Jeff Brindle, Director of New Jersey’s Election Enforcement Commission, has sued Gov. Murphy to block the recently signed Elections Transparency Act.

The new law allows the governor to directly appoint the four members of the Election Enforcement Commission without Senate oversight if within a 90-day period.

The new law also reduces the time the commission has to investigate campaign finance violations from 10 years down to two years following a violation.

The timeline change applies retroactively, effectively wiping out the majority of the commission’s caseload.

Brindle believes the new law and calls for his resignation are in response to his efforts against dark money in New Jersey’s politics.

The three other members of the Election Enforcement Commission resigned in protest two days after the new law was passed.

Executive Director Jeff Brindle of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission issued a statement urging the state Legislature to amend existing pay-to-play law. He claims constitutional challenges to federal laws may have ramifications on New Jersey’s law, and a complete overhaul is necessary.

Brindle argues state pay-to-play law is too complex and has unintended consequences. Contractors either stop making contributions altogether, seek ways to legally circumvent the law, or simply break the law. Moreover, donations to transparent entities such as candidates and parties have declined while the activity of PACs and anonymous independent groups has increased significantly.

Because pay-to-play law is worthwhile, Brindle suggests establishing one state law, ending the fair and open loophole, enhancing disclosure, raising the contribution limit, exempting political parties, and including restrictions on contractor contributions to PACs.

The statement represented the personal opinions of Jeff Brindle and not necessarily those of the Commission.

Executive Director Jeff Brindle of the Election Law Enforcement Commission is calling for comprehensive pay-to-play reform after critics revealed a loophole in Trenton’s laws. The loophole became apparent after a South Jersey law firm was awarded a contract with the city worth up to $20,000.

One of the firm’s founding partners was serving as the treasurer of a PAC when the PAC donated $8,200 to the election campaign of Trenton Mayor Eric Jackson. Because neither the law firm nor any of its partners made a donation to the PAC, the contract award was not deemed a violation of the city’s pay-to-play law.

Critics, however, want the law revised to include such contract awards. Part of Brindle’s recommendations for reform include simplifying complex laws, creating a single pay-to-play law to apply to all governments at the state, county, and local levels, and prohibiting the pay-to-play loophole for publicly bid contracts.

Jeff Brindle, Executive Director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC), has renewed efforts calling for campaign finance reform, specifically concerning political contributions from contractors.

In a press release detailing public contractors’ political contributions for 2011, ELEC’s analysis concludes that while contractors are making fewer contributions directly to candidates, they are making substantially more contributions to PACs.

Director Brindle states, “In some cases, contractors may be evading the intent of pay-to-play restrictions and contribution limits by giving indirectly through these PACs. That is why the Commission has recommended making it harder for one candidate or group to establish multiple, affiliated PACs.”

Director Brindle also reiterates the Commission’s recommendation to adopt a single statewide pay-to-play law. Previous LobbyComply blog posts discusses the earlier recommendations can be found here and here.