New Jersey Senate

New Jersey Senate
New Jersey Legislature
Type
Type	Upper House
Term limits	None
History
New session started	January 9, 2018
Leadership
President	Stephen M. Sweeney (D) since January 12, 2010
Majority Leader	Loretta Weinberg (D) since January 10, 2012
President Pro Tempore	Teresa Ruiz (D) since January 9, 2018
Deputy Majority Leader	Paul Sarlo (D) since January 8, 2008
Minority Leader	Thomas Kean Jr. (R) since January 8, 2008
Structure
Seats	40
Political groups	Majority   Democratic (25) Minority   Republican (15)
Length of term	4 years (with one two-year term each decade)
Authority	Article IV, New Jersey Constitution
Salary	$49,000/year
Elections
Last election	November 7, 2017 (40 seats)
Next election	November 2, 2021 (40 seats)
Redistricting	New Jersey Apportionment Commission
Meeting place
State Senate Chamber New Jersey State House Trenton, New Jersey
Website
New Jersey State Legislature

The New Jersey Senate was established as the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with average populations of 210,359 (2000 figure). Each district has one senator and two members of the New Jersey General Assembly, the lower house of the legislature. Prior to the election in which they are chosen, senators must be a minimum of 30 years old and a resident of the state for four years to be eligible to serve in office.^[1]

From 1844 until 1965 (when redistricting could be done following the Reynolds v. Sims decision), each county was an electoral district electing one senator. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years, which was changed to four years with the 1947 Constitution. Since 1968 the Senate has consisted of 40 senators, who are elected in a "2-4-4" cycle. Senators serve a two-year term at the beginning of each decade, with the rest of the decade divided into two four-year terms. The "2-4-4" cycle was put into place so that Senate elections can reflect the changes made to the district boundaries on the basis of the decennial United States Census.^[1] If the cycle were not put into place, then the boundaries would sometimes be four years out of date before being used for Senate elections. Rather, with the varied term, the boundaries are only two years out of date. Thus elections for Senate seats take place in years ending with a "1", "3" or "7" (i.e. next elections in 2021, 2023 and 2027).

Interim appointments are made to fill vacant legislative seats by the county committee or committees of the party of the vacating person (since a constitutional amendment passed on November 8, 1988). The office is on the ballot for the next general election, even if the other Senate seats are not up for election in that year (such as in years ending with a "5" or "9", such as 2009 or 2015). The sole exception to this is if the vacancy occurred within 51 days of the election, in which case the appointment stands until the following general election.^[2]

Senatorial courtesy[]

Senatorial courtesy is a senate tradition that allows home county legislators to intercede to prevent consideration of a local resident nominated by the Governor for a position that requires Senate confirmation.^[3] Any of the senators from the nominee's home county can invoke senatorial courtesy to block a nomination, temporarily or permanently, without any obligation to justify the basis of their actions.^[4]

Governor Corzine nominated Stuart Rabner on June 4, 2007, to be the next Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, replacing James R. Zazzali, who was nearing mandatory retirement age.^[5] Shortly after the nomination, two members of the Senate from Essex County, where Rabner resides, blocked consideration of his confirmation by invoking senatorial courtesy. State Senator Ronald Rice had initially blocked the nomination, but relented on June 15, 2007, after a meeting with the governor.^[6] Nia Gill dropped her block on June 19, 2007, but did not explain the nature of her concerns, though anonymous lawmakers cited in The New York Times indicated that the objection was due to Rabner's race and Governor Corzine's failure to consider a minority candidate for the post.^[3]

Also in June 2007, Loretta Weinberg used senatorial courtesy privileges to hold up consideration of a new term in office for Bergen County Prosecutor John Molinelli.^[4]

Acting governor[]

Until 2010, in the event of a gubernatorial vacancy, the New Jersey Constitution had specified that the President of the Senate (followed by the Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly) would assume the role of Acting Governor and retain their role in the Senate (or Assembly). An Acting Governor would then assume the governorship while retaining the reins of power in their house of the legislature.^{[citation needed]}

The Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey took office for the first time on January 19, 2010, following conjoint election with the Governor of New Jersey. The position was created as the result of a Constitutional amendment to the New Jersey State Constitution passed by the voters on November 8, 2005. While the amendment itself took effect as of January 17, 2006, and made some interim changes to the succession to the governorship, the first lieutenant governor was not elected until November 3, 2009.

Composition[]

List of state senators[]

Members of the New Jersey Senate for the 2018-2019 Legislative Session are:^[11]

  Democratic senator

  Republican senator

Committees and committee chairs[]

Committee chairs for the 2018-2019 Legislative Session are:^[12]

• Budget and Appropriations - Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge)
• Commerce - Nellie Pou (D-North Haledon)
• Community and Urban Affairs - Troy Singleton (D-Palmyra)
• Economic Growth - Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Barrington)
• Education - Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark)
• Environment and Energy - Bob Smith (D-Piscataway)
• Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens - Joe F. Vitale (D-Woodbridge Township)
• Higher Education - Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Jersey City)
• Judiciary - Nicholas Scutari (D-Linden)
• Labor - Fred H. Madden (D-Washington Township, Gloucester County)
• Law and Public Safety - Linda R. Greenstein (D-Plainsboro Township)
• Legislative Oversight - Brian P. Stack (D-Union City)
• Military and Veterans' Affairs - Vin Gopal (D-Long Branch)
• Rules and Order - TBD
• Select Committee on School Funding Fairness - TBD
• State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation - James Beach (D-Voorhees Township)
• Transportation - Patrick J. Diegnan (D-South Plainfield)

List of past Senate Presidents[]

The following is a list of past Presidents of the New Jersey Senate since the adoption of the 1844 State Constitution:^[13]

Past composition[]

References[]

External links[]

• New Jersey Legislature Homepage
• New Jersey Senate Bill Search
• New Jersey section of Project Vote Smart a national database of voting records and other information about legislators.
• Senate Democratic Office
• Senate Republican Office

Coordinates: 40°13′07″N 74°45′51″W / 40.21869°N 74.76429°W / 40.21869; -74.76429