• 2009 - Waste and Abuse in Local Government Benefits
The Commission's statewide investigation revealed nearly $40 million in waste and abuse involving public employee compensation and benefit practices in a sample of local governmental entities examined, including extravagant payouts for unused sick and vacation leave and a wide range of questionable and patently improper benefit perks. The findings and recommendations contributed to the enactment of fundamental reform legislation in 2010 that will save taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
• 2008 - Organized Criminal Street Gangs in New Jersey Prisons
Pursuant to its core mission to investigate and monitor organized crime, the Commission examined the impact of burgeoning numbers of prison inmates linked to violent street gangs and found that they are increasingly able to exploit systemic weaknesses to carry out criminal enterprises from behind bars. During a public hearing in November, testimony revealed that gang inmates communicate widely with cohorts both inside and outside of prison with cell phones and other means; readily secure, use and deal in contraband, including illicit narcotics; and engage in questionable financial transactions involving an official system of inmate accounts.
• 2007 - Integrity of Electronic Voting Machines
In response to complaints involving the integrity of the electoral process in New Jersey, the Commission investigated the means by which electronic voting machines are purchased and certified for use in the State and found that the system should be overhauled because it lacks competitive bidding, independent oversight and uniform contracting practices - weaknesses that expose the system to manipulation and abuse. The Commission recommended, among other things, that electronic voting machines be subject to independent testing and certification.
• 2007 - Charity Care
The Commission found that New Jersey's Charity Care hospital-subsidy program for the poor has failed to recover tens of millions of dollars lost due to fraud and the failure to pursue third-party claims. In response to these findings, the Charity Care Fraud Prevention and Detection Act was signed into law by the Governor in December 2007, incorporating key reforms recommended in the SCI's report.
• 2007 - Public Higher Education Governance
The Commission's broad-based inquiry into the operations and administration of public higher education in New Jersey revealed an entire system vulnerable to problematic governance, serious shortcomings in oversight, accountability and transparency and outright violations of the public trust. As part of a final report issued in October, the Commission recommended extensive reforms, including the establishment of uniform fiscal and accounting standards - a "Sarbanes-Oxley Act" for higher education - stronger oversight of capital borrowing by state colleges and universities, and providing institutional boards of trustees with better tools for proper self-governance.
• 2006 - Questionable and Hidden Expenditures for Public School Administrators
After extensive investigation and analysis, the Commission revealed systemic abuses in compensation for public school administrators in New Jersey, including payments well in excess of substantial salaries set forth in public contracts. One lucrative source of extra pay at taxpayer expense is the cashing-in of inordinate amounts of unused sick, vacation and other leave annually and at retirement. The Commission also found instances in which patently improper steps were taken to inflate pensions. The March report formed the basis for a series of recommendations that resulted in the introduction of a multiple legislative reforms.
• 2005 - The Gifting of New Jersey Tax Officials
In December, the Commission issued a report detailing the acceptance by officials of the Taxation and Revenue Divisions of the New Jersey Department of the Treasury of thousands of dollars in gifts and entertainment from a vendor hired by the State to collect back taxes. These officials turned a blind eye when the firm padded its billings, at taxpayer expense, by more than $1 million between 2000 and 2004. Evidence referred by the Commission to the New Jersey Attorney General's Office resulted in the criminal indictments.
• 2004-05 - New-Home Construction and Inspection Abuses
Based upon numerous citizen complaints, the Commission undertook an unprecedented statewide investigation of issues related to the new-home construction industry and, through the course of public hearings, revealed widespread abuses throughout New Jersey, including deficient workmanship, lax and corrupt inspections, blatant code violations, poor government oversight and inadequate remedial options for consumers. The Commission's March 2005 final report and recommendations set the stage for a gubernatorial executive order dealing with administrative action and spurred the introduction of multiple reform bills in the Legislature.
• 2004 - E-ZPass
The Commission examined the problem-plagued regional E-ZPass electronic toll collection system contract and found that the procurement was mismanaged and manipulated amid conflicts of interest and ethics defalcations involving senior state officials, that the contract was awarded without proper financial and programmatic due diligence, and that the project resulted in substantial waste. In a detailed report of its findings, the Commission called for sweeping statutory and regulatory reforms of state contracting and procurement oversight.
• 2003-04 - Organized Crime in New Jersey
The Commission conducted public hearings and issued a comprehensive public report on the status, scope and changing shape of organized crime.
• 2002 - N.J. Enhanced Motor Vehicle Inspection Contract
The Commission examined events and circumstances leading to the design and award of a contract to privatize motor-vehicle inspection services and reported that the procurement process was thoroughly tainted by mismanagement and influence-peddling, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in high-level political campaign contributions by the firm that won the contract through insider lobbying.
• 2000 - Public School Roofing Projects
A statewide investigation of public school roof construction contracts revealed widespread waste and abuse, including conflicts of interest, subversion of public contracting, improper labor practices and inadequate oversight that place the safety of school children in jeopardy and cost New Jersey taxpayers millions each year. The Commission's public report included recommendations designed to provide local governmental unit with a veritable roadmap of ways to save money and improve oversight.
• 1998 - Pension and Benefit Abuses
The Commission examined public employee pension and benefit programs and found abuse, manipulation and excessive expenditures. Irregularities and questionable practices were detected in every region of the state, among municipalities, school districts, community colleges and independent authorities. The Commission's report revealed that underlying the abuse was a system lacking in adequate oversight and a loophole-ridden statutory framework that virtually licensed inappropriate conduct by public officials. |
