| As Rosi reported in this morning's roundup, Sen. Barbara Buono is proposing to block the Christie Administration's "waiver rule" from going into effect. This rule would allow broad exemptions from any of the state's environmental laws on a case-by-case basis. It sets a troubling precedent because, well, when you can deal with regulatory applications on a case by case basis, it becomes a whole lot easier to treat your friends' cases differently from your enemies, continuing this Administration's attempt to centralize power at the top.
But this ain't any ordinary legislative proposal. It's a new exertion of legislative powers. And that makes it really interesting. More below the fold... |
| Some history is in order here. Back in the early 1980s, the Legislature tried to pass a law allowing it to veto any regulation proposed by any department. But the NJ Supreme Court struck it down as unconstitutional in General Assembly v. Byrne.
Then in the anti-Florio mania, Republicans in the Legislature succeeded in getting a Constitutional amendment proposed and passed in 1992, reading as follows:
No rule or regulation made by any department, officer, agency or authority of this state, except such as relates to the organization or internal management of the State government or a part thereof, shall take effect until it is filed either with the Secretary of State or in such other manner as may be provided by law. The Legislature shall provide for the prompt publication of such rules and regulations. The Legislature may review any rule or regulation to determine if the rule or regulation is consistent with the intent of the Legislature as expressed in the language of the statute which the rule or regulation is intended to implement. Upon a finding that an existing or proposed rule or regulation is not consistent with legislative intent, the Legislature shall transmit this finding in the form of a concurrent resolution to the Governor and the head of the Executive Branch agency which promulgated, or plans to promulgate, the rule or regulation. The agency shall have 30 days to amend or withdraw the existing or proposed rule or regulation. If the agency does not amend or withdraw the existing or proposed rule or regulation, the Legislature may invalidate that rule or regulation, in whole or in part, or may prohibit that proposed rule or regulation, in whole or in part, from taking effect by a vote of a majority of the authorized membership of each House in favor of a concurrent resolution providing for invalidation or prohibition, as the case may be, of the rule or regulation. This vote shall not take place until at least 20 calendar days after the placing on the desks of the members of each House of the Legislature in open meeting of the transcript of a public hearing held by either House on the invalidation or prohibition of the rule or regulation.
Interesting thing is, after all that work to get a constitutional amendment, nothing happened. Since 1992, the Legislature has NEVER actually used this power.
Enter Sen. Buono. She apparently recognized that this is a different way for the Legislature to potentially exert influence over Gov. Christie's plans to turn state government into his own personal fiefdom, and is attempting to apply this power to the waiver rule.
It remains to be seen whether she can convince the Legislature to move forward. If they do, it will mark a new dynamic in relations between the Legislature and the Governor - one that voters approved nearly 20 years ago. |
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