New Jersey Lawmakers Urged to Improve Legislative Transparency

Policy advocates suggest reforms to address last-minute legislating and lack of public input

Published on Mar. 2, 2026

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New Jersey is known for its last-minute legislative process, which concerns policy advocates who say it allows lawmakers to 'hide' unpopular legislation and rush bills through without proper public scrutiny. Experts suggest reforms such as using more joint committees, providing advance notice of hearings, allowing public comment at the start and end of hearings, and setting time limits on bill introductions to improve transparency.

Why it matters

The opaque nature of New Jersey's legislative process raises concerns about the quality of laws being passed and whether the public's democratic rights are being adequately protected. Improving transparency could lead to better-written legislation that has undergone proper public review.

The details

Policy advocates and analysts have proposed several changes to address the issues with New Jersey's last-minute legislating. These include using more joint committees between the Senate and Assembly to streamline the process, giving the public more advance notice of hearings and time to review final bill language, allowing public comment at the start and end of hearings, creating remote testimony options, and setting deadlines for introducing new bills. Experts say these reforms would make the legislative process more efficient and accessible to the public.

  • The New Jersey Legislature typically rushes through a large number of bills during the final days of the legislative session, known as 'lame duck'.

The players

Daniel Bowen

A political science professor and public policy graduate director at The College of New Jersey.

Michael Egenton

A representative of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce.

Nicole Rodriguez

A policy advocate at New Jersey Policy Perspective.

James Sullivan

A representative of the ACLU-NJ.

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What they’re saying

“There are two main concerns. First is the possibility for legislative leaders to 'hide' pieces of legislation they expect might be unpopular and rush the legislation through along with a large number of other bills. The second concern is that legislation worked on in private and not subject to public scrutiny can end up being poorly written and hastily considered.”

— Daniel Bowen, Political science professor and public policy graduate director (njspotlightnews.org)

“Is there a better way? I would imagine there would be. But honestly, I'm so numb and used to this ... Is there any interest in really changing that?”

— Michael Egenton, Representative of the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce (njspotlightnews.org)

“It really streamlines that process. I think it will just be more efficient, not only for the Legislature, but for folks who are coming in to practice their democratic rights.”

— Nicole Rodriguez, Policy advocate at New Jersey Policy Perspective (njspotlightnews.org)

“just as effective”

— James Sullivan, Representative of ACLU-NJ (njspotlightnews.org)

What’s next

Lawmakers in New Jersey will need to determine if they have the political will to implement reforms to improve transparency in the legislative process.

The takeaway

New Jersey's opaque legislative process raises concerns about the quality of laws being passed and whether the public's democratic rights are being adequately protected. Implementing reforms such as using more joint committees, providing advance notice of hearings, and setting deadlines for introducing new bills could help make the process more transparent and accessible to the public.