Senator Troy Singleton and Assemblyman Andrew Zwicker released the following statement today decrying the attempts by Koch Industries and the group it has bankrolled, Americans for Prosperity, for their attempts to prevent implementation of the “dark money” reform law:
“Charles Koch and his late brother David used Americans for Prosperity as a tool to deny our attempts to bring transparency to the political process and accountability by the big money donors who work to influence elections, legislation and regulations. It was their lawsuit that triggered the temporary injunction delaying implementation of the law that would require disclosure of dark money interests.
“Make no mistake about the motives of Koch and AFP – they will go to any length so that big money interests can continue to operate in the dark. The Koch brothers gained an infamous reputation for using their wealth and influence as arch-conservatives to support policies that favor the most privileged at the expense of environmental action on climate change, reducing income inequality, and protecting workers’ rights. This is the antitheses to the principles of accountability that we believe in. The Koch organization is attempting to impose its will on New Jersey.
“While we are disappointed that the judge’s ruling is temporarily delaying implementation of the law, we remain hopeful that the court will allow the law to go into effect when it rules on its merits. This is too important to allow Koch Industries to stymie our attempts to bring big money interests out of the dark.”
“Allowing big money groups to continue to hide the origins of enormous amounts of money from the voting public is an affront to the Democratic process.”