‘The public has a right to know how their money is being spent’

The following is a transcript of the letter sent to Gov. Phil Murphy by the Republican members of the Senate Budget Committee who called on the governor to fully explain what they described as the hundreds of millions of pork spending in the FY 2022 State Budget:

Dear Governor Murphy:

We are writing this letter asking that you immediately share all budget resolutions or other material in your, or your Administration’s, possession that explain line items of a parochial nature (commonly referred to as pork) added to the Appropriations Act and that were not included in your proposed budget.

The public has a right to know how their money is being spent. Alternatively, if their governor approves hundreds of millions of dollars of what appears to be pork without knowing what it is and without a basis for why it is worthy of their tax dollars, they have a right to know that too.

In recent days you have suggested there is no pork in the budget you have been asked to sign, and so we attach the following items as examples of the line items related to this request.

Finally, please treat this request as a formal request for government records pursuant to the Open Public Records Act and provide a response immediately — as is statutorily required for financial record requests.

Sincerely,

Senate Republican Budget Officer Steven Oroho (R-24)

Senator Declan O’Scanlon Jr. (R-13)

Senator Michael Testa Jr. (R-1)

Senator Sam Thompson (R-12)