meanwhile all eyes are on another bill sitting on Governor Murphy's desk the legislation that reforms and many say guts New Jersey's open public records act by making it harder to access government documents and significantly limiting transparency Advocates are urging the governor to veto the controversial bill or risk the stain it'll leave on his legacy senior political correspondent David Cruz reports [Music] by the time it came to an actual vote the demise of OPRA as we know it came quickly the calculations had been worked out in the caucus rooms all that's left after the Hue and cry of the past two months is a signature from the governor and that it looks like is dependent on a whole other set of calculations he's got the extraordinary pressure that uh legislative leaders have had not only on legislators but now on him and and they're going to tell him if you don't sign this thing we're going to give you a hard time on the budget we're going to give you a hard time on other legislative priorities that you might have um nothing gets done until this OPRA gutting happens and budget time can get testy and messy especially when the governor has a corporate Transit fee and the anchor tax break program that may end up competing for funds against the speakers tax break program and School District looking for money to make up for budget shortfalls and the pressure is only going to get more intense because the bill as Murphy knows is not very popular ladies and gentlemen this bill is awful it's disgusting it represents everything that the people think is wrong with government this bill has the United Support of progressives and conservatives but the progressives who supported him are now against the bill so if he does sign it it's a factor of the fact that he only has two years left doesn't need him anymore and I don't think he should be that kind of guy I think he should stick true to the people who supported him all along and veto this bill the governor's office is said to be flexible on the issue and reaching out directly to stakeholders including press associations like the New Jersey Society of professional journalists is this a leg Legacy issue I think so and you have to really look at it like this you said Governor Murphy's a progressive Democrat well this is a regressive bill so if you're a progressive Democrat do you want your name on a regressive bill that's your decision to make but when you make it and if you make it live with the consequences of how people view you in the state yeah and right about this time is when lame duck Chief executives are looking at what their legacies might be saladin ambar is with the Eagleton Center on the American Governor siding with the politicians you know the you know uh against government transparency he was willing to protect you know uh members of the legislature members of his and other parties for and the Republican Party against um the sort of public intrusiveness and I I don't think that's a I don't think that's a good look maybe not but insiders are now suggesting that the governor may not have the luxury of thinking about his legacy because remember it's getting down to the nitty-gritty of the budget season the more sources of conflict that you have that are open conflicts um going into June the more has to be resolved before we get a signed budget and so yes this adds one more uh onto the pile at the same time you're trying to negotiate the budget and that scenario would probably be appropo for the year of upheaval that the state has seen I'm David Cruz NJ Spotlight news [Music]