The brief window between November elections and the convening of the new legislature in January—known as the “lame duck”—is a critical time in New Jersey politics. Heading into this lame duck season, we entered arm-in-arm with a broad coalition of our partners, calling with one voice for The People’s Lame Duck Agenda.
The current legislature adjourns on January 8th, 2024. Here’s a look at how we did.
The Good
Our wins this lame duck session have centered around stopping bad legislation. Most notably, the detrimental OPRA (Open Public Records Act) bills—A5613, A5614, A5615 and A5616—have not progressed. In short, OPRA is fundamental to maintaining an open and accountable government, and the proposed reforms would have seriously weakened OPRA and impeded transparency. Protecting OPRA is a priority for many of our coalition partners, especially the ACLU, League of Women Voters, and Working Families Party.
On the environmental justice front, we opposed A577/S1366, the “renewable natural gas” bill, a.k.a. the Unaffordable Dirty Gas bill. This bill has not progressed, we are glad to report. Still, there is concern that the Unaffordable Dirty Gas bill could be pushed through in early January. Empower NJ has organized a lobby day on January 4th.
The Bad
The bad news is that we have not seen real progress on the legislation our People United For Justice coalition was promoting. Reproductive Equity (S2918/A4350), Clean Energy Standards (S2978/A4658), Language Access (S2459/A3837), Corporate Business Tax, and a ream of other democracy and justice legislation do not appear likely to pass into law in these waning days of the 2022-2023 legislature.
Of course, the legislative process is more nuanced than “support”/”oppose,” “YES”/”NO.” The Reproductive Equity Act (S2918/A4350) had been watered down in the amendments process; in 2024, this legislation can be reintroduced in its full-strength form. Environmental justice advocates were calling for passage of the Clean Energy Standards bill (S2978/A4658) on the condition that certain amendments be made, namely to not miscategorize certain highly-polluting energy technologies as “clean.” In 2024, we can rally around really 100% clean energy standards legislation.
What comes next? It will be critical for us all to double-down on pressing for our common legislative priorities in the new year. We want our bills to hit the ground running, to move in January and February and March, before budget season begins.
The Ugly Duckling
This year, over two dozen New Jersey advocacy organizations worked together to draft a common agenda for the state legislature’s lame duck session, to hand-deliver our agenda to the offices of every assemblyperson and senator across the state, to organize behind-the-scenes, and to rally loudly and lobby proudly in Trenton. We became the People United For Justice, and we strengthened our advocacy muscles and our commitments to each other.
Rather than fawn, freeze, or flee, we chose to circle together and flock around issues of racial justice, social justice, and protecting democracy.
If I were to give the NJ Legislature a grade on their performance of “The People’s Lame Duck Agenda,” it would be an ugly grade. But our ability to circle up, to build coalition, and to flock in times of crisis is a thing of beauty. I am filled with hard-earned hope and decidedly uncasual faith in what we will be able to accomplish together in 2024.