When Assembly Republicans today asked a dozen witnesses at a forum to tell them how to rid New Jersey of public corruption, they came up with lots of ideas that have been advanced before — and an offbeat one: How about giving polygraph tests to elected officials?

The hearing, held in Trenton, was called by Assembly Republicans looking to draft anti-corruption legislation after a wide-ranging bust swept up 44 people last month, including two assemblymen.

Assemblyman Jon Bramnick (R-Union), who chaired it, said he believes a stronger message needs to come out of the Statehouse that public corruption will not be tolerated.

Other ideas that have been tossed around for years, such as term limits for lawmakers and electing a publicly-funded state attorney general, were also discussed.

Former state Sen. Bill Schluter (R-Hunterdon), a good-government advocate, honed in on current state pay-to-play laws that he says contribute to the state’s “culture of corruption.”

He called for the elimination of political action committees that accept big political contributions from special interests and are run by legislative leaders who control what bills are considered by lawmakers. The practice of moving money between political action committees, called “wheeling,” should be outlawed, he said, as should all dual officeholding, as well as dual jobholding that poses conflicts of interest.

The forum, the first in a series to be held throughout the state, was held in the midst of a heated gubernatorial race, with former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie — who gained recognition as a corruption-buster — trying to unseat Gov. Jon Corzine. Democrats called the hearing a political stunt. Republicans said their purpose is to restore the public trust in elected officials.

The Republican lawmakers cannot pass legislation through the panel and the testimony is not part of the official record. Schluter, however, said the hearings are a good step toward initiating reform.

“They can at least introduce (bills) and get them on the table, and they can criticize the leadership for not getting them done,” he said. “You’ve got to start somewhere.”

(Source: NJ Star Ledger)