Assembly begins pushing legislative ethics reforms

Ethics

Lawmakers would be barred from accepting more than one taxpayer-paid health insurance plan and from taking campaign donations from their aides under measures pushed forward Thursday by Assembly legislators.

The measures released by the Assembly State Government Committee come as legislators also prepare to revamp an oft-criticized legislative ethics committee.

Legislative staff said it can't be estimated how much money the bill to limit health insurance benefits would save because it is not known how many officials receive benefits under more than one plan.

Still, sponsors said it would be a sensible move, especially with the state suffering chronic fiscal problems.

"Taking action to address this problem will be just one step in a long process of getting government costs under control in New Jersey, but it is a significant step," said the sponsor, Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, R-Monmouth, who vowed to introduce legislation to bar all state workers from accepting more than one taxpayer-paid health insurance plan.

Legislators have tried to pass versions of the bill into law since 2003 without success. It passed the Assembly during the last session, but never received Senate consideration.

The measure to bar legislative aides and their immediate family members from making political contributions to the legislator that employs them would continue for two years after an aide stopped working for the legislator.

Violators would face up to 18 months in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

"While some of these contributions may be well-intentioned, they allow for a form of kickback whereby a legislator pays the salary of the aide with taxpayer funds, and the aide then kicks back those dollars to his or her boss by way of campaign contributions," said Assemblyman Jay Webber, R-Morris, a bill sponsor.

He noted that congressional staffers cannot contribute to their employers.

"This bill strikes a blow against what I call the culture of soft corruption in Trenton," Webber said.

Assembly and Senate committees are scheduled on Monday to weigh a plan pushed by Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. to revamp the much-criticized legislative ethics committee, which has chastised few legislators and been rife with partisan bickering.

Roberts wants to remove lawmakers from it and replace them with retired prosecutors, Supreme Court justices and Superior Court judges and give the panel more authority.

Related listings

  • Web Page Disclaimers in New Hampshire

    Web Page Disclaimers in New Hampshire

    Ethics 02/29/2008

    Effective January 1, 2008, New Hampshireadopted a rule that clearly protects persons who, in good faith, e-mailconfidential information to a lawyer from having the lawyer use theinformation against the prospective client.  The comments to NewHam...

  • Qualcomm v. Broadcom Confidentiality Hurts

    Qualcomm v. Broadcom Confidentiality Hurts

    Ethics 02/26/2008

    A blockbuster decision was issued in the notorious “take no prisoners,” “bet the company,” Qualcomm v. Broadcom, Case No. 05cv1958-B, in San Diego. In a heart-wrenching decision, the lawyers are being prevented from disclosing what really occurred, b...

  • Arizona Lawyers May Not Ethically Participate

    Arizona Lawyers May Not Ethically Participate

    Ethics 07/06/1999

    Arizona lawyers may not ethically participate in an Internet servicethat sends legal questions from individuals to attorneys based upon thesubject matter of the question. The opinion also notes that lawyers cannot pay a fee for such referrals or give...

USCIS Will Begin Accepting CW-1 Petitions for Fiscal Year 2019

On April 2, 2018, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will begin accepting petitions under the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI)-Only Transitional Worker (CW-1) program subject to the fiscal year (FY) 2019 cap. Employers in the CNMI use the CW-1 program to employ foreign workers who are ineligible for other nonimmigrant worker categories. The cap for CW-1 visas for FY 2019 is 4,999.

For the FY 2019 cap, USCIS encourages employers to file a petition for a CW-1 nonimmigrant worker up to six months in advance of the proposed start date of employment and as early as possible within that timeframe. USCIS will reject a petition if it is filed more than six months in advance. An extension petition may request a start date of Oct. 1, 2018, even if that worker’s current status will not expire by that date.

Since USCIS expects to receive more petitions than the number of CW-1 visas available for FY 2019, USCIS may conduct a lottery to randomly select petitions and associated beneficiaries so that the cap is not exceeded. The lottery would give employers the fairest opportunity to request workers, particularly with the possibility of mail delays from the CNMI.

USCIS will count the total number of beneficiaries in the petitions received after 10 business days to determine if a lottery is needed. If the cap is met after those initial 10 days, a lottery may still need to be conducted with only the petitions received on the last day before the cap was met. USCIS will announce when the cap is met and whether a lottery has been conducted.

Business News

Clayton, MO Federal Criminal Defense Attorney The Law Offices of John M. Lynch, LLC, provides strong representation for clients with federal criminal defense. >> read
DuPage IL worker's comp lawyers The law firm of Krol, Bongiorno & Given, Ltd. has been a leader in the field of workers’ compensation law in DuPage, Illinois. >> read