posted to X, formerly Twitter.

The bill, which lawmakers approved out of committee on Monday, was up for a second, different committee vote Thursday. But then Coughlin said such consideration wouldn’t happen while changes to the bill are being considered.

New Jersey’s Open Public Records Act, which hasn’t been updated in more than two decades, provides the public, including news reporters and commercial interests, the ability to obtain government documents at the state and local levels. The measure under consideration was necessary, the sponsors said, to update the bill but also to block commercial businesses seeking records from towns across the state, clogging clerk’s workloads and costing taxpayers.

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