Senate President Nicholas Scutari had tried to weaken the state comptroller’s investigatory powers, to the dismay of his critics. (Photo by Dana DiFilippo/New Jersey Monitor)
The New Jersey legislator behind a botched attempt to weaken the power of the state comptroller said he’ll attempt next year to pass a similar bill, but one that wouldn’t touch the comptroller’s office.
Sen. Nicholas Scutari (D-Union) said Thursday that he will introduce legislation in the next session, which begins Jan. 13, to create a state inspector general to field complaints about law enforcement, and that new position will be based in the State Commission of Investigation.
His remarks came a week after he said he would not move forward with the older version of the bill, which critics said was a bald attempt to kneecap an office tasked with guarding against public fraud, waste, and abuse.
Scutari, talking with reporters after a Senate voting session in Trenton, bristled at that suggestion.
“It was never a comptroller bill. It was an SCI bill,” he said.
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Any legislation he introduces in the next session “will have nothing to do with the comptroller whatsoever,” he said.
A bill Scutari introduced just days before Thanksgiving would have transferred the investigatory powers of the comptroller’s office to the commission.
Scutari characterized the move as consolidation. Acting Comptroller Kevin Walsh blasted the bill, and other critics suggested it was retaliatory.
Walsh’s office has investigated public officials — including Scutari’s former chief of staff and other allies — around the state, issuing more than 25 reports this year alone that have irritated powerful people at all levels of politics. The State Commission of Investigation, in comparison, issued no reports this year. Critics warned that stripping the comptroller’s office of its investigative powers would allow corruption to flourish.
Scutari, as Senate president, largely controls what legislation moves in the Statehouse and fast-tracked his bill after about 18 months of mounting backlash to Walsh’s work.
Scutari insisted his motive has been to save money and eliminate a duplication of watchdog efforts.
“Apparently, we have lots of money to allow multiple places to do that,” Scutari said. “I don’t want to be seen that I want to hide any waste, fraud, abuse or corruption, which I don’t. But I don’t want to spend ungodly sums of money on these things when sometimes they don’t seem to lead to anything. But regardless of that fact, I heard the objections.”
A Senate hearing on the bill earlier this month devolved into a shouting match, with Sen. James Beach (D-Camden), the committee’s chairman, limiting critics’ testimony while giving supporters more time to speak. Beach also made Walsh, U.S. Sen. Andy Kim, and Attorney General Matt Platkin, all critics of the proposal, testify last, even though they were among the first to sign up to speak.
Scutari declined to comment Thursday on how Beach handled the hearing.
“These hearings are the way they are. I can’t chair every committee,” Scutari said. “I thought the testimony that I heard in the beginning was well thought out. And, you know, people did not agree with a lot of the stuff that was in there, but that’s pretty much it.”
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