Transparency in Government

Your Tax $$$ at Work?

Reimbursing State Banking Employees for Classes on Earth Science and Transportation Employees for Classes on Mummies

In an effort to demonstrate the need for the Transparency in Government Act, which would require all New Jersey government spending to be made available and searchable on an easy to use public website, we have put together a new series called “Your Tax $$$ at Work?

In this series, we will present examples of how government bureaucracy hides the wasteful spending of taxpayer funds. Most of these expenditures were only uncovered after a time-consuming process of completing numerous formal requests for documents under the Open Public Records Act.

In contrast, the Transparency in Government Act would create a user-friendly website that would allow anyone with Internet access to search for and find the same documents with minimal effort and zero expense.

Your Tax $$$ at Work? Part 1 – College Tuition Reimbursement to Government Employees

Attached are actual receipts showing that the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance paid nearly $13,000 to reimburse ten employees for taking a course on Earth Science.

Another payment voucher shows the New Jersey Department of Transportation reimbursing a legal secretary employed by the Department nearly $3,000 for four courses, including one called “Ancient Egypt: Mummies/Myth/Magic.”

How does a legal secretary working for Transportation taking a class on Mummies/Myth/Magic benefit taxpayers?

Click here to view the receipts and supporting documentation.

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