From the Daily Record:
N.J. Senate panel OKs anti-corruption bills
New Jersey lawmakers, under federal investigation for their spending of public money, approved legislation today that would toughen the penalties for officials found guilty of corruption.
The Senate Budget Committee unanimously cleared a bill that would make it illegal to misuse public funds, with those found guilty facing up to 20 years in prison and $200,000 in fines.
A second bill, which would impose an additional fine of as much as $500,000 against a person convicted of a corruption crime related to a public contract, was approved with a unanimous vote.
”We need to send a message that corruption in New Jersey will not be tolerated,” said Sen. Ellen Karcher, D-Monmouth, who sponsored the bills. ”The constituents should have some course of action to regain lost taxpayer dollars.”
Lawmakers, Gov. Jon S. Corzine’s office and several state departments have been subpoenaed in recent weeks as part of a federal corruption probe of how the state budget has been drafted in recent years.
The investigation began with Sen. Wayne Bryant, former chairman of the Senate budget panel, who was accused by a federal monitor of directing money to the state’s medical university after receiving a ”no-work” job there. Bryant, a Camden Democrat, has denied any wrongdoing.
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie is seeking information on grants commonly known as ”Christmas tree” budget items, or hundreds of millions of dollars of spending on pet projects added by state lawmakers just before passage of the budget.
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The anti-corruption measures now head to the full Senate for consideration.