ROBERTS: COMPREHENSIVE ETHICS REFORMS NECESSARY TO RESTORE TRUST IN GOVERNMENT

ROBERTS: COMPREHENSIVE ETHICS REFORMS NECESSARY
TO RESTORE TRUST IN GOVERNMENT

(TRENTON) -- Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts, Jr. said the comprehensive ethics reform proposals announced today by the Governor would help restore resident's trust in government and make New Jersey a national model for good-government reform.

Roberts joined Governor Jon S. Corzine and Harry Pozycki of Citizens' Campaign at a State House press conference to unveil the ethics package, which includes a top-to-bottom ban on pay-to-play at all levels of government, would place contribution limits on legislative leadership PACs, and would eliminate wheeling, among other reforms.

The Speaker said the need for reform was made more urgent by a recent U.S. District Court ruling form Arizona that effectively declared unconstitutional a key portion of New Jersey's Clean Elections law and short-circuited efforts to promote a workable model for publicly financed campaigns.

Speaker Roberts (D-Camden) released the following statement:

"New Jersey has made tremendous strides over the past several years to clean up ethics in government, but the public clearly wants us to do more.

"Today we are finally ready to help finish the job.

"New Jerseyans want and deserve a government that is responsible only to them and which represents the public's interest, not the special interests.

"With this reform package, we can make that ideal a reality sooner rather than later."

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