State Senate 
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Wed Mar 21, 2007 at 10:20:18 PM EDT
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Cross-Posted from ShapTalk.com:
The New Jersey State Senate is composed of forty individuals who serve part-time. The Senate currently houses twenty-two Democrats and eighteen Republicans. In the past few weeks, eleven Senators have announced that they will not seek re-election; others may soon follow. Interestingly, eight of the ten Senators who are not seeking re-election are Republicans: Martha Bark, Leonard Connors, Bill Gormley, Walter Kavanaugh, Robert Littell, Robert Martin, Henry McNamara, and Joseph Palaia. The three Democrats are: Wayne Bryant, Joseph Doria and Bernard Kenny.
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Sat Feb 17, 2007 at 02:52:27 PM EST
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Yesterday, the US Attorney served "a volley" of federal subpoenas on both the Democratic and Republican leadership in the Senate and the Assembly."Trenton is on fire," declared Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex), as news of the subpoenas broke. "This is equivalent to Rome burning."
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Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 09:47:05 AM EST
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This morning, Josh Margolin and Ted Sherman of the Star Ledger report that U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has issued a "broad federal subpoena seeking internal memos, e-mails and other records that the Legislature generates each year when putting together the annual budget."The documents are at the heart of an inquiry by Christie that is focused on potential legislative conflicts, and specifically whether some elected officials steered money to nonprofit organizations or institutions that would have benefited themselves, friends or family, according to four sources with direct knowledge of the investigation.
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The subpoena grew out of a criminal probe of Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden), one of the Legislature's most influential members and former chairman of the powerful Senate budget committee. Basically, Christie issued a subpoena for budget-related documents at the Office of Legislative Services, the Senate and the Treasury Department. The controversy came because it extended to "any documents pertaining to conflicts of interest for lawmakers and staffers" -- unrelated to Bryant.
The Ledger reporters go on to quote legal and legislative experts on the unusual scope of the subpoenas, and possible conflicts due to separation of powers. [B]oth sides will appear before U.S. District Judge Mary Cooper in Trenton on Wednesday to argue whether the Legislature can be forced to turn over records it considers confidential.
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Wed Jan 31, 2007 at 02:51:13 PM EST
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(Ferriero's $70K+ party was paid for mostly by 39th ($20K) and 40th ($22K) district Dems who are pushing for the bylaws changes to take power away from the 37th. The BCDO spent $30K, which just happens to be the same amount the 39th district Dems gave to the BCDO. - promoted by jmelli)
Senator Loretta Weinberg, Assemblywoman Valerie Huttle, and Assemblyman Gordon Johnson ARE the best hope of our NJ state Government. That is why the grassroots is fighting so hard to keep these INCUMBENTS in Trenton. They do not adhere to the Joe Ferriero school of pay-to-play. They are UNBOUGHT and UNBOSSED. Why else would Joe Ferriero play games like he is doing tonite at 5 pm at the Hackensack Middle School to change the bylaws to throw INCUMBENT DEMOCRATS that YOU voted for in the general election OFF the ballot. He did not ASK me or my fellow county committee members for my vote. He all but demanded we vote for Ken Zisa and Michael Wildes in 2005 - our constituents be damned. Talk about chutzpah. He had the nerve to basically tell Jon Corzine - see if you can get elected without my help - when the Governor suggested Loretta Weinberg for the State Senate. That is chutzpah.
He spent over $70,000 on ONE party he basically threw for himself at the most expensive club in the newest Atlantic City casino and spent millions on the County Executive race that he needed to keep our County Employees held hostage to his whims, and spent NOTHING on the race for the Congress in the 5th district. We are dealing with guys who would be considered local warlords if we were in Afganistan. I for one refuse to appease Mr. Ferriero. I want to keep my honest legislators where they belong.
I hope you will join me at the Hackensack Middle school tonite. Ferriero's goons will be there, intimidating our County Committee folks, but the votes should be secret, and even though Mr. Ferriero has twisted arms to get signatures on the propaganda he sent out this week, the consciences of individual committee members I hope should be enough to shoot down this ill conceived attack on our very democracy.
Think about this folks. Part of your property taxes go to pay for professional services. In a Ferriero town, you can bet you are paying much more for a Borough attorney or engineer than you would be in a non-Ferriero controlled town. How else can money get funneled back to the BCDO and Ferriero's machine?
This huge problem affects so many more things in your local government than you realize. If we stop the pay-to play nonsense, then maybe our County employees can breathe easier and not be beholden to one man who can destroy their careers in a heartbeat. Our civil servants in Bergen county are hostage to Boss Ferriero. Lets free them. Come to the Hackensack Middle School and send a message to the local warlord. WE will choose our own government. Not you, sir.
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Tue Jan 16, 2007 at 06:53:54 PM EST
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(Updated - promoted by jmelli)
Update: The room is full with some people having to stand. There's about 250-300 people attending the rally.
Update 2: More people are still arriving. The unions say "we stand up for the people who have always stood up for us."
Update 3: In attendance: HPAE, Local 164, laborers local 592, CWA, Firefighters union district 37, Garden State Equality, Phyllis Salloway-Kaye of Citizen Action
Update 4: Also attending: Amy Goldsmith of the NJ Environmental Federation, SEIU, UFCW, Mike Herson of the Sierra Club.
 Join us Wednesday, January 17 at 4 pm in Paramus at a HUGE RALLY of union leaders and progressive activists to support Senator Loretta Weinberg, Assemblyman Gordon Johnson and Assemblywoman Valerie Vainieri Huttle.
Wednesday, January 17 at 4 pm
IBEW 164 Union Hall Auditorium
205 Robin Road
Paramus, NJ 07652
4 pm: Loretta, Gordon and Valerie hold a pre-rally meeting with progressive activists -- they want to talk to us before the hoopla. A photographer will be present to take photos of each of us with the legislators.
5 pm: The rally itself. A who's who of labor and progressive activists across the state -- it's going to be amazing.
Here's why the event has historic significance: There aren't enough times when we progressives join with our incredible friends from the labor movement in political action. New Jersey, as you know, is per capita the most unionized state in America. And thanks in huge part to Blue Jersey, its bloggers and their other respective organizations, New Jersey right now is the hottest place for progressive activism in America.
Imagine all we can achieve when progressives and labor unite!
This event is also when we progressives, almost all of us staunch Democrats, stand up to a county party machine when it strays from the values of progressive, clean and open government that we cherish by not expressing sufficient support for incredible legislators like Loretta, Gordon and Valerie - reformers and champions of justice everyday in every way.
What an incredible signal we're sending with this event, one that will reverberate politically statewide.
So join us
Wednesday, January 17 at 4 pm
IBEW 164 Union Hall Auditorium
205 Robin Road
Paramus, NJ 07652
Please don't hesitate to be in touch if you have any questions. Best, Steven, cell (917) 449-8918, Goldstein@GardenStateEquality.org.
Love you, Blue Jersey!
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Wed Dec 13, 2006 at 08:42:09 AM EST
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There is only one sponsor of the Civil Unions bill in the Assembly: Wilfredo Caraballo, who in the past has been a staunch advocate of marriage.
Meanwhile, the Civil Marriage bill has six sponsors and may have more by Thursday: Reed Gusciora, Mims Hackett, Valerie Vainieri Huttle, William D. Payne, Brian Stack, and John McKeon.
In the Senate, Civil Unions has a ringing endorsement with two sponsors: President Dick Codey and Loretta Weinberg, who was for marriage before she was against it.
The Civil Marriage bill doesn't have a sponsor in the Senate yet, but it is telling that the Democratic leadership with all their arm-twisting can only find 2 non-ledership sponsors for civil unions.
Civil unions in New Jersey is a sinking ship that hasn't even left port. A recent editorial expressed dismay that everyone testifying at the committee hearings were against civil unions. It said they "represented te extremes of opinion," and, "Missing was the majority in the middle."
Wrong. The families this bill affects are not extremists, and if the so-called majority in the middle had to hear their testimony, they'd stand with them, too.
Our state legislators have heard their stories, and they know how wrong and ineffective this bill is. No wonder they don't want any more to do with it than vote on the floor and move on. Civil unions aren't a quick fix to the NJ Supreme Court's decision; it's an embarassment to everyone who puts their name on it.
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Fri Nov 17, 2006 at 11:17:14 AM EST
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(It's not just Bob Ingle's keyboard...Running Wayne Bryant again is about as shameless as the GOP choosing Trent Lott to be their leader. - promoted by jmelli)
There are some Democrats in this state who give the rest of us a bad name through their unethical conduct and failure to act in the public's best interest, and Wayne Bryant, State Senator in N.J.'s 5th Legislative District, certainly fits that description. The list of ethical quandaries and investigations is rather long, including "criminal investigations into his alleged low-show job at the state University of Medicine and Dentistry."
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Thu Sep 28, 2006 at 12:58:41 PM EDT
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(Loretta Weinberg represents the future of NJ's Democratic party, and Ferriero is making a big mistake in trying to push her out. - promoted by jmelli)
On this, Blue Jersey's one-year anniversary, it seems like the right time to look ahead to a watershed moment for our progressive community in 2007. It's in Bergen County, where state Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck, Hackensack, Englewood), one of the greatest progressive champions of our time, a woman who has sponsored and fought fiercely for every major progressive bill in the legislature since her election to the Assembly in 1992, may well be primaried by the Bergen County Democratic machine.
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Thu Jul 06, 2006 at 01:32:42 PM EDT
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I was listening to Corzine address the state legislature for the third consecutive day earlier this morning with still nothing of value to say. While he stumbled through the end of his prepared remarks, for some reason, he decided to repeat the word "today" a couple of times. I wish that he was clever enough to turn it into an homage to Neil Diamond's "America", but it didn't come even close. However, it did get me thinking about a song parody. Let me know what you think.
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Tue May 23, 2006 at 07:19:02 AM EDT
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The state Assembly passed legislation yesterday allowing Verizon to apply for a statewide cable TV franchise. Due to a procedural mistake the state Senate must re-vote the measure on June 19th. After that vote it is up to Governor Corzine to sign the legislation into law.
This gives NJ proponents of Net Neutrality two opportunities to raise our questions prior to Verizon going before the state Board of Public Utilities to formally apply for a state wide franchise.
If you are in support of Net Neutrality there are two things you need to do:
1.Contact your state Senator and make them aware of the issue, tell them about Verizon’s future plans for the internet and how it will stifle competition on the internet and how it could prevent the next great internet company, one that could be based in New Jersey, from ever having a chance to compete with the big boys.
2.Contact Gov. Corzine and let him know that he has an opportunity to help New Jersey small businesses, independent artists, and plain old web surfers by choosing not to side with big business. Tell him that you want him to question Verizon on their future plans for the internet; tell him that he should be in favor of keeping the internet a level playing field and not for tollbooths on the information super-highway.
Now is the time to act; don’t wait for federal legislation that may never come to be.
We still need to find out more about the BPU, if anyone out there knows how the cable tv approval process will work at the BPU please contact me.
tom@redbanktv.org
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