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An expungement bill that would allow individuals convicted of minor marijuana- and hashish-related offenses to wipe their records clean, conditionally vetoed by Gov. Phil Murphy weeks ago, was scheduled for a vote in the Senate Thursday to adopt the governor's proposed changes. But the bill was held for lack of legislators present during the session, and because of the disruption of upcoming state elections.

Meanwhile, prime sponsors of the original expungement measure introduced a new bill on the same day, shortly after the voting session. Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham, D-Hudson, Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz, D-Essex, and Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester, said their new bill would offer a criminal justice reform plan that would improve on the governor's proposal from the conditional veto.

"We are offering a comprehensive expungement plan that builds on the proposal offered by Gov. Murphy so that we can make reforms that will produce more fairness in the criminal justice system," Sweeney said in a statement. "I want to commend the Governor for the constructive ideas he incorporated into his conditional veto. We are improving on his plan to make sure the expungement program is more expansive and covers more people."

Sweeney said the Senate is not rejecting the governor's proposal, and that "Democratic Senators welcome most of the ideas in the conditional veto, and … discussions with the Governor will continue to reach a full agreement that would preferably include the revisions contained in the new bill."

Thursday's scheduled vote on the conditionally vetoed measure, S-3205, was to adopt the recommendations of Murphy and to accordingly amend the bill.

That did not happen because too few Democratic senators showed up in Trenton for the 2 p.m. Thursday voting session. Fewer than 21 Democrats, which would have made up a majority of the 40-member chamber, were present for a vote.

Another wrinkle on why the measure was held has to do with all 80 seats in the Assembly coming up for reelection. The expungement bill conditionally vetoed by Murphy appeared unlikely to be taken up again for a vote in either house until after the Nov. 5 elections since Assembly members, who must vote on the amended bill, too, for it to pass, are out campaigning.

"It's a great piece of legislation, but you never miss an opportunity to make it better. This is a great bill, and we've worked with the governor's office and we're still working with them," said Cunningham, one of the bill's prime sponsors, just before the start of Thursday's voting session, after the measure was pulled off the board list.

It wasn't until after the voting session had ended that it was announced a new expungement bill had been introduced.

Murphy conditionally vetoed the legislation last month. The conditional veto was in part because of the burden that he said it could put on the court system and those using it, and because the current system was not able to handle mass automatic expungements right away.

In his 19-page conditional veto letter on Aug. 23, Murphy made several recommendations that he said would strengthen the legislation. He also urged adding amendments suggested by the Administrative Office of the Courts. Among his proposed changes were: a requirement that the state implement an "automated clean slate expungement system" for individuals convicted of multiple crimes who have had a clean record for at least 10 years, to remove the need for an attorney or a paperwork-heavy administrative process; and establishment of a streamlined, electronic expungement filing system that would eliminate filing fees to petition for an expungement and the current expense of sending petition notices to various law enforcement agencies.

"While laudable for its social justice aims, such a process may have the unintended and unfair effect of delaying the review of standard expungement petitions," said the governor's office in an Aug. 23 release regarding the original S-3205 measure.

S-3205 passed the Senate by a 24-12 vote on June 10. The Assembly version of the bill, A-4498, won final legislative approval in the full Assembly, 50-15-6, on the same day.

S-3205 includes a provision named after the prime sponsor, the "Cunningham Cleanser," which permits formerly incarcerated persons to petition the court after 10 years of law-abiding life to expunge their criminal record.

"Let me just say, we've taken this opportunity to look at the bill a little bit closer, and I'm sure the cleanser is definitely going to be in it no matter what," Cunningham told the Law Journal on Thursday.

A conditional veto of a bill by the governor triggers a two-step process. The measure gets kicked back to the chamber from which it originated for amendments. It would be subject to two votes in that chamber: a vote to adopt the governor's proposed amendments, and then a vote to pass the measure again. The measure would then proceed to the other chamber for a vote, after which it would return to the governor's desk.

In the case of S-3205, after Thursday, there were no Assembly or Senate voting sessions scheduled until after the Nov. 5 elections, meaning the Assembly's vote would not come until then, even if the Senate passed the amended version Thursday.

A Senate Democratic aide who asked not to be named said the expungement bill "is controversial, and nothing controversial will be voted on until after the Nov. 5 elections."