TRENTON — In the latest effort by lawmakers to crack down on perks at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Assembly Thursday approved a bill to restrict the use of company cars and drivers, overnight travel, housing allowances, personal expense accounts and toll passes for agency officials and employees.

Approved by New Jersey's lower house in a 79-0 vote, the bill (A1247) is one of several pieces of recent legislation that would bolster accountability, enhance transparency and tighten restrictions on the Port Authority after last year's record toll hike at bi-state bridges and tunnels.

The legislation is part of a four-bill package known as the "Government Reality Check Act," which also is intended to rein-in excessive giveaways at the Delaware River Port Authority, the Delaware River and Bay Authority and the Delaware River Joint Toll Bridge Commission. The agencies each need their own bill due to their bi-state nature and the requirement that both states involved adopt parallel legislation, said Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D-Camden), the legislation’s principal author and a primary sponsor.

Chief provisions of the bill would prohibit agency officials or staff from receiving:

• Exemptions from tolls

• Personal credit cards or expense accounts

• Housing allowances

• Compensation for appearances relating to their official position

• Employment at a company doing business with the agency within two years of leaving

Moriarty called the restrictions, "common sense reforms," that some agencies have already put in place. The Senate version, sponsored by Sen. Donald Norcross (D-Camden), has not come to a vote.

Thursday’s package of bills piggybacks on legislation intended to enhance transparency and accountability at the Port Authority. That legislation was introduced after the agency raised peak tolls in September from $8 to $9.50 for E-ZPass users and to $12 for cash customers. The agency said the tolls were necessary to offset recession-related revenue declines in the face of billions of dollars worth of pressing capital projects.

"Commuters who provide this funding have a right to know that their money is being spent on projects and salaries that are appropriate and fiscally sound," Assemblyman Ruben Ramos (D-Hudson), also a primary sponsor of Thursday’s bill, said in a statement.

The only Assembly member who did not vote on the bill, David Russo (R-Bergen), said he was at his doctor’s office, but he supports the legislation.

The Port Authority has launched its own series of reforms since the toll hike and has rejected much of the reform legislation as unnecessary or redundant. The agency, which recent cut off-duty toll privileges, declined to comment on Thursday’s bill.

Gov. Chris Christie has criticized the state’s independent authorities, though Democrats have called out the Republican governor for allowing last year’s toll hike, and have accused him of using the Port Authority as a patronage mill.

Christie’s office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Moriarty said he hopes Christie will consider the bill’s bipartisan support.

"It doesn’t really take his power away from the Port Authority," Moriarty said. "It just lays out what kind of perks they cannot have."

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