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New Jersey General Assembly

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For the current session, see 220th New Jersey Legislature.
New Jersey General Assembly
New Jersey State Legislature
Coat of arms or logo
Type
Type
Term limits
None
History
New session started
January 11, 2022
Leadership
Speaker
Craig Coughlin (D)
since January 9, 2018
Speaker pro tempore
Benjie E. Wimberly (D)
since January 11, 2022
Majority Leader
Louis Greenwald (D)
since January 10, 2012
Minority Leader
John DiMaio (R)
since January 11, 2022
Structure
Seats80
Political groups
Majority
  •   Democratic (46)

Minority

Length of term
2 years
AuthorityArticle IV, New Jersey Constitution
Salary$49,000/year
Elections
Plurality-at-large voting
Last election
November 2, 2021
(80 seats)
Next election
November 5, 2023
(80 seats)
RedistrictingNew Jersey Apportionment Commission
Meeting place
General Assembly Chamber
New Jersey State House
Trenton, New Jersey
Website
www.njleg.state.nj.us

The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature.

Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for a term of two years, each representing districts with average populations of 232,225 (2020 figures), with deviation in each district not exceeding 3.21% above and below that average.[1] To be eligible to run, a potential candidate must be at least 21 years of age, and must have lived in their district for at least one year prior to the election, and have lived in the state of New Jersey for two years. They also must be residents of their districts. Membership in the Assembly is considered a part-time job, and many members have employment in addition to their legislative work. Assembly members serve two-year terms, elected every odd-numbered year in November. Four current members of the Assembly hold other elective office, as they are grandfathered in under a New Jersey law that banned multiple office holding in 2007.

The Assembly is led by the Speaker of the Assembly, who is elected by the membership of the chamber. After the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey and the President of the New Jersey Senate, the Speaker of the Assembly is third in the line of succession to replace the Governor of New Jersey in the event that the governor is unable to execute the duties of that office. The Speaker decides the schedule for the Assembly, which bills will be considered, appoints committee chairmen, and generally runs the Assembly's agenda. The current Speaker is Craig Coughlin (D-Woodbridge).

Salary and costs

Members of the NJ General Assembly receive an annual base salary of $49,000 with the Senate President and the Assembly Speaker earning slightly more.[2][3] Members receive $110,000 for staff salaries. In addition, they receive 12,500 postage stamps, stationery and a telephone card. They receive New Jersey State health insurance and other benefits. The total cost to the State of New Jersey for each member of the general assembly is approximately $200,000 annually.[4]

"Double dipping"

Under state law that remained in effect until 2008, New Jersey Assembly, as well as Senate, members were allowed to serve in both one chamber or the other, as well as any other government positions they might have held at the time, although those who were still doing so as of 2008 ended up getting "grandfathered":

Name, Party-County – Second Public Office (name in bold represents state Assembly member still in both local and state offices as of 2023):

Assembly members:

History

See: New Jersey Legislature#Colonial period and New Jersey Legislative Council#Composition

Committees and committee chairs

Committee chairs for the 2022-2023 Legislative Session are:[5]

Composition

Affiliation Party
(Shading indicates majority caucus)
 Total
Democratic Republican Vacant
2018–2019 54 26 80 0
2020–2021 52 28 80 0
2022–2023 46 34 80 0
Latest voting share 58% 43%
A map for the 2022-2023 session of the New Jersey General Assembly.
Legislative District Assembly Member Party
District 1 Erik Simonsen Rep
Antwan McClellan Rep
District 2 Claire Swift Rep
Don Guardian Rep
District 3 Beth Sawyer Rep
Bethanne McCarthy-Patrick Rep
District 4 Paul D. Moriarty Dem
Gabriela Mosquera Dem
District 5 William Spearman Dem
Bill Moen Dem
District 6 Louis Greenwald Dem
Pamela Rosen Lampitt Dem
District 7 Herb Conaway Dem
Carol A. Murphy Dem
District 8 Michael Torrissi Rep
Brandon Umba Rep
District 9 Brian E. Rumpf Rep
DiAnne Gove Rep
District 10 Gregory P. McGuckin Rep
John Catalano Rep
District 11 Marilyn Piperno Rep
Kim Eulner Rep
District 12 Alex Sauickie Rep
Robert D. Clifton Rep
District 13 Vicky Flynn Rep
Gerard Scharfenberger Rep
District 14 Wayne DeAngelo Dem
Daniel R. Benson Dem
District 15 Verlina Reynolds-Jackson Dem
Anthony Verrelli Dem
District 16 Sadaf Jaffer Dem
Roy Freiman Dem
District 17 Joseph Danielsen Dem
Joseph V. Egan Dem
District 18 Sterley Stanley Dem
Robert Karabinchak Dem
District 19 Craig Coughlin Dem
Yvonne Lopez Dem
District 20 Annette Quijano Dem
Reginald Atkins Dem
District 21 Michele Matsikoudis Rep
Nancy Munoz Rep
District 22 James J. Kennedy Dem
Linda S. Carter Dem
District 23 Erik Peterson Rep
John DiMaio Rep
District 24 Parker Space Rep
Hal Wirths Rep
District 25 Aura Dunn Rep
Brian Bergen Rep
District 26 Christian Barranco Rep
Jay Webber Rep
District 27 John F. McKeon Dem
Mila Jasey Dem
District 28 Cleopatra Tucker Dem
Jackie Yustein Dem
District 29 Eliana Pintor Marin Dem
Shanique Speight Dem
District 30 Sean T. Kean Rep
Ned Thomson Rep
District 31 Angela V. McKnight Dem
William Sampson Dem
District 32 Angelica M. Jimenez Dem
Pedro Mejia Dem
District 33 Raj Mukherji Dem
Annette Chaparro Dem
District 34 Thomas P. Giblin Dem
Britnee Timberlake Dem
District 35 Shavonda E. Sumter Dem
Benjie E. Wimberly Dem
District 36 Gary Schaer Dem
Clinton Calabrese Dem
District 37 Ellen Park Dem
Shama Haider Dem
District 38 Lisa Swain Dem
Chris Tully Dem
District 39 DeAnne DeFuccio Rep
Robert Auth Rep
District 40 Kevin J. Rooney Rep
Christopher DePhillips Rep

List of past Assembly speakers

See also: List of New Jersey state legislatures
Note: The first three subsections below end with a constitutional year: 1776, 1844 or 1947. The fourth subsection ends in 1966, the year of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that required legislative apportionment based on the principle of "one person, one vote".

The following is a list of speakers of the Assembly since 1703.[6]

1703–1776

  • 1703-04: Thomas Gardiner, City of Burlington
  • 1704-06: Peter Fretwell, City of Burlington
  • 1707: Samuel Jennings, City of Burlington
  • 1708-09: Thomas Gordon, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1709-14: John Kay, Gloucester
  • 1716: Daniel Coxe, Jr., Gloucester
  • 1716-19: John Kinsey, Middlesex
  • 1721-22: John Johnstone, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1723-24: William Trent, Burlington
  • 1725-29: John Johnstone, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1730-33: John Kinsey, Jr., Middlesex
  • 1733-38: Interregnum: No Assembly called or elected.
  • 1738: John Kinsey, Jr., Middlesex
  • 1738-39: Joseph Bonnel, Essex
  • 1740-44: Andrew Johnston, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1744-45: Samuel Nevill, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1746-48: Robert Lawrence, Monmouth
  • 1748-51: Samuel Nevill, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1751-54: Charles Read, City of Burlington
  • 1754-58: Robert Lawrence, Monmouth
  • 1759-62: Samuel Nevill, City of Perth Amboy
  • 1763-65: Robert Ogden, Essex
  • 1765-70: Cortlandt Skinner City of Perth Amboy
  • 1770-72: Stephen Crane, Essex
  • 1773-75: Cortlandt Skinner City of Perth Amboy

On December 6, 1775, Gov. William Franklin prorogued the New Jersey Legislature until January 3, 1776, but it never met again.[7] On May 30, 1776, Franklin attempted to convene the legislature, but was met instead with an order by the New Jersey Provincial Congress for his arrest.[8] On July 2, 1776, the Provincial Congress approved a new constitution which ordered new elections; on August 13 an entire new legislature was elected.

1776–1844

1845–1947

The Constitution of 1844 expanded the General Assembly to 60 members, elected annually and apportioned to the then-nineteen counties by population.[9]

1948–1967

1968–present

Past composition of the Assembly

Main article: Political party strength in New Jersey

See also

References

  1. ^ Statistical Data Tables Archived 2022-03-28 at the Wayback Machine, New Jersey Apportionment Commission. Accessed August 25, 2021.
  2. ^ "How pay for N.J. lawmakers compares to other 49 states". NJ.com. Archived from the original on 2018-10-06. Retrieved 2017-11-24.
  3. ^ "NJ.com, Published June 2011". Archived from the original on 2019-02-13. Retrieved 2011-12-10.
  4. ^ "New Jersey FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - What is the salary of a member of the New Jersey State Legislature?". Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2010-04-21.
  5. ^ "NJ Legislature". Archived from the original on 2022-01-30. Retrieved 2022-01-31.
  6. ^ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey. J.A. Fitzgerald. 1977.
  7. ^ Journal of the Governor and Council Vol. VI (1769-1775), Archives of the State of New Jersey, First Series, Vol. XVIII; The John L. Murphy Publishing Co., Printers, Trenton, New Jersey, 1893. p. 566
  8. ^ "The Governors of New Jersey 1664-1974: Biographical Essays", New Jersey Historical Commission, Trenton, New Jersey, 1982. p. 75
  9. ^ Also in the Constitution of 1844, the Legislative Council was renamed the Senate, to be composed of one member from each of the state's 19 counties, serving a three-year term. In addition, the new constitution provided for a direct popular election of the governor, with the power to veto bills passed by the Legislature. See: New Jersey Legislature#The Constitution of 1844.
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