WASHINGTON — Members of the New Jersey Congressional delegation, led by Congressman Leonard Lance (NJ-7), today called on Governor Jon Corzine and the New Jersey Legislature to establish an independent, bipartisan oversight board to monitor and account for all federal stimulus funding committed to the Garden State.

Additionally, the lawmakers called for the creation of a state website accounting for every stimulus dollar spent with an estimation of the number of jobs created or retained as a direct result of the federal stimulus dollars.

The letter – pasted below -- was signed by Reps. Leonard Lance (NJ-07), Rodney Frelinghuysen (NJ-11), Frank LoBiondo (NJ-02), Scott Garrett (NJ-05) and Chris Smith (NJ-04).


February 26, 2009

Honorable Jon S. Corzine
Governor
State of New Jersey
Trenton, New Jersey

Dear Governor Corzine:

We are writing to request respectfully that you work with the New Jersey State Legislature to establish an independent, bipartisan oversight board to monitor and account for funding committed to New Jersey from the Economic Reinvestment and Recovery Act (P.L. 111-5).

As you know, the American Economic Reinvestment Act law allocates billions of dollars in federal stimulus funds for the State of New Jersey. While there was great disagreement in Congress about the size and effectiveness of the $787 billion “economic stimulus” measure, there is no disagreement that transparency and accountability are critical tools for maintaining the public's confidence in this process of spending tax dollars wisely.

Creating an independent, bipartisan oversight board will provide significant transparency and accountability and give taxpayers the opportunity to review just how these funds are being spent by your Administration. The Board should consist of former and current elected officials as well as New Jersey’s leading auditors, certified public accountants and taxpayer advocate groups.

Additionally, we also urge you to establish a public website to provide an accounting for each stimulus dollar spent in the state with an estimation of the number of jobs that will be created or retained. New Jersey’s taxpayers must have the utmost confidence that their tax dollars are being spent wisely, without waste, fraud or abuse and free from politics.

We recognize that you have already named your Chief of Staff Ed McBride and the State’s Comptroller Matt Boxer to oversee New Jersey’s share of the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act money. We urge you to go even further.

We believe establishing a New Jersey Stimulus Oversight Board and accompanying public website are important steps toward providing greater accountability, oversight and transparency of the stimulus spending in our state.

Thank you very much in advance for your consideration to our request. We look forwarding to hearing from you soon as to your thoughts on this important fiscal matter.

Sincerely,

Leonard Lance
Rodney Frelinghuysen
Frank LoBiondo
Scott Garrett
Chris Smith