South Brunswick has become the third municipality in the state to publicly call on state and U.S. leaders to take on political corruption nationwide.
The U.S. Capitol appears to be upside down. SOUTH BRUNSWICK -- Last week, the township council unanimously voted in support of anti-corruption legislation, becoming just the third municipality in the state to publicly support ridding the influence of money in politics.
The council's resolution supported the American Anti-Corruption Act, "which would stop political bribery, end secret money and give every voter a voice," according to a statement from Represent.Us Central New Jersey, a local, nonpartisan, anti-corruption organization that backed the vote.
The organization is pushing for anti-corruption acts to be passed in 33 cities across the country.
South Brunswick is now part of a small group of municipalities in the state calling on lawmakers in Trenton and Washington, D.C. to pass anti-corruption legislation, the statement said.
In 2014, Princeton became the first municipality in the state to urge federal and state officials to enact stricter campaign finance laws, previous reports said. The following year, Ewing Township adopted a resolution supporting the restriction of political influence by special interest groups and lobbyists, according to a previous report.
Ewing Township becoming the second the following year, according to Represent.Us.
On its website, Represents.Us says the measure accomplishes three things: "Stops legalized bribery so politicians can't take campaign money from the industries they're supposed to be regulating; Ends secret money by requiring political committees to disclose where their campaign cash is coming from; And empowers voters like us with a tax rebate that we can use to contribute to the candidates of our choice."
Represent.Us also says the Act would close the "revolving door" by "limiting contributions from SuperPACs" and providing voters with a $100 tax rebate that they could use to "donate to the candidate of their choice."
The organization noted that both conservative and progressive members of Represent.Us support the legislation, showing that the desire to end political corruption transcends political ideology.
"Our political system is corrupt, and Congress won't fix it," said Represent.Us Executive Director Josh Silver, in the statement. "We're taking our fight local. Conservatives and progressives are uniting to demand that our states pass anti-corruption acts, and that our leaders start representing us."
Spencer Kent may be reached at skent@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SpencerMKent. Find the Find NJ.com on Facebook.