HOBOKEN —In 2002, then-Acting Governor Donald DiFrancesco signed the state’s Open Public Meetings Act into law, to help citizens get public records from their governments. But some government agencies charged the public as much 75 cents to 10 dollars per page.
Hoboken Councilwoman Beth Mason came head to head with the problem a few years ago when she sought information from her city and received a hefty bill in return. She began a series of lawsuits to bring the costs down. But she and others soon realized that the best way to cut the costs was to do it is on a state level.
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan agreed with her, and drafted new legislation that would limit reduce the per page costs associated with obtaining public records.
However, since then, some changes have been made to the law that may actually make it more expensive to get certain records.
The legislation is slated for a vote in the state Assembly and Senate this Monday.
Among other things, the changes force people to pay for information that is faxed and emailed, even though that is free right now. Mason is hoping that those changes are removed.
For more on this story, see the Hoboken Reporter this weekend, here or in print.