All eyes are on Gov. Phil Murphy, waiting to see if he will sign a piece of controversial legislation that recently passed in both New Jersey legislative houses, despite a public backlash against the changes to the state’s Open Public Records Act.

One of the biggest criticisms the bill faces is the elimination of the fee provisions in the current OPRA. While the bill, S2930/A4045, modifies the conditions under which a records custodian must respond to requests for records and allows the custodian to deny duplicative requests, it also eliminates the fee-shifting provision, which obligated the government to pay the attorney fees of those who successfully appealed an OPRA denial.