Im going to give a big thumbs up to Assemblywoman Muñoz on this one. The current law allows legislators in Trenton to take up to ten unexcused absences before they can be removed from their seat in the Assembly. While we do have a full time legislature, that rule is rather absurd. Not because it is inconceivable that someone could miss ten days of work in a year, but because these are actually ten days in addition to excused absences for illness or other approved reasons.
Muñoz’s new bill would slash the amount of unexcused absences to five, which seems much more reasonable. If someone is simply skipping out of work five days a year with literally no explanation, something should be done, and being in the legislature is a job like any other.
There has been a trend lately (and lets face it, for a long time now) of legislators missing days when there are key votes to be taken. Usually it is because said legislator will not be voting with their party or would have to make a controversial decision in order to not seem inconsistent with their prior statements on an issue. One recent example was the vote on gay marriage.
Legislators are in Trenton specifically to make tough decisions and cast difficult votes. And if cutting the number of days they can miss helps to ensure they come and do the job, I am all for it. Muñoz hits it right on the head.
If we don’t show up because we do not agree with something we are not doing our jobs. Sometimes we have to make tough decisions and I don’t think leaving the state is the way to handle it.
this is pretty awesome. i'd call my reps an encourage them to co-sponsor it.