In recent years, the committee often let more than a year pass between meetings. And the meetings that did take place were frequently unproductive, according to observers; at one meeting in 2006, the committee spent six hours arguing over procedural matters, including whom to appoint as chairman.
In March, the legislature approved an overhaul of the committee, changing its membership from eight legislators and eight public members to just eight public members, as part of a broader package of ethics reform.
Yesterday, the committee discussed standard operating procedures and adopted a meeting schedule.
It also postponed taking action on complaints filed against Sen. Brian Stack (D., Hudson) and former Sen. Wayne Bryant (D., Camden).
Stack has been accused of violating conflict-of-interest laws because a day-care program directed by his estranged wife received state grants. The committee voted to postpone discussing the matter until its next meeting because Stack was not informed about the meeting until yesterday morning.
The committee also voted to postpone taking action on the complaint against Bryant, who was convicted in November of steering state funds to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in exchange for a job there.
The committee opted for the delay pending disposition of his criminal proceedings. Bryant's attorney filed a motion for acquittal in December.
One question that was raised was whether the committee would have the jurisdiction to discipline Bryant now that he is no longer a member of the legislature.
Bryant is among a small number of lawmakers who have been disciplined by the ethics committee. In 1992, Bryant, then an assemblyman, was reprimanded for entering into a $2.86 million lease with the state, using his influence to seal the deal.
