Stopping Corruption In Its Tracks:The Christie-Guadagno Plan For Effective Ethics Reform

"It is time to surge forward with the resolve to fight for our principles, end corruption and be held accountable for changing our state." - Chris Christie, 08/05/2009

New Jersey can no longer afford to ignore the serious financial and emotional burden inflicted by corruption. New Jerseyans deserve meaningful ethics reform to put an end to ethically questionable political practices that have tainted our state. When Governor Corzine campaigned on the promise to bring in a new era of ethics reform, it was welcomed news for a state marred by a culture of corruption. However, since then New Jersey has seen a lot of talk and very little action.

To truly fix New Jersey's corruption problem, we must bring real change to our government and repair the reputation of our broken state. Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie and Monmouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno will put their proven records of battling corruption to work by immediately enacting meaningful reform and setting an aggressive tone from the top down. It won't be easy; and there will be resistence from entrenched powerbrokers-but meaningful reform will come in a Christie Administration.

The Christie-Guadagno Plan promises legislative and policy changes in 10 key areas to move New Jersey forward into a truly new era of transparency and accountability.


The Christie-Guadagno Plan to For Effective Ethics Reform:

Eliminate Dual Office Holding. Dual office holding is simply wrong. "Grandfathering" these conflicts for current dual office-holders in the Legislature, as was done by Governor Corzine, was another timid action by a politician afraid of upsetting Trenton's powerbrokers. Chris will fight for legislation to end the practice in New Jersey immediately after taking office in 2010.

Eliminate Dual Public Employment. Double-dipping politicians must stop taking advantage of the state and its funds by simultaneously holding salaried elected positions and government jobs. One publicly funded job and pension is plenty. Chris Christie will ban the practice of one person holding a full time government job while also holding a salaried elected position.

Require Forfeiture Of Public Pensions For Corruption Convictions. When public officials betray the public's trust by participating in acts of corruption, they forfeit their right to receive benefits. The Christie Administration will require any elected or appointed official convicted of a crime connected to their official position to forfeit their pension benefits.

Require Strict Disclosure Of Conflicts Of Interest In The Legislature. Good governance requires transparency. To build public trust, part-time legislators must submit to strict and complete disclosure of any conflicts of interest due to outside employment and income. Chris will propose legislation requiring members to either recuse themselves from actions affecting their private sector interests or disclose these interests prior to voting on piece of such legislation.

Establish An Elected State Auditor To Be An Independent Watchdog. New Jersey needs a public watchdog independent of the interests of the Governor or the State Legislature and accountable to the voters. Chris will fight for an independently elected State Auditor with broad authority to investigate all levels of government and to consolidate other ineffective watchdog agencies under this office's control.

End Pay-To-Play For Everyone. The partisan politics which exclude certain groups, such as labor unions, from pay-to-play restrictions enforced on other interest groups have deepened public cynicism. Chris will remove partisan politics from the issue by proposing legislation to extend the pay-to-play ban to all groups at all levels of government.

Strictly Prohibit The Use Of Campaign Funds From Criminal Defense Costs. The citizens of New Jersey do not contribute to political campaigns with the intention of funding the future criminal defense of corrupt politicians. Chris will fight to explicitly prohibit any public officeholder from using campaign funds of any kind to pay for costs associated with criminal defense proceedings.

Suspend All Public Officeholders Charged With A Crime. Allowing public officeholders to vote on legislation and to receive a public salary while they are under indictment creates a public spectacle and is an embarrassment to New Jersey. Chris will propose legislation to immediately suspend any public officeholder charged with a crime and, if convicted, require the forfeiture of their office.

Require A New, Detailed Annual Disclosure Form Of All Public Officials. Public officials should be required to disclose the same information as federal officials to give a more detailed picture about their financial interests. Chris will fight to change the current disclosure form to provide greater transparency to New Jersey voters.

Require Mandatory Forfeiture Of Convicted Officeholders' Campaign Accounts. Convicted public officials should have no say over the money contributed to their campaigns in good faith by the citizens of New Jersey. Chris will fight to have the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) seize the campaign accounts of convicted officeholders with any remaining funds being donated to New Jersey charities at ELEC's discretion.