TRENTON – Both houses of the Legislature on Monday will vote on concurrent resolutions authorizing the creation of the “New Jersey Legislative Select Oversight Commitee” to examine public sector hiring practices and to review the procedures by government in response to allegations of sexual assault, abuse and harassment, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said today.
The identical resolutions, SCR-148, sponsored by Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg and Senator Kristin Corrado, and ACR-203, sponsored by Assemblywoman Eliana Pintor Marin and Assemblywoman Nancy Munoz, creating the 15-member, bipartisan committee, will be voted on by the Senate and Assembly, respectively.
(Assembly Resolution attached; identical to Senate Resolution.)
Senator Weinberg and Assemblywoman Pintor Marin will serve as co-chairs. Senate President Sweeney selected Senator Corrado to serve as co-vicechair and Assembly Speaker Coughlin named Assemblywoman Munoz as co-vicechair.
The resolutions include the authorization for subpoena power in terms of non-compliance, but each subpoena would have to be approved by both of the committee’s co-chairs, both co-vicechairs, the Senate President and the Assembly Speaker.
The other members will be Senator Sandra Cunningham, Senator M. Teresa Ruiz, Senator Fred Madden, Senator Steve Oroho, Assemblywoman Angela McKnight, Assemblywoman Pamela Lampitt, Assemblywoman Verlina Reynolds Jackson, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson, Assemblywoman Nancy Pinkin, Assemblywoman BettyLou DeCroce and Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi.
As previously announced, the committee co-counsels will be Michael Critchley and Joseph A. Hayden.
Joint Statement by Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Coughlin:
“The Select Oversight Committee will conduct hearings that are public, fair, transparent and bipartisan. The Committee chairs will determine as quickly as possible when the hearings will begin and provide a schedule regarding dates for the proceedings.”
“Due to the sensitive nature of the issues, we anticipate everyone called to testify will willingly comply. While we hope there will be no need to invoke the power, we thought it best to reserve the right to issue subpoenas in the unlikely event it is necessary for the committee to take that course of action.”