newjerseynewsroom.com

Charges group organized to evade fund-raising laws

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) said Tuesday she has written the U.S. attorney for New Jersey and the state attorney general asking them to investigate Reform Jersey Now, a Republican political fund-raising organization.

Weinberg wrote that she is concerned Reform Jersey Now was organized with the specific goal of subverting federal and state campaign laws, and state pay-to-play laws.

The senator also said she is concerned that Reform Jersey Now is operated in the same vein as a political fund operated by former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex), who was recently convicted of transferring campaign funds through various entities to get around Texas' campaign finance laws.

In the letters to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman and Attorney General Paula T. Dow, Weinberg said an investigation is warranted as Reform Jersey Now appears to have been "a Republican-controlled entity which is designed to circumvent campaign finance and pay to play laws."

Weinberg also cited a concern that the group "could have facilitated quid pro quo arrangements" between the administration and would-be state contractors.

"Although Reform Jersey Now claims to be an issue advocacy organization under section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, the entity's leadership seemingly demonstrates that it is an arm of the Republican Party and perhaps the current gubernatorial administration," Weinberg wrote. "As a 501(c)(4) entity, Reform Jersey Now has structured itself in a deliberate attempt to evade legitimate campaign contribution restrictions and collect back door contributions for Republican interests."

Weinberg highlighted several state contractors that were among Reform Jersey Now's contributors. She noted that the two highest-level donors - Ferreira Construction and George Harms Construction - both gave $25,000 and received state transportation contracts in excess of $300 million.

She also noted that Reform Jersey Now received $1,000 from Earle Asphalt Co., which had previously run afoul of state pay-to-play restrictions.

"From its inception, Reform Jersey Now has sought to take advantage of every loophole under state and federal law and has blurred the line between lawful and unlawful conduct," Weinberg wrote. "Its contempt for our pay to play and other anti-corruption laws has opened the door to abuse and quid pro quo transactions. There is little doubt that by coordinating its efforts with prominent Republicans and openly soliciting contributions from contractors, Reform Jersey Now has violated the spirit of the law. The question remains, however, whether it violated the letter of the law."

Separately, Weinberg challenged Gov. Chris Christie's assertions that the group actually had a reform agenda, noting that it has failed to disclose any of its expenditures and that its board included former governors Christie Whitman and Donald DiFrancesco.

"The fact that Reform Jersey Now didn't live by any real standard of accountability and had a board led by two individuals who are responsible for much of our fiscal troubles shows its name to be a misnomer," Weinberg said. "The more you look at, the more it becomes obvious how much of a farce Reform Jersey Now was from the very beginning."

— TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM