Assemblyman Reed Gusciora has upped the ante on ethics reform in tbe New Jersey Legislature. The Assemblyman, who represents most of Mercer County, unveiled a legislative package today that would alter the dynamic in Trenton by toughening penalties on corruption, creating new classes of crime and — most surprisingly — making the Legislature a full-time body and imposing a 10-year term limit on legislators.
According to a press release from his office, Gusciora would:
- amend the state’s RICO statute to include “political crimes” among those defined as racketerring. The change would allow the state not only to recoup money lost to corruption but would give it the power to “collect up to three times any amount gained as a result of a corrupt enterprise,” he said.
- make the creation of no-show jobs a crime.
- require legislators to certify in writing that they would not be benefitting financially — whether directly or indirectly — from the bills they introduce.
- give the Legislature power to suspend members who have been indicted.
create a full-time legislature. - and ” and impose “term limits.” Gusciora argues that the only way to avoid outside conflicts, whether public or private, would be to have a full-time legislative body.
- and impose term limits to “ensure that there is fresh blood in the system.”
With the Gusciora proposals now on the table alongside some pretty tough rules being proposed by Gov. Chris Christie, there is a chance that the culture of corruption that has badly damaged the public’s faith in state and local government can be overturned.
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- Read poetry at The Subterranean.
- Certainties and Uncertainties a chapbook by Hank Kalet, will be published in November by Finishing Line Press. it can be ordered here.
- Suburban Pastoral, a chapbook by Hank Kalet, available here.
Hank Kalet 
Here’s a practical Tea Party type strategy to create a “Citizen Congress”A Congress of career politicians will never represent “We the People”, because their highest priority is getting reelected with the help of Big Money. But “We the People” have more votes than “Big Money” has, and thus can end Congress as a career for professional politicians.We can impose single terms every two years, by never reelecting Congress.Always vote, but only for challengers. Never reelect incumbents.Keep this up until Congress is mostly “one-termers”, a citizen Congress.Then keep it up every election, to make a citizen Congress a permanent reality.Every American’s only intelligent choice is to never reelect anyone in Congress! The only infallible, unstoppable, guaranteed way to get a cleaned up new politics is NEVER REELECT ANY INCUMBENT (of either party) AND DO IT EVERY ELECTION Nelson Lee Walker of tenurecorrupts.com
Well, no, (to the last commenter), I will damn well vote for an incumbent when the other choice is some freaking right wing libertarianish GOP troglodyte. I am not so sure I want a Congress full of inexperienced neophytes. Experience can be of value, experience is usually valued in many professions. Another solution is public financing of campaigns so more people can have a chance to compete and not just the corporate approved candidates. And to my liberal and progressive buddies, please vote Democratic. There really is a big difference between the Ds and Rs this time around. The GOP is the bubonic plague while the Democrats are the flu. The GOP has become a far right wing/libertarian fringe wacko nut case party. Sipprelle will have to toe the GOP wacko right wing extreme philosophy or risk getting blown away by the tea partiers and the rigid right wingers, as happened to Mike Castle and Lincoln Chaffee.