Pay to Play articles....

Pay-to-play law working too well, pols gripe Jersey Journal---June 12, 2006
TRENTON — Many of New Jersey's major contractors have slashed or stopped their donations to political fundraising committees since the state adopted a law to stop the so-called "pay-to-play" transactions.

The law, set in motion when former Gov. James E. McGreevey issued an executive order in September of 2004, significantly increased curbs on political donations by state, county and local contractors.

For example, one-third of the money the Democratic State Committee raised in 2004 came from contractors, while last year it was just 6 percent, an analysis done by the Star-Ledger.

And late last year, Manalapan engineering firm Shoor DePalma stopped donating money to both parties after it had doled out more than $2.8 million since 1990. ACS State & Local Solutions, which runs the EZ-Pass toll system, hasn't donated any money in the last two years after giving $250,000 from 2002 through 2004.

Many contractors gave money because they saw an easy inroad into getting government contracts, said Harry Pozycki, a former Common Cause chairman who lobbied for reform.

But the law has some Democrats crying foul. Democrats say the law hinders their ability to raise money and gives the upper hand to opponents who can foot the bill for their own campaigns.

- THE ASSOCIATED PRESS - Jersey Journal--- June 12, 2006

*********************************************************************************

Asbury Park Press ( Neptune , NJ )

April 3, 2005

`Wheeling' decried in '04 Ocean campaign Hudson donation matched same day

Author: LILO H. STAINTON/GANNETT STATE BUREAU

TRENTON - Given the Republicans' lock on Ocean County politics, Democrats knew they faced an uphill battle during last year's freeholder race.

But with more than $100,000 in contributions pouring in from powerful Democrats around the state, the party had a chance to
build a countywide message and energize voters for local races in more than a dozen Ocean County municipalities.

Campaign finance records show that three weeks before the Nov. 2 election, Ocean County Democrats also received $14,400
from Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, who was busy fighting a tough battle to get Jerramiah Healy elected as Jersey City mayor. DeGise had earlier given Healy, as well as his City Council allies, the maximum contributions.

But the same day DeGise's contributions were logged in Ocean County - as two $7,200 checks to separate accounts - Ocean
County Democratic leaders also gave $14,400, in two checks, to Healy's mayoral campaign.

! "It's either illegal or it's wheeling, which should be illegal," said Assemblyman Bill Baroni Jr., R-Mercer, an election law
specialist who has sponsored legislation to eliminate such county-to-county transfers. "If someone makes a contribution and
is a conduit, that's illegal. Wheeling should also be. You can see why it's corrupting."

Baroni said such transfers let party leaders funnel contributions that exceed the legal limit to key players, with little oversight.
"It's like the Cayman Islands of campaign finance," Baroni said. "There is no explanation other than Ocean County Democrats
being used as a middle ground for these contributions."

Former state Sen. John F. Russo, a Democrat who represented Ocean County from 1974 to 1992, predicted rank-and-file party
members "will be in an uproar" when they learn the money was received, then quickly sent back out.

"To me, it's utterly shocking. I think it will be utterly shocking to all Ocean County Democrat! s, especially those who were
trying to get a decent campaign going," R usso said. "It's mind-boggling, these kinds of things."

Beach Haven Mayor Deborah C. Whitcraft, a 2004 freeholder candidate, was angry but not surprised. "That's outrageous,"
she said. "We went into it knowing it was a long shot. But it was made so much worse by the fact there was so little support
by our own party."

Both DeGise and Ocean County Democratic chairman Fred Potter defended their contributions, which they said are part of
Democrats' efforts to strengthen the party statewide.

DeGise insisted there were no requirements when he made contributions to Ocean County , and Potter declined to elaborate
on his choice to support Healy while also running a campaign at home.

"We file an election report. We comply with election regulations," Potter said.

"It is what it is. We made a contribution and it's there," Potter said, adding that the Ocean County Democrats spent
generously on the freeholder race.

"I'm not going to apologize for d! oing something that turned out very good," DeGise said, adding that Healy won and the party
is stronger as a result. "Those of us who are in these positions don't make the rules, we play by them."

DeGise also defended contributing $7,200 each to four Jersey City councilmen. On the same day the four - Junior Maldonado,
Peter Brennan, Mariano Vega, and William Gaughan - got DeGise's donation, they each cut a check of the same value to
Healy's campaign.

"There was an understanding they were supporting Jerry Healy there," DeGise said, adding that he never told the councilmen
how to use the funds. "There were no strings attached."

Prompted in part by a growing number of government corruption scandals, state lawmakers have begun changing the state's
campaign-finance rules. Acting Gov. Codey signed a law last month that bans some contributions by state contractors.

Wheeling is some lawmakers' next target. Codey spokeswoman Kelley Heck said the governor,! who also serves as Senate
president, is studying several options and working with Senate Minority Leader Leonard Lance, R-Hunterdon, on a proposal.

"The governor thinks there is some legitimate function to the transfer of funds in the general elections, but perhaps there
should be some restrictions in the primary," Heck said.

By next year, there will be. A law signed in June 2004 by then-Gov. James E. McGreevey includes a provision that will outlaw
transfers between county committee accounts between Jan. 1 and June 30, starting in 2006. The law would not apply to
municipal or statewide election accounts, and therefore would not have impacted the transfers from Ocean County to Healy,
for example.

" Wheeling is not illegal" under existing law, said Frederick Hermann, executive director of the Election Law Enforcement
Commission. "Generally speaking, you have to prove that there was some sort of deal or agreement that this was going to
happen. Just the fact that somebody made a contribution on one day and they gave it to some! one else the same day
doesn't make it illegal. It's a question of: Can you prove it?"

The practice is common among both parties, campaign records show. A Gannett New Jersey analysis last fall showed
Democrats in Bergen , Camden and Middlesex counties contributed over $5.7 million to out-of-county causes between 1998
and 2003. Republicans in Burlington County exported more than $680,000 during those years.

In 2003, Ocean County was on the receiving end of the cycle. Campaign reports show Democrats there got $50,000 from the
Hunterdon County Democratic Committee that summer. Hunterdon Democrats took in $54,000 from companies run by
Middlesex County developer Jack Morris during July 2003.

This financial gimmick is frustrating to some, like Whitcraft, the former Ocean County freeholder candidate. In early October
she complained publicly about the lack of funding and organizational support for their campaign.

Potter and Patrick Sheehan, the treasurer f! or the county Democrats , note that county officials poured more than $ 135,000
into media for the freeholder campaign while also funding local contests in some 15 municipalities.

"If we had more money, we would have done more in September," Potter said. "People don't realize what it costs to run a
freeholder race."

Whitcraft, meanwhile, has left the Democrats and become an independent."If I had known we were not going to get the support
that you obviously have to have from your own party, I wouldn't have run," Whitcraft said. "We were sold down the river."

Lilo H. Stainton: lstaint@gannett.com

***************************************************************************************************************

The people banish pay-to-play

The Record -- Monday, November 8, 2004
By HERB JACKSON

While the Legislature continues to argue over banning pay-to-play at the local level, voters in Hoboken bypassed elected officials completely last week and used the ballot to prohibit giving contracts to professional firms that make big campaign contributions.
Last week, when voters finally got to speak, the results were overwhelming: 9,573 votes for the ban, 1,099 against. In Lawrence Township in Mercer County, a similar vote last week was also lopsided, with 8,116 voters for the ban and 2,514 against. full story

**Vox populi Editorial in The Trenton Times Friday, November 05, 2004**

Local campaign reform mandated by voters Hoboken 'pay to play' referendum passes by huge margin
by Tom Jennemann of the Hoboken Reporter November 7, 2004

Local Campaign Finance Reform

Case Studies, Innovative and Model Legislation

The National Civic League has always believed that all major social and political reform movements begin at the grassroots level, build momentum, and are eventually codified by the national government. We suspected that there was local activity on campaign financing that was being overlooked by both the national media and the national reform organizations. Our faith in the health and vitality of local, citizen democracy was justified.

This report documents seventy-five local governments that have enacted limits on campaign contributions, campaign spending, or both. National campaign finance reform has been repeatedly ignored, filibustered, and killed in Congress over the last decade. At the same time, local elected officials and community leaders are experimenting with innovative ways to reduce the influence of money in local politics and re-engage citizens in elections. This local activism and innovation should give us all hope for the future of reform in America. full story

People for Open Government
P.O. Box 1544, Hoboken, NJ 07030
reply@peopleforopengovernment.org
www.peopleforopengovernment.org