Wayne Bryant

Five Repubican State Senators have announced their retirements this year -- the largest group of Senators to leave the Senate without running for another office since 1971 -- and there are likely to be more departures on the horizon. Martha Bark will not be seeking re-election, but Burlington County Republicans are waiting to decide who their eighth district candidates will be before Bark makes her formal announcement. Bernard Kenny, the Senate Majority Leader, is also likely to drop his bid for re-election, rather than face Assemblyman/Union City Mayor Brian Stack in the Democratic primary.

Two Democratic Senators from Newark, Ronald Rice and Sharpe James, could retire, instead of facing challenges for renomination. And in Camden County, where Wayne Bryant is expected to seek re-election, circumstances could alter his plans. Insiders say that Republican Senator Peter Inverso has not made a final decision on his 2007 plans.

DeCROCE STATEMENT ON DECISION BY THE
U.S. ATTORNEY REGARDING BRYANT INVESTIGATION

Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce release the following statement in response to a letter issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office saying it had not objection to an investigation into the conduct of state Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-Camden, by the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards:

"The ethics committee has a lot of work to do. Let's get to it. The committee should reconvene as soon as possible and begin an immediate inquiry into the Bryant matter."

The Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards on Monday asked U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie if the panel's investigation of Bryant might interfere with any investigations being carried out by Christie's office.

According to the Associated Press, in a two-sentence letter issued Friday, Christie said he had no objection.

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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...

A sorry spectacle:
State ethics panel meets with discouraging results

Editorial, The Daily Record, October 25, 2006

We try hard. There is a certain amount of idealism that pervades the craft of journalism, and we want to believe that our lawmakers in Trenton want to do the "right thing," as quaint as that sometimes seems.

Which brings us to Monday's meeting of the state's Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards. It was the first meeting of the year, and considering this is October, that gives you an idea of the priority Trenton leaders place on it.

The committee has 16 members -- four senators, four assembly members and eight members of the public. You can see problems from the outset: the committee has too many members, and it has an equal number of public members and elected officials. If the committee had a majority of public members, the partisan bickering could be controlled a little better.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...

Clowning around

Editorial, The Star-Ledger, October 25, 2006

One way to get a laugh is to link words that seem to contradict each other. Like military intelligence. Or try this beaut: Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards. Now there's a hoot.

But no one could be amused by that committee's performance Monday. Members met for the first time in a year and a half but couldn't find any ethics problems worth looking into right away.

MERKT: TREASURY AND LEGISLATORS CAN RUN FROM AN OPRA REQUEST, BUT NOT A SUBPOENA

Assemblyman Richard Merkt today said that while Treasury officials may be stonewalling his request for documents about how legislators steered state grant money to certain programs, the administration will not have the same luxury now that U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is seeking similar documents.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...
ESPECIALLY YOU, BONNIE

Ethics reform a must

Editorial, The Times of Trenton, Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Under pressure, Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-Lawnside, stepped down Monday as chairman of the powerful Appropriations and Budget Committee. Now it's time for the Legislature to step up to the task of long-overdue ethics reform.

Bob Menendez: He Can't Handle The Truth!
Despite FBI Subpoenas He Tells Press Corps He Is Not Under Federal Investigation

"A federal investigation has been launched in New Jersey into the financial dealings of Senator Robert Menendez and a non profit agency he has helped over the years." (NBC Channel 4, at 11:00 PM, September 7, 2006)

Statehouse sources say that Senate President Richard Codey's decision to give Wayne Bryant's Budget and Appropriations Committee chairmanship to Majority Leader Bernard Kenny reflects Bryant's fear that he might have trouble getting it back someday if the post went to Paul Sarlo or Barbara Buono. Majority Leaders traditionally do not chair major committees.

CODEY ANNOUNCES BRYANT DECISION TO STEP DOWN FROM BUDGET COMMITTEE; MAJORITY LEADER KENNY TO ASSUME POST

TRENTON -- Senate President Richard J. Codey (D-Essex) today announced that state Senator Wayne R. Bryant (D-Camden) will be temporarily stepping down from his position as chairman of the Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee. In light of this decision, Senator Codey announced that he has appointed Senator Bernard F. Kenny, Jr. (D-Hudson), the Senate Majority Leader, to assume the position effective today.

Menendez's Silence On Bryant Makes First Campaign Commercial First Broken Promise
Where's the guy who promised to "stand up for what is right, no matter what?"

Trenton, NJ - New Jersey Republican State Chairman Tom Wilson issued the following statement today: