Two years ago, I was honored to be selected as the first woman to serve as Senate Majority Leader in New Jersey history.
This was an important milestone for our state, which has always led the nation in promoting diversity and inclusion. It was an important milestone for the Democratic Party, which quite literally relies on women to maintain its electoral majorities. And, it was a great personal milestone for me.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of catching up with one of the best public servants New Jersey has ever produced.
He is not well-known even in Democratic circles, let alone the state of New Jersey, and he last served in public office when Leonid Brezhnev was Premier of the USSR.
Frank Herbert, however is definitely not someone to forget, particularly if you're a New Jersey Democrat or - even more so - a progressive.
You see, Frank Herbert did 2 things that New Jerseyans and progressives should forever be grateful for:
1) He pushed for and got the Legislature to pass the law that created New Jersey Transit, a system that provides business and social lifelines for hundreds of thousands of our residents.
2) He is the only candidate in New Jersey history to win a Federal election as a write-in candidate. In doing so, he saved the Democratic Party from nominating a Holocaust-denying, KKK-loving extremist.
If you live in LD-39, you can VOTE TODAY for Carol Hoernlein. Former Councilwoman Carol Hoernlein's career in elected office began with One Vote - literally one. Fueled by the passion of Howard Dean's campaign, she wrote about it in one of my favorite diaries, One Vote. Now, she's at it again, because she noticed a Democratic hole in LD-39 ... - - promoted by Rosi
I wanted to let you all know - I am running for State Senate in District 39 today as a write-in.
There is NO candidate officially on the ballot in District 39. Hard to believe because in most other districts tough battles are being waged today. District 39 has traditionally been Republican Gerald Cardinale's territory.
I am running to finally give a voice to folks in 39 who have not had a voice in 3 decades. The Bergen County machine has always given the 39th a pass. I want to change that.
As a drainage expert, I hope to help NJ residents here with one of the most pressing problems in the Pascack Valley - flooding. I firmly believe I can positively impact District 39 in terms of my understanding about infrastructure as a civil engineer.
Protecting the environment has always been my most important priority for decades.
I will vote FOR marriage equality.
As a small business owner, I understand what small business owners have to face in this tough economy. I believe in revitalizing our downtowns and commercial sites while protecting the areas that are currently open space and should be preserved. We CAN do both.
I also understand how corruption increases costs on taxpayers from my fights against Pay to Play over the past few years and will support legislation to clean up corruption in our state.
I also want to protect our first responders - Firefighters, police from anti-union legislation. As a former state employee and former CWA union member myself I am aware of the assaults on workers rights. While I was Fire Commissioner in Tenafly, I fought for better equipment and benefits for the brave men on the volunteer Fire Dept.
I hope you will spread the word about my write-in campaign for State Senate today. Just make sure they spell my name right:
Carol HOERNLEIN (I know it's tough - but if Lisa Murkowski can do it.....)
John could stand on the edge of a great divide and look for where a bridge needed to be built. - John Adler's brother-in-law, from his eulogy
There was a standing ovation for John Adler today at his funeral. It was called by his brother-in-law who's in show business on the West Coast. In his business, he said, when people do very well, we give them a standing ovation. In the vast sanctuary of Temple Emanuel in Cherry Hill, everyone stood.
Of course, many were already standing. Temple Emanuel was jammed, probably straining the Cherry Hill fire marshal's restrictions, and the sanctuary was standing-room-only, as were several overflow rooms inside, and the crowd spilled outside into the parking lot.
"First time I saw John, he was dancing with a refrigerator," began the story told by Adler's law school roommate and best man at his wedding. A lot of the stories told reflected both deep affection for him, and warm appreciation for his merry view of life. The service had its moments of both laughter and tears. And it was well attended both by those whose politics he shared, and by well-respected Republicans with whom he differed. All there to pay tribute to the man that was "just John" to wife Shelley and their four boys.
The rabbi gave the blessing in Hebrew for those " who serve in public office", calling him a "mensch". He gave that term's definition as nothing more than a man much loved and respected by all. He told a story about John listening to the youngest member of a contingent lobbying for his support of Israel, listening intently. That John took the time to listen so closely made a real difference to that young woman.
In the spirit of Adler's sense of humor, his brother-in-law apologized for blowing his nose into his yarmulke, as he cried. He told the story of playing John in Trivial Pursuit, that it was like going up against Google itself.
In fact, I found out today, John auditioned for Jeopardy and was accepted. But he was bumped for knowing someone who worked as an attorney at ABC. He didn't even know the man well, it was somebody he went to law school with, but he could not lie. "John was the greatest Jeopardy champion who never appeared on the show," said his wife's brother, laughing.
Today, John Adler was remembered as a man never took himself too seriously, who loved "really stupid" movies. His son talked about how he loved what he called Italian-American sociological study, which is how he referred to Jersey Shore.
The Adler family asks that if individuals wish to make a donation in John Adler's name, they would appreciate contributions to Cooper University Hospital and University of Pennsylvania Hospital. Both tried to save his life. John Adler was just 51. Rest in Peace.
Awesome! Second big national endorsement of the day! Democracy for America's Chair Jim Dean gives Jeff DFA's endorse later today. Thanks, Howie, digby, John & the Blue America team! - Rosi
Blue America rarely reaches out to help candidates raise money in local legislative races. We do make exceptions for exceptional candidates and we have one for you today: Jeff Gardner of New Jersey, who's in a primary race against a corrupt incumbent drowning in a sewer scandal, John Girgenti, the Majority Whip, best known as the New Jersey legislator who killed marriage equality. With vicious homophobes like Girgenti leading the Democrats... who needs Republicans!
Jeff Gardner made a name for himself as an advocate for marriage equality, and he's much more than that. As a fourteen-year veteran attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, he's been fighting to protect workers, making sure union members are guaranteed their rights in the workplace. As an early organizer for Democracy for America, he pushed Democratic candidates up and down the ballot to champion progressive policies and push for common sense solutions. He's a real Democrat who is itching to fight for the issues important to all of us.Whether it's protecting women's access to family planning services or fighting for marriage equality, Jeff will never back down from a fight. He's going to stand up for what he believes in, which means standing behind progressive policies that too many Democrats run away from.
We need to support the very best Democrats at every level of government, not just in Washington. The battles in Wisconsin and Ohio highlight the need for strong progressive leaders in traditionally Democratic-leaning state governments. We can't afford to put collective bargaining rights at risk. We can't let the radical right take away a woman's right to choose. Most importantly, we need Democrats who are going to fight for us. I hope you can join us in making sure Jeff has all the resources necessary to take down this entrenched incumbent in the Democratic primary in June. He's our newest addition to the Blue America PAC and he'll be joining us for a live session 11a PDT/2p EDT at Crooks and Liars on Thursday.
A message from Jeff to Blue America members: "I know most of you don't live in New Jersey, much less the 35th district. Still, your support is vital. The battles in Wisconsin and Ohio highlight the need for strong progressive leaders in our state governments. We can't afford to put collective bargaining rights at risk. We can't let the radical right take away a woman's right to choose. We can't allow conservative, anti-progress Democrats to bargain away our civil rights. The status quo already has one party as its champion-- it doesn't need two."
If recent attacks by GOP Governors have stirred something inside of you, there's something you can do to fight back...please donate to Jeff's campaign
here.
Thanks for doing what you can,
digby, John, Howie and the Blue America team
"It's very frustrating,'' [State Senator Nicholas] Scutari said of [State Senator Brian] Stack's reversal, noting Stack had voted for the legislation that legalized medical marijuana earlier this year. Scutari said he suspects Stack, also the mayor of financially-strapped Union City, did not want to cross the governor.
I'm not talking about the merits of Stack's votes. I'm troubled that our New Jersey legislators think their colleagues are too conflicted to vote honestly, and are willing to say so. After all, who would know better?
I know that the particular conflict of mayor vs. legislator only exists for the "grandfathered" politicians, but the truth is that any private or public sector job could face inappropriate pressure from the governor, the boss, the CEO, you name it. State senator should be a job that pays a full salary in exchange for full-time work. Even conservative Chris Christie wants the legislature to spend more time making laws and regulations, so there's no doubt there's a need.
Kean and Sweeney hope to make the "commonsense" changeover by year's end, citing the immediate cost savings and environmental benefits of ending the numerous stacks of printed bills and amendments. As an example, they note that Hawaii's 25-member Senate has reported savings of more than $1.2 million and enough paper to save 800 trees since it went paperless in 2008.
The idea is that a wireless network and laptops could replace the requirements that everything be endlessly printed out and copied. You can see the resolution (SR48) online. No, don't print it! There is also a similar resolution (AR72) for the Assembly but it isn't as far along.
The Hawaii Senate notes that their initiative also involved increasing interaction with the public, which I don't see in the Sweeney/Kean resolution:
For our Senators, this initiative transformed chamber floor sessions so that by the end of our 2008 session, over 90 percent of our members were solely using their Senate issued laptops to access our interactive Order of the Day (OD) in their caucus discussions and on the chamber floor. For the public, participation in the legislative process became more accessible as they could submit testimony via e-mail as well as view all measures, committee reports, and testimony submitted on any measure via the Legislature's website. Public hearing notices posted on our website were also interactive, containing links to the above documents.
At the end of this 2008 session, we compared paper usage statistics from the 2007 regular session and found that we had reduced our paper usage by 60 percent, having used 6,707,084 less sheets of paper, or, saving the equivalent of 725 trees. Additionally, our website statistics indicated that subscribers to RSS (really simple syndication) feeds from the Legislature's website tripled from 714,482 hits to 2,561,907 hits between January to April 2008.
I wanted you to be the first to know that today we're launching my new website -www.BarbaraBuono.com- which will serve as a hub for information, communications and constituent relations. I hope this site will not only be useful for the residents of my own district, but for everyone all across New Jersey.
Often, everyone focuses so much on campaigns and process stories that sometimes people overlook that government provides important services and programs unavailable anywhere else. So, one particular part of my new website I'm especially excited to unveil is its "Resources" section - which will serve as a one-stop portal for a number of issues facing our state's residents. I hope this will serve as a useful tool in answering questions and solving problems. If you think anything can be added that would be helpful to fellow New Jerseyans, I hope you'll let me know.
In addition to the Resources section, I'm also excited about how we're recapping some of the places I get to visit across the 18th District and the state. When you click on "In the Community", you can join me as I meet so many people and groups, all with interesting stories to share. Also, please be sure to visit the Newsroom for all the latest news, clips, blogs and press releases from my office.
Transparency, accountability and efficient government are all principles I've championed during my time in the state legislature. I know everyone here at Blue Jersey shares my belief that we need to shine a light on the day-to-day business of state government. As Senate Majority Leader I promise to continue pushing for reforms to clean up the way business gets done in Trenton.
I'm excited about our new website. But, I'm just as excited about how advances in technology are revolutionizing the way people communicate. I've been on Facebook for a bit and I recently starting tweeting. I hope you'll follow me on both social networking sites, so I can keep you in the loop with the latest happenings in Trenton, in my legislative office and at events across the state, as well as with articles and blogs I think might be of interest.
Right now, we have a unique opportunity to push for meaningful reform in the 214th Legislature. For far too long, state government has come up short in its mission and responsibility of making New Jersey the best state in the nation to live, grow and prosper. There are several areas which have been ignored to-date and which we need to focus on right away - including pension reform, a strong State Comptroller with full audit powers over every tax dollar being spent, and finally addressing New Jersey's out-of-control property taxes. We simply cannot continue to turn a blind eye and put these issues off any longer. I plan on working with Senate President Sweeney, Speaker Oliver and Governor Christie (along with every single legislator and cabinet member) in tackling these issues head-on.
I hope you will explore my new website as we move forward in the new legislative session. It is vital that everyone in the progressive community - and on Blue Jersey in particular - remains active in helping us move our state forward. I hope this website opens new lines of communication and dialogue. And I hope you'll sign up to join our efforts in improving Trenton and making life better for each and every New Jerseyan.
Earlier this month I was honored to be sworn in as the New Jersey State Senate's first female Majority Leader. Along with our new Speaker Sheila Oliver, two of the four leadership positions in our State Legislature are held by women. It is a truly historic moment for our State and I am confident that we can both provide unique viewpoints to make our government more effective. I can promise you I will be fighting every day in my capacity as Majority Leader to make our State government is more transparent and accountable, while making New Jersey a more affordable place to live. I hope you will enjoy the speech I gave at the reorganization on January 12th as we move forward in the new year and decade.
Promoted by Jason Springer: Thanks to Senator Buono for stopping by with her take on the changes going on in Trenton these days and what to expect going forward.
On Tuesday, I was honored to be sworn in as the first woman to serve as Senate Majority Leader in New Jersey and I didn't want the week to end without posting here on Blue Jersey.
This is a time to look to the future, as New Jersey is clearly poised for a transformation. Along with our new Senate President Stephen Sweeney, President Pro Tempore, Nia Gill, our new Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and Assembly Majority Leader Joe Cryan, the Democratic leadership certainly has a lot of new faces in both houses of the legislature. And with a new governor ready to be inaugurated next week, I will be relying on the progressive netroots community now more than ever - for your passion, guidance and ideas.
Like many of you, I am a progressive. I am proud of my vote for Marriage Equality - yet disappointed by the outcome. I also believe that being a progressive means being fiscally responsible, it means demanding more transparency and accountability from government and it means acknowledging the need for change in Trenton. Governor-elect Christie is obviously going to offer a sharp contrast in his policy agenda from Governor Corzine's four years in office. But this does not mean we cannot work together to find common ground to move New Jersey forward.
One of my top priorities as Senate Majority Leader will be to make significant strides toward establishing a more open, honest and responsive state government. That is the kind of change and reform that enhances the quality of life for all New Jerseyans, not just for someone's narrow parochial self-interest. I look forward to ushering in a new era of unquestioned government integrity. And I am extremely confident this is a direction that Governor-elect Christie can support.
While there are many important issues where New Jersey's Republicans and Democrats disagree, there can also be many areas of practical agreement. In order to succeed, we must look to one another and be willing to rise above our own partisan interests. This is how we can best begin restoring a vision for New Jersey's future. And this is how we can make sure our children can afford to remain here and raise families of their own one day.
Jeff Van Drew (D-Dennis)
Shirley Turner (D-Trenton)
Nicholas Sacco (D-North Bergen)
Ronald Rice (D-Newark)
John Girgenti (D-Hawthorne)
Fred Madden (D-Washinton Twp)
James Beach (D-Cherry Hill)
Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford)
Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-ridge)
Senator Van Drew is honestly the only person on this list who deserves a pass, his district is just overwhelmingly Republican.
I've never been more disgusted and embarrassed than I was today to be a Democrat.
Can we make this the official primary candidate suggestion list?
It boggles the mind that the New Jersey Senate could vote down - and by wide margin - a bill recognizing the civil rights of its citizens. Astonishing, too, is that this could happen with supporters by the hundreds - and maybe thousands today - all taking the day off to participate in the proceedings and make their opinions heard. But today's vote is not a surprise; the writing's been on the wall, in blood, for days.
But there is no giving up. All day long I've been asking people whether this finishes it for them. It does not. The movement is resilient. In a few minutes, as soon as everybody gets over there, there is a news conference. Here are Steven Goldstein's remarks, prepared last night, and embargoed to Blue Jersey until now.
Steven Goldstein:
With today's vote in the state Senate, the New Jersey legislature defaulted on its constitutional obligation to provide same-sex couples in New Jersey equal protection, as unanimously mandated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in 2006. That's why we at Garden State Equality are here with our partner Lambda Legal, which has an extraordinary track record of advancing LGBT civil rights in the courts.
Now our organizations will announce major news. Our side is going back to court to win marriage equality.
We'll hear from Lambda Legal in a moment. Let's be clear about what this news means. We are not waiting out the term of any new Administration to bring equality to same-sex couples in our state.
In 2006, the New Jersey Supreme Court told the legislature it could enact marriage or another structure that provides the equal protection of marriage. But the civil union law failed to do that. Too often, civil union couples too often cannot visit loved ones in hospitals, make medical decisions for their partners or receive equal health benefits from employers. Hospitals and employers have treated civil union couples differently because they've been labeled differently. Children have been treated differently at school because their families are labeled differently.
In recent months, including today and at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing in December, New Jersey legislators publicly recognized these failures. They publicly acknowledged that the civil union law has not provided equal protection. That's important. New Jersey legislators themselves said it. Our opponents in the legislature said it.
Today the State Senate is scheduled to debate and vote on S1967, the marriage equality bill. Live video can be found here, now that the session is underway. The calendar is pretty packed today, with six nominations and over fifty bills scheduled for a vote.
Final Tally of Marriage Equality bill in the NJ Senate Unless the NJ Supreme Court grows a spine, gay people must wait until at least 2014 to get married in New Jersey.
The play-by-play of the Senate debate is below the fold.
Moderate Republican Marcia Karrow (R-Raritan Twp.) will inherit the NJ Senate seat left by newly sworn-in Rep. Leonard Lance in NJ's 23rd District. The vote, moments ago, was Karrow 195, Doherty 143.
Voting took place at Clinton Twp. Middle School as Republican County Committee members from Warren and Hunterdon counties, which together make up NJ23, cast their votes after both candidates made their presentations at the podium.
Doherty (R-Washington Twp.), who describes himself as a Reagan conservative, backed Ron Paul in '08 and is disturbingly far-right, with a 100% rating from NJ Right to Life, actively protesting Roe v. Wade, 100% rating from the NRA. Doherty's an anti-science zealot who has trouble with stuff like global warming and evolution.
Karrow, far less splashy, may have earned the loyalty of the voting committee members by announcing that she would not challenge Doherty if she lost the party vote today. Doherty has said he would challenge the party's vote if he did not win the endorsement.
Karrow's win may also be a matter of the pure numbers. There are more filled county committee seats in Hunterdon than in Warren. Each candidate came with their own loyal home constituencies, augmented by county committee members gained by the weeks of ferocious campaigning both have been doing in each other's territory, Karrow presenting endorsements from 8 Warren County mayors and Doherty's website bearing an effective graph showing he gets more votes than Karrow in each election they've both taken part in.
Unlike Doherty, Karrow grew up in the 23rd, and has spent years quietly developing good will among Republicans. Karrow, 49, is a former committeewoman and mayor in Raritan Twp. She is the daughter of the late, and well-liked Flemington businessman Sol Karrow, who was well-known to Republicans, campaigning for years alongside his daughter.
Both candidates campaigned hard today, but so did Bogota's Steve Lonegan and Delaware Township's Dick Zimmer, working opposite sides of the room. And Hunterdon Freeholder Erik Peterson, Hunterdon Freeholder Matt Holt,and Warren County Freeholder John Dimaio, each of whom is vying to grab the vacant Assembly seat the winner leaves empty, were also on hand, pressing the flesh.
In the ongoing saga of the big MAC, we learn that "separation of powers" simply doesn't exist between the State Senate and the Treasury Department:
After denying authorship of the document last week, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats said Tuesday it was the caucus's internal document. Budget staffers couldn't recall it when asked about it last week, spokesman Jason Butkowski said.
"Apparently it was a Senate document, I'm sorry for the confusion," said Butkowski, adding he was notified of the error via e-mail by Rousseau. "We were a little thrown off because of that little tag on the bottom. But apparently that tag comes out when the Treasury guys print their documents as a little identifier on the printer. So, yeah, it is one of ours."
I believe this is probably the truth. But it raises other questions. Why is the Treasury using the State Senate office supplies so often that they actually have a pass code to operate the copy machine/printer? And what other state documents have been wrongfully stamped?
Wait - maybe the problem is that we only have a single copy machine for all of Trenton...or maybe someone just wants to obfuscate who was responsible for what...
The official story is that Jon Corzine froze, and the shut down the Property Tax Assistance and Community Development Grants program. However, the Guv says that the program was not illegal - because of his interpretation of the law. I consider it good news that the Guv took affirmative steps in ending such a program. What isn't good news is that nothing else was done - it was ended and, apparently, it was a case of "no blood, no foul".
Except now the matt is bloody as hell.
Lawyer Mark Sheridan, who represented a citizen who sued the state over the distribution of the grants, explained that it was up to the legislative branch to appropriate the funds, and up to the executive branch to administer the money according to the Legislature's instructions.
"What happened here is the Legislature appropriated money to the executive branch to administer," said Sheridan. "Instead of letting the executive branch administer the funds, the Legislature took control over who would get the money. The Legislature reached back over to say 'here's how we want this money spent.'"
I had an email exchange a few months back with a woman who, I believe, was caught in the crossfire of this blending of government branches. Because she asked to remain anonymous, I can't give you details, but she worked for an organization that depended on this grant program to pay its bills. Then, without warning, the money disappeared and the State Senator responsible quit taking her calls. As a result, the woman I spoke with was owed several thousand dollars of back-pay. I can only assume that several creditors are in the same boat.
Senate President Richard Codey has announced that the full Senate will vote on S-171, the death penalty abolition bill, this coming Monday, December 10 at 2PM.
That is the same day that the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee will hear the Assembly version of the bill. That committee hearing starts at 10AM.
The final vote should be in the Assembly at their session on Thursday, December 13. We'll post the time when we know.
Let's make sure we're at the State House next Monday and Thursday to watch New Jersey make history!
Joe Ferriero had a "private conversation" with Joan Voss on Saturday. And once again, all became right with the world on Sunday, and the planets all lined up for Joe Ferriero. Bergen County Committee members of the 38th LD unanimously coronated - I mean nominated - Bob Gordon to run in place of Joe Coniglio and current Freeholder Connie Wagner to run for Gordon's seat.
Joe Ferriero predicted which Dem would win, and gosh darnit, he's like the Great Criswell, wouldn't you know it - he picked correctly. How DOES he do it? It's doggone AMAZING! Thank God those County Committee folks in the 38th didn't have to worry their silly little heads over such a thing as a choice of candidates. Uncle Joe made it easy for them - just like he always does. Bless his heart!
And so, Uncle Joe protected the State Senate and Senatorial Courtesy from the clutches of another (dare I say it? - WOMAN). Whew! The Bergen Boys were getting pretty worried they were losing their touch. Now all they have to do is wait till Ken Zisa's bad karma rubs off and they'll replace Connie with Ken. Or, they'll trot him out to replace another fallen male State Senator in the near future. Why waste Ken on an Assembly seat? Promises are promises. And Joe (almost) always gets his man.
Today at 11:00 am in front of the Weinberg, Johnson, Huttle campaign HQ on Cedar Lane in Teaneck, Senator Weinberg and her running mates announced they have met the first hurdle in qualifying for Clean Elections funds.
The numbers:
Democrats:
Senator Loretta Weinberg 452
Assemblyman Gordon Johnson 428
Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle 430
Republicans:
Clara S. Nibot for Senate- 162
Frank Cifferelli for Assembly - 56
Wojciech J. Siemaszkiewicz for Assembly - 78
To give some perspective - because Weinberg's team participated in the Primary in June, they could not start qualifying for Clean Elections money until AFTER the primary. Meanwhile - their Republican opponents, who started in April (several MONTHS before the Weinberg team) could not even raise 400 qualifying contributions in that time.
Folks today said they actually felt sorry for the Republicans, because the results on their part were so pathetic. And so after being accused of not wanting to participate in clean elections by their opponents, the Weinberg team handily beat the Republicans in Clean Elections donations in a much shorter time.
Todays press conference was great - Senator Weinberg explained that the Clean Elections milestone was an important one to hit because it shows the voters that NO SPECIAL INTEREST MONEY will be used in this election. Their commitment to ending Pay-To-Play is serious. It was fitting, the Senator pointed out, that the announcement was made in Teaneck, where efforts to stop the practice of Pay-To-Play are underway.
The real star of the Press Conference was LD37 District registered voter Frances Levine who - curious about the hubbub going on in front of the HQ while walking to the butcher shop on Cedar Lane, asked what was going on. Senator Weinberg explained the Clean Elections program to her on the spot - right in front of NJN news cameras. Ms. Levine wanted to donate right then and there. Opponents could have accused this of being a setup - but Ms. Levine was for real. You couldn't have asked for a better scenario to show how the Clean Elections campaign works by asking a voter on the street for her vote. Frances pretty much won everybody's heart right then and there.
When asked by reporters from NJN what worked about the program, Gordon Johnson said it improved "face time" with the average voter. Not having to worry about raising so much money increased the amount of time he spent with each voter asking for their support - and ten dollars. He said it takes about 20 minutes per voter - just to explain the program and do the paperwork right.
The main downside of the current program is the sheer amount of paperwork involved. Reports must be given in EVERY WEEK. That is a lot of work for the staff of the candidates. It was downright brutal - paperwork wise for the accountants. You would think it would be easy to raise only ten dollars from folks but as Assemblywoman Huttle stated - you have to explain to a married couple that instead of just making out one check for 60 bucks and one form - they have to make out 6 (six) checks and fill out 6 (six) different forms.
The idea is great, some kinks need to be worked out, but the absolute best payback is that in November - the Clean Elections Candidates get that moniker next to their names on the ballot AND a 250 word statement on the sample ballot. It is like getting free advertising. Weinberg, Huttle and Johnson qualified for that - their Republican opponents did not.
Senator Weinberg's team met the first hurdle. But now we have the next deadline coming up - September 30, 2007. So PLEASE if you have friends who haven't given their money in - they can still do so UNTIL SEPT 30. That qualifies the Clean Elections Candidates for the next round of funds. They need 400 more registered voters in District 37. So get calling, tell your friends and family they still can participate. This is NOT OVER - it's just beginning.
Now folks know the Weinberg team is serious about fighting Pay-To-Play. Lets help them out, what do you say?
Diversity has come slowly and painstakingly to the New Jersey state legislature, no doubt, a legislative body that often serves as a pipeline to NJ's congressional delegation. Some with little conscience for social justice might say "we" are post-race or post-gender and thus shouldn't even bother with a diary about this kind of thing, but we progressives know better, especially in the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision that, for all practical purposes, overturns the 1954 Brown decision.
In the state senate, the new gender breakdown among the minority membership of the upper chamber will be radically altered, and not just the minimum 4-3 split. It could likely be an even more significant 5-2. It would be yet another sign of the turnover this election cycle, and points to one more way the dynamic in the Statehouse will be different come January '08.
