By Matt Rooney
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UPDATE: After this story ran, Senate Democrats announced later in the day that their Monday hearing were canceled.
Original story:
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Look: panic or not, I get why the state legislature might not want to hold committee hearings right now with packed chambers. I do. But if you can’t operate in the sunlight, then the only decent, democratically-consistent thing to do is close up shop temporarily.
Your N.J. Senate Democrats aren’t decent.
On Friday, the Democrat-controlled State Senate announced that it would hold six committee meetings as-planned on Monday, but they would NOT permit the public to attend:
Senate Committees will be meeting on Monday, but the public will not be permitted to physically attend. Written testimony can be submitted via email to the addresses listed below and members of the public will be able to listen live at https://t.co/K0LhW8ACqX pic.twitter.com/Hb3VnSpL7L
— NJ Senate Democrats (@NJSenDems) March 12, 2020
As you might guess, there are all sorts of wacky things on the docket; the Education Committee will consider a host of bills including S1512, long-percolating legislation requiring the N.J. Department of Education to maintain an “inclusive” materials list.
Don’t like it?
Tough shit, Save Jerseyans. Send’em an e-mail.
Coronavirus IS serious. So it using a pandemic to avoid accountability. If the State Senate genuinely believes we’re at the point where public committee hearings are too dangerous? Then it’s wildly inappropriate to hold private ones. Cancel the hearings or open the doors and supply some complimentary hand sanitizer/toilet paper while you’re at it.
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