HOBOKEN — Hoboken Councilwoman Beth Mason yesterday spoke in front of the Assembly State Government Committee in favor of a bill mandating affordable access to public documents. Mason, also the vice-president of the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, has long been an advocate of transparency and government reform.
The bill, A1095, guarantees that prices for copies of forms and records do not exceed $0.10 for letter-size pages and $0.15 for legal-size pages. This measure is designed to prevent cases of concerned residents being discouraged from seeking public records due to cost, which can sometimes add up to hundreds of dollars.
Mason presented an example of a recent Hoboken Housing Authority meeting, where she said she heard that residents were charged excessively for copies of the organization’s budget and waiting list.
“It is time for our state to further empower the people and allow them fair and open access to government,” said Mason at the hearing. “When all citizens have equal access to their government, democracy is strengthened allowing elected officials to truly represent the people.”
After testimony from Mason and several other open government advocates, the committee voted unanimously to move the bill forward to the General Assembly. The councilwoman plans to continue lobbying support of the bill to ensure that it passes through both legislative chambers and is eventually signed into law, she said.
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