N.J. Senate Democrats plan to subpoena Race to the Top officials
Published: Friday, September 17, 2010, 4:13 PM Updated: Friday, September 17, 2010, 4:13 PM
Gov. Chris Christie, left, and Education Commissioner Bret Schundler speak at the E. Raymond Appleby Elementary School in Spotswood in this file photo.TRENTON — Senate Democrats plan to invoke subpoena power to force top members of Gov. Chris Christie’s administration to testify on the state’s bungled “Race to the Top” application.
Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D- Middlesex) said she will introduce a resolution Monday that would grant the Senate Legislative Oversight Committee that power, which has only been invoked only five times in the last 20 years. The committee will also subpoena documents the administration did not provide in response to an Open Public Records Act request, Buono said.
“This is an absolutely necessary step that we need to take in order to do our job,” said Buono, who added that Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester), who will have to post the resolution for a vote, supports the move. “And it should come as no surprise given the administration’s disturbing pattern of rejecting requests for information.”
Buono said she has not heard back from two top Christie administration officials