Out of the shadows; Corzine puts light on independent agencies
GIVE Governor Corzine credit for taking action this week to rein in New Jersey's independent authorities, which spend and borrow billions of dollars each year with far too little state oversight.
Although Corzine's move was but one step to address what has been a pervasive climate of favoritism and insider deals in Trenton, it is a crucial one. The state Economic Development Authority, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority and other independent agencies have long been emblematic of politics as usual in New Jersey.
They are effectively a "shadow government," and it's high time they saw the light of day.
With adequate enforcement, Corzine's executive order could go to the heart of the problem with these agencies. For too long, the authorities have acted almost unilaterally. With impunity, they have initiated huge projects, awarded no-bid contracts, hired political insiders and amassed huge amounts of debt.
Corzine did not single out any of the authorities as examples of wasteful spending, but you don't have to look very far. Take the Schools Construction Corp., part of the EDA. In large part because of poor to non-existent state oversight, it misspent hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer money before it was finally overhauled last year.
Corzine's order also reins in the authorities by requiring them to coordinate with the governor's office and the Office of Economic Growth before moving forward with new projects — projects that too often have not necessarily been in taxpayers' best interests.
The order requires the authorities to establish procedures to ensure that "all contracts with state authorities be awarded based on merit and value." This means that most goods and services would have to be put out for bid on a centralized New Jersey Web site so that firms statewide will be able to compete. No-bid professional contracts, meanwhile, would have to be evaluated and awarded on a very specific objective basis.
This all sounds encouraging, but what's needed is a strong follow-through. The state auditor must ensure that the executive order is being followed, that the process is entirely open, and that there is no correlation between a firm's political clout and the professional contracts it receives.
What's more, executive orders can easily be rescinded by future governors and are open to legal challenge. The Legislature needs to review Corzine's executive order, strengthen it wherever possible and codify it into law.
By issuing the executive order, Corzine kept a pledge he made when he ran for governor. Now he's got to make sure that those words have real muscle and that these independent agencies are brought out of the shadows for good.