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.
From 1844 until 1965, each county was an electoral district, with each county electing one senator. Under the 1844 Constitution the term of office was three years. The 1947 Constitution changed the term to four years. Since 1968 it 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. If the cycle were not put into place, then the boundaries would sometimes be four years out of date before being used for Senate elections. Rather, with the varied term, the boundaries are only two years out of date.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), unless the vacancy occurred within 51 days of the election. Then the appointment stands until the following general election.
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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. 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.
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. 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. 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.
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.
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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.
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
- District 1: Jeff Van Drew (D)
- District 2: Chris A. Brown (R)
- District 3: Stephen M. Sweeney (D)
- District 4: Fred H. Madden (D)
- District 5: Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D)
- District 6: James Beach (D)
- District 7: Troy Singleton (D)
- District 8: Dawn Marie Addiego (R)
- District 9: Christopher J. Connors (R)
- District 10: James W. Holzapfel (R)
- District 11: Vin Gopal (D)
- District 12: Samuel D. Thompson (R)
- District 13: Declan O'Scanlon (R)
- District 14: Linda R. Greenstein (D)
- District 15: Shirley Turner (D)
- District 16: Christopher Bateman (R)
- District 17: Bob Smith (D)
- District 18: Patrick J. Diegnan (D)
- District 19: Joseph Vitale (D)
- District 20: Joseph Cryan (D)
- District 21: Thomas Kean, Jr. (R)
- District 22: Nicholas Scutari (D)
- District 23: Michael J. Doherty (R)
- District 24: Steve Oroho (R)
- District 25: Anthony Bucco (R)
- District 26: Joseph Pennacchio (R)
- District 27: Richard Codey (D)
- District 28: Ronald Rice (D)
- District 29: Teresa Ruiz (D)
- District 30: Robert Singer (R)
- District 31: Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D)
- District 32: Nicholas Sacco (D)
- District 33: Brian P. Stack (D)
- District 34: Nia Gill (D)
- District 35: Nellie Pou (D)
- District 36: Paul Sarlo (D)
- District 37: Loretta Weinberg (D)
- District 38: Joseph Lagana (D)
- District 39: Gerald Cardinale (R)
- District 40: Kristin Corrado (R)
Committees and committee chairs
Committee chairs for the 2018-2019 Legislative Session are:
- Budget and Appropriations - Paul Sarlo (D-Bergen)
- Commerce - Nellie Pou (D-Passaic)
- Community and Urban Affairs - Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May)
- Economic Growth - Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-Camden)
- Education - Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex)
- Environment and Energy - Bob Smith (D-Middlesex)
- Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens - Joseph Vitale (D-Middlesex)
- Higher Education - Sandra Bolden Cunningham (D-Hudson)
- Judiciary - Nicholas Scutari (D-Union)
- Labor - Fred H. Madden (D-Gloucester)
- Law and Public Safety - Linda R. Greenstein (D-Middlesex)
- Legislative Oversight - Brian P. Stack (D-Hudson)
- Military and Veterans' Affairs - Patrick J. Diegnan (D-Middlesex)
- Rules and Order - TBD
- Select Committee on School Funding Fairness - TBD
- State Government, Wagering, Tourism & Historic Preservation - James Beach (D-Camden)
- Transportation - Robert M. Gordon (D-Bergen)
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:
Past composition of the Senate
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
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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