Senate Democrats are expected to move legislation during the lame duck session that would transfer the investigatory power of the State Comptroller’s office to the State Commission of Investigation, but a move to
make the New Jersey State Police a separate cabinet-level position reporting directly to the governor does not have enough support in the Senate to advance right now, according to legislative and executive branch officials with direct knowledge of the proposal.
The SCI would be expected to name an inspector general who would, among other things, have the statutory authority to monitor and review actions by the attorney general and the embattled Office of Public Integrity and Accountability – places some lawmakers say are in desperate need of expanded, independent oversight. There is no inspector general role at the Department of Law and Public Safety.
But issues related to Medicaid and the procurement of public contracts would remain with the State Comptroller, a post that would have significantly less authority if the bill passes and Gov. Phil Murphy signs it. Still, it’s not clear if Murphy or Assembly Speaker Craig Coughln.
One legislator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, suggested that moving the State Comptroller’s investigative wing to the SCI would eliminate duplication between two agencies competing for work.
State Sen. James Beach (D-Voorhees) has already introduced legislation that would take oversight of the State Police away from the Attorney General.
In July, the SCI named Bruce Keller, a well-regarded former federal prosecutor who handled high-profile public corruption matters, as the new executive director of the State Commission of Investigation.
Keller replaced Tiffany Williams Brewer, who resigned in January after a tenure that lasted just four days. She stepped down one day after the Asbury Park Press reported that she was living in Maryland and working as a law professor at Howard University. SCI commissioners are appointed by the governor and legislative leaders.
The future of the current State Comptroller, Kevin Walsh, remains unclear. Murphy nominated Walsh, who spent two decades as a civil rights attorney and led the Fair Share Housing Center, in 2020. But the Senate has refused to consider his nomination – senators in Camden County, where he lives, have not signed off under the Senate’s unwritten rule of senatorial courtesy – and as acting State Comptroller, he may be out when the new governor takes office in January.
