Cargo Business Newswire

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

State legislators continue push for bill to reform Port Authority of NY/NJ

Although the board of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey insist they can clean their own house in the wake of Bridgegate, legislators in both states are pushing for reform bills to improve transparency and accountability at the PANYNJ.

PANYNJ commissioners voted to start implementing their own governance changes, as Democrats in the N.J. senate are working to override Gov. Christie’s veto of the reform bill that passed both states’ legislatures unanimously last year. That bill would subject the Port Authority to court-enforceable open-meeting laws and require commissioners to testify before either legislature, among other changes.

Governors Christie and Andrew Cuomo issued their vetoes in late December, saying they wanted the Port

Authority to instead follow the recommendations of a special panel consisting of three of the commissioners and the governors’ lawyers.

N.J. Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said he would schedule multiple override attempts despite the fact that Republican legislators are reluctant to provide enough votes to overturn Christie’s veto. In New York the bill has been reintroduced after expiring at the end of last year.

The full Port Authority board voted last week to accept almost all of the special panel recommendations, most importantly the switch to a single CEO.

For more of the NJ Spotlight story: www.njspotlight.com